Abandoned Farmall Tractor
by James Howe on May.14, 2009, under Michigan
(Olympus E-3, 70-300mm at 104mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, exposure 1/125 sec @ f/5.6)
There is a golf course just west of Ann Arbor which has this nice old Farmall tractor on the edge of the course. I’ve photographed it several times, most recently this past fall. For this trip, I used my 70-300 lens to get more detail and shallower depth of field. For an alternative look at this same tractor, check out an earlier image that I posted to this blog.
Processing was done in Photoshop CS4 and consisted of first using Topaz Adjust to bring out the detail and color a little more. I then used a black and white adjustment layer to convert to black and white. Having a bit more color from Topaz Adjust gave me a little more control over the conversion. Some minor contrast curves layers and sharpening and the image is what you see.
I haven’t decided how much I like this image. I like the feeling of age and abandonment that I get from it, but I wondering if it might be too ‘busy’. I think I would like it better if I could make the background darker or something to create more separation with the tractor, but maybe I’m overthinking things. I’m curious what others might thing and am open to suggestions for ways to improve it.
Thanks!
Image and text Copyright © 2008 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
This image can be purchased.
Lawyers Club – University of Michigan Law School
by James Howe on May.12, 2009, under Ann Arbor, Architecture, Michigan, University of Michigan
(Olympus E-3, 7-14mm at 7mm (2x crop factor), ISO 500, exposure 1/400 sec @ f/10)
This shot shows the main entrance to the Law Quad at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This particular building is known as the Lawyers Club, and is a dormitory for students attending the law school. The building was constructed in 1924 and was funded entirely by a gift from William Cook, a graduate of the UM Law School.
The picture was taken with an Olympus E-3 with a 7-14mm lens. The image was processed in Photoshop CS4 using the Topaz Adjust filter to bring out a bit more color in the stone and Topaz DeNoise to remove some minor noise. The image was cropped in from the side a bit to create better balance between building and sky.
Comments and feedback welcome.
Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
Visit my ImageKind Gallery for more University of Michigan images
Arbor Brewing Company – Ann Arbor, Michigan
by James Howe on May.10, 2009, under Michigan
(Olympus E-3, 70-300mm at 70mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, exposure 1/40 sec @ f/10)
I was out running errands recently and managed to find a street parking space almost in front of the Arbor Brewing Company located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As I was parking, the signs on the front of the building caught my eye. I’ve always liked the typography used on the signs and think that the tree in the logo is quite cool as well, very ‘arts & crafts’ looking. Anyway, I thought there was a good picture to be had so I took out my camera and took a few shots. This shot was my favorite of the set.
This image was created from a RAW color original. I played with the color image a bit but settled on black & white. I used Topaz Adjust to boost the color, since the original was somewhat flat (it was overcast when I took the shot). I then applied a black & white adjustment layer and adjusted the greens, yellows and reds to get the most out of the building and signs. I also used a few contrast adjustment layers as well. The image has had a slight tone applied to it, and that’s about it.
Comments and feedback welcome.
Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
This image is part of my signs gallery at ImageKind.
UM Law School Reading Room – HDR
by James Howe on May.06, 2009, under Architecture, Michigan, University of Michigan
(Olympus E-3, 7-14mm at 7mm (2x crop factor), ISO 500, 5 exposure HDR @ f/9.0)
As I was heading in to work one morning, I noticed that there were some interesting clouds in the sky and thought I might be able to capture some images with nicely lit clouds. I work near the University of Michigan, so I drove over to the campus area to see what possibilities might await me. I parked near the UM Law School and I liked the way the morning light was shining on the Law School Reading Room. Since I had my tripod with me, I decided to shoot several exposures to create an HDR image. I’ve always liked what HDR can do with brick and stone so this building was a natural.
When I processed the shots, I initially did a fairly strong HDR to get some details in the building. However, I didn’t like what it did to the sky, made it to comical. I did a second processing of the exposures using some different settings to get a better sky. I then merged the two in Photoshop. The finished image is still a bit stronger than I typically like in an HDR. The grass in particular looks a bit alien. I’ll probably rework this one to come up with something that is more realistic, but has a bit of HDR bite.
Comments and feedback welcome.
Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
Check out other images at my website at www.jameshowephotography.com
Palio – Ann Arbor
by James Howe on Apr.30, 2009, under Michigan
(Olympus E-3, 70-300mm at 70mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100 exposure 1/800 sec @ f/8.0)
Palio is an Italian restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The side of the building is painted to look old, a combination of trompe l’oeil and real features. My goal in this shot was to highlight the color and texture of the painting.
My processing involved using some curves layers to brighten parts of the image and improve contrast, I used an HSL layer to bump the color a little bit and a couple of sharpening layers. One sharpening layer was to add ‘clarity’ and used a low amount and high radius, followed by a regular sharpening layer. At this point I had an image which really showed some detail and aging, but I decided I didn’t like the look. As an experiment, I created a new layer using the Topaz Simplify filter which created more of a painterly look. I still wanted the image to look like a photograph, so I reduced the opacity of the new layer and let some of the sharpened image come through. In the end I really like how the Simplify filter brought out some color that was hidden in the paint and the overall look it gave to the image.
I’d be interested in hearing what others think.
Comments and feedback welcome.
Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved
This image can be purchased in my Color gallery at ImageKind.
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