April 2010

Too Much Eating Out, Time for the Gym

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Photographs by Robert Lachman ? 2010

 

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I ate out way too much this week. It’s time 4 the gym. Have a great weekend. -RL

(top) Philippe The Original established in 1908 – downtown Los Angeles, CA and (bottom) Crab Cooker started 1951 – Newport Beach, CA

And yes, if you noticed a hint of HDR and FocalPoint in the process, you would be correct.

 

 

More HDR: Before & After

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Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Newport Beach, California

It seems like I am getting into the “I need to find a sunset, time for 3-exposures, what’s my next HDR photo mode?” Could it be an addiction? It’s not a surprise when you see the results. Lets face it, one single image just doesn’t reflect what your eyes see. When you take a close you look at this image of the Doryman’s Inn in Newport Beach (above) at sunset, the ability to meld three different image exposures into one starts to close that gap. Of course, you need a tripod, so it really isn’t going to work for your kid’s soccer or party photographs.

It’s pretty much the same settings from my last HDR (High Dynamic Range) post, which included combining three image exposures taken with my Canon G10 camera and a tripod. The photo was first processed with Photomatix software. Next, I imported the photograph into Photoshop to make a few levels adjustments and then moved on to the FocalPoint plug-in by onOne Software to add a dark vignette and soften the focus around the hotel.

FocalPoint is on my short list of favorite Photoshop plug-ins and is on sale at onOne software website until April 30, 2010. The price is down to $100. You can read my review of the software by clicking here. A great resource for learning HDR is photographer Trey Ratcliff’s website Stuck in Customs.

Below is a photograph from a single correct exposure of the scene without any adjustments. Let me know what you think. -RL

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(BEFORE) A single correct exposure of the scene without any adjustments.

Newport Pier: Two Views & Cameras

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Photograph with Canon G10 by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Newport Beach, California

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iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Newport Beach, California

It was a quick trip by the Newport Beach Pier on our way to the Crab Cooker Restaurant last night. For the top photograph, I used my Canon G10 with a tripod from the south side of the pier recording three exposures (+2, 0, -2) of the scene.

Next, it was post processing with Photomatix to combine the photos for the (HDR) High Dynamic effect. This bring the best of each exposure to the final image. The final touch was the artistic edgy touch added with the Adjust 4 plug-in for Photoshop from Topaz Labs.

The bottom photograph was taken with my iPhone 3GS with the Hipstamatic app. I’m sure you already figured that out already.

The best part of the evening was dinner out with my wife Lorelei. Have a great day! Is it time for coffee? 😉 -RL

 

Red Balloons at Fiesta Broadway

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iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010

A quick snap of the 21st Annual Fiesta Broadway taken with my iPhone on my way to work yesterday as I walked from the parking structure to the LA Times building at 2nd and Broadway Streets. I did use the Photoshop CS4 and the Topaz Labs’ Adjust 4 plug-in at the artistic effect. Already time for work. Have a great day. -RL

 

iPhone Mannequin

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iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010

A mannequin in a store window along Broadway Street in downtown Los Angeles captured with my iPhone a few days ago with an assist from the Hipstamatic app and processed with Photoshop CS4 and another one of my favorites OnOne’s FocalPoint Plug-in. It’s subtle, but check out the way FocalPoint blurred out the edges and brings all the focus to the Mannequin’s mouth and eyes.

Have a nice Sunday. I’m working later this afternoon. -RL

 

In the Mirror

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Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Canon G10 – Los Angeles

It’s a quick self portrait taken with my Canon G10 in a mirror down an alley near 4th and Hill Streets in downtown Los Angeles. I use the Topaz Labs plug-in Adjust 4 with Photoshop CS4 to stylize it. Have a great weekend. Get out there and take some photographs. -RL

 

Click here to check out my IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHS

 

LA Skyline

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iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010

A view of the LA skyline during my lunch-break walk last night. It so nice to be out taking photographs in the daylight hours of the early evening. I need a longer lunch to expand the radius and experience a variety of new locations. -RL

A Little Extreme HDR

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Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Huntington Beach, CA

It was full-tilt HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography during my walk this morning which included combining three image exposures taken with my Canon G10 camera without a tripod and processed with Photomatix software. Next, I imported the photo to Photoshop and pushed the envelope with a hit of Topaz Labs Adjust 4. Below is a photograph from a single correct exposure of the scene without any adjustments. Let me know what you think. -RL

hdrbeachbefore(BEFORE) A single correct exposure of the scene without any adjustments.

Two Views: Angels Flight Ticket Office

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iPhone Photographs by Robert Lachman ? 2010

ticketmoreTwo views of the same, Angel’s Flight Railway ticket office from my walk at lunch last night. It’s amazing how different you can makes things look depending on the perspective you take with angles, lenses and processing. Have a nice weekend! -RL

 

Art Today: Calla Lily or Best Buy

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iPhone Photographs by Robert Lachman ? 2010

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I couldn’t decide what to post today. I need to be more decisive. Actually, it’s my own blog so it doesn’t really matter. Have a great day. I am looking forward to the weekend. -RL

 

My Old B&W Photos

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Photograph by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times ? 1990

Can you recognize the television broadcaster from my photograph taken in 1990? Check out the computer, I am sure it was state of the art at the time, along with those cool sunglasses in the background on the desk which have come back in style. Also, can you guess what event he is covering? -RL

 

LA Art Walk Photos

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iPhone Photographs by Robert Lachman ? 2010

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Check out a few of my photographs from the Los Angeles Art Walk last Thursday night. I used my iPhone with the Hipstamatic App with the BlacKeys B&W film setting and the Helga Viking Lens, of course, no flash. -RL

My First Attempt at HDR

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Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 - Huntington Beach, CA

By Robert Lachman

This is my first attempt at HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. The result was pretty good considering I have no idea what I was doing. I shot three images on a tripod with a Canon EOS Rebel T2i with the exposure on auto bracketing set at at: +2, 0, and -2. That’s 2-stops over-exposed, one right on and the other 2-stops under-exposed.

I used Photomatix, the HDR software from HDRsoft for the the first time to combine the 3 images into one. I saved the image as a .JPEG file, opened it in Photoshop CS4 and made a few final adjustments with the levels adjustment.

I was a little confused trying out the HDR settings. Ok, I was very confused, so many setting and not enough documentation or instruction for me. I need a simple tutorial video to spell it out for me. There were setting for “Generate HDR image and Fuse exposures” for example, and I know there’s a difference, but I’m not sure what. I like the result so I am going to dig in and give it a few more tries.

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My three exposures which combined to make the image above.