(Olympus E-3, 70-300mm at 81mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, 5 exposures @ f/7.1)

My company recently moved to a new building and as part of the move we needed to come up with names for our conference rooms. We batted around several ideas, but finally settled on using names of some of our favorite local restaurants in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was then tasked with the job of getting pictures of the various establishments so we could have pictures made and hung in each of the conference rooms. The image above shows Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger a great place to get a burger and fries (and other fried veggies as well) and highly recommended if you are ever in Ann Arbor. Krazy Jim’s was featured on an episode of the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri

I took this shot in late evening. I wanted to make sure that the lights of the sign and the interior were visible. Given the time of day and the amount of contrast between light and dark, I shot 5 exposures from a tripod and created an HDR image using Photomatix. I then took the image into Photoshop and used the Topaz Labs Simplify filter to ‘simplify’ the image and create something that looks more like a painting. I then went over key elements in the shot (the signage and some other areas) and masked out the filter to let the original photograph show through.

Comments and feedback welcome.

Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved

This image can be purchased.

(Olympus E-3, 14-54mm at 29mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, 5 exposures @ f/9.0)

The Fleetwood Diner is an Ann Arbor institution. The diner opened in 1949 as the Dag-Wood and was built from a kit manufactured by the Dag-Wood Diner Company in Toledo, Ohio. The diner was renamed the Fleetwood Diner in 1971. The exterior was originally enamel, but was given a stainless steel exterior in 1998. For more history and interesting tidbits on the diner, visit The Fleetwood Diner page, hosted by a local Ann Arbor resident.

The image itself was produced from 5 different exposures ranging from -2 to +2. The images were processed using Photomatix, with additional processing in Photoshop CS4. Similar to my Acme Mercantile shot, I again used the Topaz Simplify filter from Topaz Labs to ‘simplify’ some of the features in the background.

Comments and feedback welcome.

Update: An alternative version of this image can be found on my Flickr account. Check it out and let me know which one you like better (if you have a preference)

Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved

This image is available for purchase in my Color gallery at ImageKind. Contact me directly for other purchase options.

(Olympus E-3, 14-54mm at 14mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, exposure 5 stop HDR @ f/9.0)

On Liberty Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan is a terrific little store with a variety of interesting merchandise. The store is Acme Mercantile. I took this shot of the storefront on a morning walk through town. For some reason I was in the mood to take storefronts that day. Most of the images I shot on my walk were taken with the potential to make an HDR image. I set my camera to shoot 5 bracketed exposures, 1 stop apart. I was doing this hand held and I set my camera to fast shooting and clicked off 5 quick shots at various exposures in an attempt to minimize movement. Of course, one problem was that it was windy that day, so any thing which could be affected by the wind (like leaves on a tree) created motion that I didn’t want.

I started processing by having Photomatix convert the 5 exposures into one HDR. From there I went in to Photoshop. I corrected some perspective distortion and then went on to some additional processing. I’ve been experimenting with selectively using a filter from Topaz Labs called Simplify and I used it on this image to minimize the problem with the moving leaves. I created a new layer and went into the Simplify filter and selected the ‘Buzz Sim’ preset. This creates an image which looks like it was painted. After saving the layer, I created a layer mask on that layer and selectively reduced the filter’s effect. I wanted to keep most of the store front sharp, but keep the stuff in the distance ‘simplified’. I also liked the way the filter made the reflection in the front window look, so I kept the filter effect there as well.

I always feel guilty when I use some sort of ‘creative’ filter on my images. I feel like I’m cheating somehow. However, at the same time I like the end result. I’m curious what others think, not only about this particular image, but about using ‘creative’ filters in the post processing stage.

Comments and feedback welcome.

Image and text Copyright © 2009 James W. Howe – All rights reserved

This image is available for purchase in my Color gallery on ImageKind. Please check it out!

(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

(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.