Tag: San Antonio Texas

Alamo Tree

This tree is outside the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. It’s from the archives and had remained unpublished for many reasons.

I was staying not too far away at the time so walked over to see the Alamo. The building that Ozzy Osbourne did not urinate on. I say that because it turns out Ozzy was so intoxicated on many things he could not have gotten in. He urinated on the statue outside of the Alamo which is where this picture was taken (see the connection?).

I have sat on this picture for a few years now. I shot it for HDR and had 7 exposures and no real clear idea what the hell I was doing in HDR. Now I know 7 exposures way too much. It creates too many artifacts and it turns an image into mushy mess.

With time and knowledge I went ahead and picked the normal exposure image. I went and did some perspective correction and then loaded my camera profile in. I really can’t tell you how much a proper camera profile is worth. It fixes a lot of stuff quickly.

Once I had the image fixed it was time for editing. I did a quick curves adjustment and then local dodging and burning. I wanted the tree to be more lifelike. So a quick load into Intensify and I picked a preset. Once happy back into Photoshop. I debated on masking in the more intense part but was happy so I left it as is.

Enjoy.

Alamo Tree

Four From The River

These are shots from the San Antonio River Walk. One of my favorite bands was playing there and they were posting images on Instagram so I figured why not see what I never published. Turns out it was a lot!

These images were shot on the river boat cruise I took with someone I work with. We may have been imbibing frosty cold adult beverages as we were on the cruise but the images turned fine for the most part. I blame any blur or shake on camera malfunction not on the frost cold adult beverages.

One of the reasons I have so many unpublished shots is I was hot and heavy into HDR and was learning how to do it at that moment. So shots that weren’t for HDR I just never really bothered with. Now I can switch between HDR and non-HDR images without much issue. I also have even within the span of a year really progressed with my Photoshop skills so I can go back and work on images I just didn’t know how to process before without looking like crap.

The newest thing I am learning now is using a Wacom Tablet. I have had it but I never really used it. I would use my mouse for the masking and dodge/burn work I did. I am finding I have far more control when I use the pen and tablet. This is allowing me to create stronger images but it slows me down as I learn to control the pen within Photoshop.

Enjoy!

Four From The RiverFour From The River Four From The RiverFour From The River

Out Of The Darkness

Title curtesy of Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell. Must give a RIP to Dimebag Darrell, the Pink Beard in the Sky. Start Googling now for your heavy metal history lesson. The title also works for this post because it was shot in San Antonio, Texas and Pantera was from Dallas. Close enough.

I shot a lot in San Antonio but it was done for HDR and as I have ventured forth into HDR photography I noticed some issues that I am still working on. Still, some of the images were really good and I hated to waste them in an attempt to try and use them for HDR. Since the basis of HDR is bracketed images I just took one of the images and edited it normally. This image is the first of batch.

I really liked monochrome for this image because it gave the effect of darkness and then the light much more drama then the color version. Plus the tones in the light give you contrast with the rest of the image. I also liked how at the end of the tunnel there were silhouettes of people either heading into the darkness or out into the light.

Nothing fancy post processing wise. The conversion was done in Photoshop and then curves and dodging and burning to get the effect I was looking for.

Enjoy.

Out Of the Darkness

 

Night over the Old Church

I have no idea what the church is in this image. It’s from San Antonio, Texas and it was shot off my balcony as was yesterday’s image. Just enjoying editing these for fun and practice.

Enjoy.

Old Church San Antonio

Night Over San Antonio

Now that my editing technique has changed there are images that I can edit now that I wasn’t able to do before without causing massive issues with the final file. So with the use of Photoshop and went back and looked at some images and figured why not give it a try and see what the result can be.

This was shot off my balcony in my hotel and I just like the sky contrasting with the buildings.

Enjoy.

Night Over San Antonio

Rays Of Light

Another one for the backlog from San Antonio. This was taken while I was on the River Walk Cruise which is a 30 minute cruise in a flat bottomed boat that takes you through the more touristy areas. The highlight of the trip is you can have a beer while taking it all in. For those thinking boating and drinking don’t mix; little secret the water is 3 foot or 1 meter deep. Stand up and good to go.

I like how the diffused light came through the clouds and slightly diffracted to give it a semblance of a rainbow. Added a few layers so I could get the sky and the colors to balance right and was happy with the result.

Enjoy.

Rays of Light

 

Sunny Day On The River

This was from my adventure of getting lost in San Antonio. I was off the tourist path and just wandering along. Knowing that I could find my way back because of the river itself and it ran next to my hotel. I crossed this bridge and thought, why not take a picture while I am here.

Enjoy.

Sunny Day On The River

Stairway

I just liked the stairs for some reason. Not sure how I liked how the image turned out. Tomorrow I take a break from HDR and return to my roots.

Enjoy.

Stairway

Sun Set Over San Antonio

This is the same view as yesterday’s post just show with a wider lens. I also went with less orange and more blue. It is after all my world and I can make it look however. I don’t think I have the image exactly where I want it but its close enough and I’m tired so when you get that way its better to walk away instead of frustrating yourself repeatedly.

Enjoy.

Sun Set Over San Antonio

Sunset Between Buildings

Spiffy title. I really thought hard about it.

First off, nope. Not even close to being a natural sky but its my world and I can make it do what I want. Skies should be this cool when the sun is setting. It might make people pay more attention. Maybe this is what a Martian sunset looks like. Use your imagination. I can make it look realistic. Part of HDR photography is making it look like whatever. I wanted fiery skies. Who knows? Tomorrow the sky may be purple. There are no rules so go with what you feel. That is unless someone is paying you then go with what they want.

For reference. This was shot off my balcony at the Hotel Palacio Del Rio in San Antonio while I was there. I believe this is the first HDR I have shot with my 80-300mm lens which is why its compressed as it is with the buildings. Still, it works with the sun being framed between them and the sky causing them to silhouette like that. I still like my version which clearly is me on Mars shooting from my Martian base into the Martian sky. Then again, could be the jet lag and holiday hangover and going back to work talking.

Either way.

Enjoy.

Sunset Between Buildings