Uploads from Neil Kremer, tagged evening

Twin Peaks

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:39:15 -0700

OK, it's not the typical touristy bridge shot. I thought I would get part of the Golden Gate that felt neglected. I didn't have much time to shoot this weekend. I was in San Francisco working on a movie but found a couple hours to shoot. Next time I'll be at that point in the center of the picture. At least I was able to capture some stars.
I recently got to play with some RAW files from the Nikon D800 and I have to say, I really don't want to take any pictures until I have one..... this D300S of mine is a piece of junk compared to that 36 MP beast.

Please follow me on Google+ or 500PX or my other Flickr stream

Free Parking

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:59:20 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

After a really bad day, I decided to head downtown. As usual, the traffic was a nightmare and my mood was poor, until I saw an open door. Within 10 minutes of exiting the freeway, I noticed an open maintenance door at a building I've wanted to enter. An elevator took me straight to the roof. Two brackets of 5 exposures and back home. yahoo for me...

I wanted to explain how I "Dodge and Burn" as the final step in my HDR or portrait processing. This is an old technique that derives from the days of the dark room but now can be done easily in Photoshop. Essentially this involvers selective changing of the exposure to enhance depth and details. I also use it to lead the viewers eyes where I desire.
Dodge = increase exposure (making it lighter)
Burn = Decrease exposure (making it darker)

Photoshop
1. Create a new BLANK layer
2. Edit > Fill> 50% Gray
3. Change the blending mode to Overlay or soft light.
4. Click on the DODGE icon and select a brush. Set the opacity to around 10%
5. Start brushing over all of the areas that you want to make lighter. For critical areas, two or three passes might be required. (salt to taste)
6. Click on the BURN icon and select a brush. Also choose around 10% opacity.
7. Pass the brush over the areas that you want to make darker. (salt to taste)
8. At this point you will be thinking "Neil, this doesn't look like it's working." so I ask that you go to your layers panel and deselect the view of the current layer. Yo will be surprised at how much of a difference all of this dodging and burning has made.

Why do I need the 50% gray fill layer you ask? Because this is a destructive technique that can destroy a pixel enough to punch through the layer and reveal whats underneath. We choose this neutral gray for that reason, it's neutral and should not be noticed. It also creates this dreamy feel around the lights. I really overused it on this image to illustrate the effect.

Next time I want to explain how to get rid of the dreaded HDR halo....because I'm still seeing them all over Flickr and they really hurt my eyes.

Fourth and Spring

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:55:29 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Unless there's an event of some kind, downtown Los Angeles is a bit of a ghost-town at night. For some reason, this 100 yards of Fourth street always looks festive. I never see anyone here but the lights facilitate this facade for whomever is trying to impress. Skid-Row (not the 80s hair band) is only 2 blocks away and it's far from festive.

HDR image

San Diego Proper

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:31:36 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

From the roof of the Hard Rock Hotel, I think this is a pretty good view of San Diego's vibrant downtown area. I think it's one of the cleanest major cities in America

HDR image (-2 to +2)
8mm Fisheye

Much more to look at when viewed LARGE.

Triple shot

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:01:49 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Bought a new 8MM Fisheye lens. It's pretty cool. 180 degrees in one frame. This is San Clemente's lifeguard station. Not a cloud in the sky so I added my own drama....three different textures to make it interesting...

HDR image I hope you like it...

prints HERE Prices slashed, today only - as LOW as $5.99

Cross

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 07:56:45 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Steve brought me here a couple nights ago. Tom gave us very detailed directions. Thanks you both. Not much to say about this one except it is my second choice image. I have an image I worked on for an hour that looks great on my 27" screen but when I uploaded to Flickr, it looked horrible. However it looked great on all of the other sites like HDR Photog, Smugmug, Google+, 500px and HDR Spotting. I hope the folks at Yahoo get their act together soon because I still think they have the best format for creating a community here on the Flickr.

You can see my first choice by clicking HERE

HDR image

Pesto

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:45:22 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Every August the fine folks of Laguna Beach have their annual PESTO festival. I'm not sure how it started but it's been going on for over 1,200 years. Over 1,000 tons of Pesto are flown in from Italy. Orphans are forced to spread the pesto over the beach rocks. On the last day of the festival (Sunday, always a Sunday,) they give the orphans a few pieces of day-old bread and the "clean-up" begins. The area smells like basil for weeks, and once those orphans leave, it's really wonderful.

HDR image

turn

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:27:54 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

After driving this road in Palos Verdes, California over one hundred times it hit me, this would look really cool at night. So I climbed to the top of this hill and waited for the "perfect traffic." It's really hard to time it so one car is going in each direction and both cover all of the turns within the longest exposure of the five.
The huge glow in the upper left is from the city of San Pedro. That house on the top of the hill has one heck of a view.

HDR image (-2 to +2)
I don't know why but this came out of Photomatix with NO NOISE at all.....I didn't need any anti-noise software for this one. I wish I knew what I did right.

