Archive for category Google Earth Locator Link

Part of the fun is getting there ….

Monday was a beautiful day on the North Shore of Massachusetts. My wife and I decided to see if we could make our way through the “Private” roads of Annisquam and make it out to the Annisquam Light.

I had been there years before and knew that parking was available for visitors.

I can understand why the nearby residences would like to prevent access, the roads are narrow and winding and the location is such that if not controlled would be overrun with people seeking access to the small shoreline beach.

Annisquam Light – Google Earth Locator

Expect to be stopped by a local resident association volunteer and to only be allowed 15 minutes of parking.

Here is one of the captures – (click on image for larger view)

This rendering was created by combining three exposures into a HDR rendering made using Photoshop Cs3 and some final tweaks within Lightroom 2.0

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Back to Photography while continuing to develop ….

Time to get back to showing some images of Boston’s North Shore, while continuing to offer some techniques.

As residences of the North Shore know, in the summer getting close to the ocean in some areas along the Beverly to Gloucester coast line is limited to residences only or to members of a specific club. However, in the winter when not too many be willing to venture to these summer gathering spots, an opportunity exist to visit these locations and bring some of the scenes into the camera’s view.

One such spot is Tuck’s Point in Manchester by the Sea Massachusetts.

Image Capture Locator Google Earth Locator of Tuck’s Point

This image was captured several weeks ago.

Tuck’s Point

Techniques used for the effect were a combination of adjustments, my own and a preset from Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips called Matt’s Nostalgic Effect (1). All adjustments were made using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Taking it one step further, I decided to continue developing framing options for use as templates within the Lightroom Print Module. For this image I created a torn edge effect.

Here is a screen capture, from Lightroom, of the same image with the template applied and another with the template opacity reduced, allowing some of the underlying image to bleed through (Click on images for larger view) Note: Grey are around image is my screen capture and not part of image or template.

Tuck’s Point with Lr TemplateTuck’s Point Lr Print Template Opacity reduced

This template is now saved within the Lightroom Print Module user preferences and available to apply to all the images in my catalog.

If interested, here it is for a 8×10 Portrait applied on a 8 1/2 x 11 paper – Torn Edge Print Template Download

Your site support and comments welcomed.

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We saw the light(s)

On our way back to Massachusetts from Portland Maine, my wife and I decided to make a detour to York Beach Maine. Our intent was to see what the Cape Neddick “Nubble” Lighthouse looked like in the winter. To our surprise, it was decorated with lights.

Nubble Light

Cape Neddick Lighthouse, is the southernmost lighthouse in Maine. It is also known as the Nubble Lighthouse, named after the “Nubble” , a island off the eastern point of Cape Neddick, Maine. Cape Neddick light was built and started operating in July of 1879.

After some investigation, I have discovered that, “Nubble” lighthouse is decorated with white lights twice a year.

Some of the lights leading from the main tower to the ground appeared to be out. I did considered “lighting” them with PS, but decided to leave them the way they were.

Post Processing was done with LightroomLightroom and Scott Kelby’s 7PS.

 

Image Capture Locator Google Earth Locator – Nubble Light

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Last Post of 2007 – Lightroom Special Effects

Trying to clean up my image catalog, I came across an image of the Methodist Church of Bodie California that I captured while visiting various Ghost Towns during a trip to California.

Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Bodie is one of the largest and best preserved ghost towns in the West with over 170 buildings still remaining and accessible to visitors. Bodie is a photographer’s paradise, if you are looking to capturing an image with that “antique – worn” look . The Methodist Church is one of the better preserved buildings and one of the first that you will encounter.

Image Capture Locator Google Earth Locator – Bodie SHP

The day of my visit was warm, very dry and very, very windy, with dust everywhere. It was also high noon.

I don’t have any particular reason for picking this image, other than I wanted to see if I could obtain the desired effect – an HDR Simulation totally within Adobe Lightroom without having to do any adjustments or editing with Adobe Photoshop.

As captured image –

(click on images for better viewing)

Bodie Methodist Church as Captured

After Lightroom adjustments

Bodie After Effect

Here are the steps that were used -

  1. Create a Virtual Copy (optional)
  2. Set Recovery, Fill Light, Contrast and Vibrance to +100
  3. Reduced Blacks to +50, Brightness to +50 and Saturation to -84
  4. Tone Curve set to Medium Contrast
  5. Reduced Exposure to -0.21
  6. Readjusted Saturation to -64 and reduced vibrance to -28
  7. Sharpening to +62 and Sharpen Detail +54, masking the sky

How effective this adjustment is, is also dependent on the image being used. Trial & Error are involve and actual settings will vary depending on the image being adjusted. As an example, you may have to adjust blacks and/or exposure to get the desired effect on your image.

What I am trying to demonstrate is, you do not always have to use Photoshop to create this or other effects. Some effects can be achieved totally within Lightroom, so experiment !

Here are more examples from the same Bodie trip with the same effect applied -

bodie-examples.jpg bodie-examples-2.jpg bodie-examples-3.jpg bodie-examples-5.jpg bodie-examples-4.jpg

You can download a Lightroompreset that I created for this effect at this link -Effect Preset Download and use it as a starting point for your own image.

Note: Adobe Photoshop Killer Tips Blog has a tutorial on how to install presets.

Let me know how it worked for you.

Have a Great New Year !

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A day at the beach with a good friend

The sun has finally come out from behind the clouds (but not for long) and my good friend, Armand, joined me for a day of capturing images at the beach.

Armand

Just to remind myself that it is winter, I found a patch of snow at the beach.

This image was captured on Wingaersheek Beach looking towards Annisquam Light in Gloucester, MA.

Edited with – PhotoshopLightroom

Day at the Beach

The following image, Annisquam Light was edited in Lightroom only where I used the Vintage New York Presets created by Matt Kloskowski and then cropped into a Pano.

Annisqaum Light with MK Vintage NY effect

Annisquam Lighthouse

Located in Annisquam Village, Annisquam light was erected in 1801 to mark the entrance to the Annisquam River at Wigwam Point. Originally built as a wooden frame. Then in 1897 the brick tower replaced the wooden structure. Annisquam Light is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Image Capture LocatorGoogle Earth Locator for Annisqaum Light

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