Altered State

I thought that you might be interested in a image I took yesterday with my Leica D-Lux 4. The image is nothing special but it does act as a platform to illustrated what you can do to alter the statement you want to make with your photo.
Ok lets get started by looking at the original image converted from raw in Adobe Lightroom 3.

What was I looking for when I took this picture? First I wanted to highlight the leaf in the foreground and its raindrops. I secondly wanted to use the background to add contrast and interest. When I opened the picture in Lightroom I thought what can I do to enhance my original idea. So off I went to Nik Software Color Efex Pro to add some glow to the photo, here is the result.

I then took the original image again and went back to Color Efex Pro and added the bleach bypass filter to whole photo.

Then using Adobe CS 5 I isolated the leaf that was the main subject of the picture and blended it into the above photo.

Now not leaving black and white out here is the original image processed using Silver Efex pro.

I guess what I'm trying to illustrate with this post is you can enhance your vision with the use of all the amazing software tools available to all of us in the digital age.

New Leica Images Site

I have been using a new Leica images only site to post and share pictures, Leica Images.Com. When you sign up you get your own gallery with sub galleries that you can use for any purpose you need to. Share pictures with friends, social media sites or just post them for other Leica fans to see. Here is a random picture from a Swedish members gallery.

As you can see in album view you get a nice presentation of your work and below the photo is all the data about the camera, lens and exposure used.

The service is free and I highly recommend you try it.
I have had a very busy two weeks with lots of family birthdays but here are a few pictures taken with the Leica D-Lux 4. All were post processed using Adobe Lightroom 3.

 A leaf on a moist background of fallen and rotting needles.

 A crooked fence, enhanced with Color Efex Pro by applying a small amount of the Glamor Glow filter.

 A calm day at the pond enhanced with Topaz Adjust 3.

A quick portrait taken on her second birthday enhanced with Silver Efex Pro for conversion to black and white and then using Color Efex Pro add some skin softening to the image.

 

 A close up of leaves turning from green to red enhanced using Topaz Labs detail filter.

Another look at the pond through the reeds, across the water to the colorful trees. Enhanced with Viveza 2.

Halloween

Pre-Halloween Eve photos taken with the Leica D-Lux 4 during my daily excursions into the haunting season. A floating ghost and his shadow flying low in anticipation of all those little ghosts and goblins inhabiting the neighborhood. Photo processed in Adobe Lightroom 3 and Silver Efex Pro.

 A interesting pumpkin sitting on the fence showing the ravishes of time. Lots of mold gives the pumpkin some natural hair contrasted by some scribbled eyes, nose and mouth. The glow was added with the use of Nix Software Color Efex Pro and then was further enhanced with the use of Topaz Labs Detail plug-in.

 Have you seen the black and white version of Nosteratu ? A great move from 1922 well here I may have spotted him lurking in the shadows of the valley. Actually the picture is of my shadow and was refined with the use of Nik Color Efex Pro Glamor Glow filter and then processed into black and white using Silver Efex Pro.
Happy Halloween and have fun getting those scary party and trick or treat pics.

Gazo Creek Cutoff

More beach pictures this week in color plus some interesting apps for your I-Pad. LFI the international Leica photography magazine has just updated its free I-Pad, I-Phone app to include not only a great photo database but also now you can read the current issue of the magazine for free on either device. The other interesting app is Air Display which will allow you to use your I-Pad as a 2nd monitor. I have been using this app to watch video blogs etc. while I work on my photos. It works great but is expensive for a I-Pad app at $10.00.
Now back to Gazo Creek Cutoff which is located on the San Mateo County coast in California. The day was comfortable for a Northern California Beach, meaning the temperature was in the middle 60's. There was sun, fog and very little wind. The sun, water and fog all tend to intensive the light and not always in a good way which calls for shooting at higher speeds and f stops than normal (f-11 to f 16. The camera was the Leica M-9 fitted with Summarit 35 mm lens, post processed in Adobe Lightroom 3 and Nik Software plug-ins.

Looking north towards the Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

 Fog rolling in towards shore.

 Fog bank in the distance contrasted by the blue sky.

Light peeks through the overcast and highlights the white water.

Manresa Beach

Manresa Beach is located south of Santa Cruz, California and photographed on a foggy morning in October 2010. Today I'm sharing all black and white images that seem to work well in depicting the mood of the beach on that day. Next week I will share some color photos taken up the coast at Gazo Creek Cutoff in San Mateo County which were taken on the same day.
All photos were taken with the Leica M-9 fitted with the Leica Summarit 35mm lens processed in Adobe Lightroom 3.0 and Silver Efex Pro for conversion to black and white.

The view as you walk down to the beach.

Surf Fishermen

 A look down the empty beach

Light attempting to break through the fog.

A friendly Dachshund comes to see what we were doing.

Solitary Log

Black & White

I had the occasion to go to the local pumpkin patch & haunted house along with my Leica D-Lux 4. There were plenty of interesting subjects to photograph and I processed all of these pictures to black and white using Adobe Lightroom 3.0. Halloween as a theme seems to just scream for the use of black and white, you get that old feel to the pictures and the ability to add some eerie effects to complement them.
The first picture of the pirate skeleton was taken inside the haunted house and was converted to black and white using the new 64 bit version of Silver Efex Pro. I then used Color Efex Pro to add some glow to the image.

This kind fellow was similarly processed and looks more malevolent in black and white.

Apparitions are always a good subject for Halloween pictures.

What fun would the visit be without some photos of children enjoying the experience.

Making new friends is part of the fun this picture was enhanced with Color Efex Pro using the tonal filter.

As the light fades it is time to leave for home.

1.4 Magnifier

I just received my new Leica Viewfinder Magnifier M 1.4 and thought I would share a few thoughts on the performance and value of this accessory. I'm using it with my Leica Elmarit 90mm 2.8 on a Leica M-9 body. My first impression was this costs a lot I hope it makes focusing easier with a telephoto lens.
When I received it I was impressed that the quality of this accessory is in keeping with other high end Leica products, first class.
The viewfinder comes with a leather case that attaches to the camera strap with a leash that attaches to the magnifier. The magnifier screws into the M-9s eyepiece and it does a great job of magnifying the focusing circle. The framing lines are also magnified and appear brighter.
How does it perform in use ? For me just great, I have only shot with it for two days but my picture hit rate for sharp focus is improved. How much improved ? I would say about twenty to thirty percent which makes this purchase worth the investment for me. Others have had different results and results may vary with different lens combination. Here are a few photo examples:

 Old farm equipment taken through a barb wire fence sharp focus on the disks.

 Fall colors highlight this leaf, note the sharpness on the stem of the leaf.

Old oak tree converted to black and white with Silver Efex Pro.