Rodeo Drive-Edit

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 07:49:39 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

So pissed off.....I had an appointment in Beverly Hills to shoot something that could have been very special and Mapquest screwed me, my Sprint GPS wouldn't connect and the traffic was thick. As the sun went down, the western sky turned reddish pink and the best sunset of the summer just laughed at me. I was in the neighborhood so I stopped on the world famous Rodeo Drive and took these 5 exposures.

What is with rich woman and their perfume...It's 2011, some one should tell these bags that woman don't wear perfume anymore, let alone bathe in it. It's rude to those around you....It does not smell good. It gives others a headache....I really don't get it. Is perfume to attract men? (they're already married,) is it to keep the husband interested? (it makes them sick,) is it to show everyone that you can afford it? (it makes everyone nauseous.)

HDR image I fixed the lens distortion (crooked buildings) but I went back to this, it's more fun to look at.

No NFL in LA

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 09:16:25 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

I was kicked out a "city owned" public park in downtown last night.
"no profesional cameras allowed," what makes this a pro camera?" the tripod and the camera. it's very big."
Running out of patience I went to this familiar spot with one thing in mind; color.
I had these colors in my head so I knew what I wanted and how to process it before I snapped a single pic. I love when that happens.

Here is the skinny on California Law: www.largeformatphotography.info/photo-permits/

Click H E R E to read about your rights as a photographer.

HDR image (the sky and the light trails are 100% source file.)

Petco Park

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 20 May 2011 09:17:41 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Last night I took advantage of an invitation form Tom (another Flickr member) to visit him in San Diego. I'm very glad I did, he turned out to be a really nice guy. He showed me a bunch of great places to shoot, none better than this one.

Petco Park is home to the Padres and this new Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge is suspended from a single 131' tall pylon set into the ground at a 60 degree angle. The unusual design features a curved concrete deck that is suspended only on the deck's inside curve by a single pair of suspension cables. The bridge is constructed using stainless steel and has lighting above and below the deck. I just think it looks good. It was hard to find an angle that those other HDR shooters in San Diego didn't already take. So Tom took me right to the top of the parking structure across the street.

Shown in Black and White below but I had to post the color version because nobody on Flickr views the black/whites when I post them.

HDR image

ratón de oro de la casa

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:06:06 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Yesterday I drove to my favorite building in LA in a bad mood. The karma gods must have been watching. I pulled up and found a free parking spot in front. Then I noticed every door on the property was open. I had my run of the place with a tripod in hand. It was so cool.

HDR image (7 stops and the perfect time of day, if you're into golden light.)
That's an airplane's after-burn in the upper left corner.

POSH

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 22:31:36 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Rancho Palos Verdes , California
Catalina Island in the background
Port Out Starboard Home

5 long exposures in the dark to get this HDR image.
Finally figured out how to take pictures of the stars tonight....took me while but I found BULB. I can't wait until the Milky Way is ready to be photographed.

To the roof

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:31:54 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

This one reminded me of the Hong Kong scenes in " The Dark Knight " so I went with 16:9 like a theatre screen. This is from the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California

I get my new D300S on Tuesday. I think I'll be trying my first time lapse HDR from this spot.

HDR image

These judges are blind

Thunder God

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:29:55 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Downtown Los Angeles, California
Staples center is on the right
If you're from LA you know where I was standing. I took a lot of risks to get this one. I'm really disappointed with it. I wanted this shot for 3 months, I probably built it up too much.

HDR image

Los Feliz

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:44:58 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

I never would have found this view point without the help of Magnetic Lobster. The GPS coordinates got me there after a long hike and some climbing in the dark.

The Griffith Observatory if technically in "Hollywood United" but most maps read "Los Feliz." Either way, I think it's the best view Los Angeles has to offer.

HDR image

Purple Sow Moves too much

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:37:59 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

I have to admit, the Tar pits don't offer much to photograph but when the sunset looks like this....
Check out the reflection on that nasty tar. The strange thing is that it smelled good.
If you look closely, you'll notice the prehistoric mammoth is a little blurry. Well lets see you get a 2 million year old mammoth to stay still for a 30 second exposure.

HDR image (cat's out of the bag now)

Flash Stand

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:30:35 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

So I was walking through Middle Earth with my camera and tripod last night.....and i thought I would take another stab at this shot. I took the same shot back in Dec. but I had to over noiseware it... So after spending 2 hours to get there, I saw NO CLOUDS.... OH NO...what to do. I thought what would Steve Skinner do? It came to me like a bolt of Hobbit lightning, texture...lots of texture.
I named it Flash Stand because my flash stand is in the frame.

HDR image

To learn more about the tower: www.ocinsite.com/index.php/design/articles/structures_tow...
Thanks Onnie...

Photo mess

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:43:09 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

This is a mess but I like it, so....

HDR image

Banding

nobody@flickr.com (Neil Kremer) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:34:40 -0700

Neil Kremer posted a photo:

Long Beach Harbor in Los Angeles county, California

HDR image