(Nikon D700, 14-24mm at 22mm, ISO 1600, Exposure 1/250 sec @f4.0)

This image shows one of the galleries in the new wing of the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I really like the clean architecture of the new wing, very modernist. The new wing does a nice job of showcasing modern art.

Processing of this image was fairly simple. I used Lightroom to convert to black and white and I used a curves layer in Photoshop to add some toning. The image above shows the full crop, but I think there is also a nice square crop opportunity as well.

Other thoughts? Please leave a comment!

Copyright © 2010 James W. Howe – All rights reserved.

(Olympus E-3, 7-14mm at 7mm (2x crop factor), ISO 400, exposure … sec @ f/5.0)

After having taken several pictures of the exterior of the University of Michigan Museum of Art over time, I decided to take my camera inside to take some interior photography. At the same time, my wife and I took in an exhibition called The Lens of Impressionism. The exhibition was quite interesting. It was a collection of photographs and paintings from the mid to late 1800′s and it showed the effect that photography had on impressionist painting. The photography was amazing. The clarity of some of the images was truly stunning. Anyway, this has nothing to do with the image above!

The image you see was taken in the original part of the museum. Last year a new wing opened which gave the museum some much needed additional space. I’ve always liked this gallery area, in particular the curves and the posts. The museum doesn’t allow tripods, and it was a cloudy day outside so the gallery area wasn’t awash in an abundance of light. I had to increase the ISO to get a reasonable shutter speed and I also had to rest my camera on a railing to get a stable shot. I like the image, but it isn’t as sharp as I would like it to be. I’ll have to go back some other time and try again.

Processing of this image involved a few steps. First, some minor perspective correction was done to make sure the posts were straight. I then used a Topaz Denoise filter to reduce some of the camera noise, followed by Topaz Adjust using the Clarity preset to increase micro-contrast. I used a HSL filter to tone down the saturation just a little bit.

Overall I like the way this image came out. In fact, I’m using it as a desktop background on my external monitor. Looks pretty cool.

Comments and feedback welcome.

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

(Olympus E-3, 7-14mm at 7mm (2x crop factor), ISO 100, exposure 1/20 sec @ f/11.0)

This shot shows the Wintergarden portion of the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. The RenCen is also the world headquarters of General Motors. This is another picture that I took on this years Worldwide Photowalk organized by Scott Kelby and friends. The RenCen was the starting and ending point for our walk. We finished the walk and had some lunch at the food court. When I came in from outside, I took this shot. Shortly thereafter, a security guard approached some of our photowalk members and informed them that there could be no photography inside the building. There was even a vague threat to one of our photographers that they might confiscate his camera. It was later learned that it was ok to shoot with point and shoot cameras, but not ‘professional’ cameras. What a load of crap. Anyway I have this one shot which I think came out all right. The picture has a slightly greenish cast to it because the glass is tinted green. I debated about fixing the white balance, but I kind of like the color cast.

Comments and feedback welcome.

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

(Olympus E-3, 70-300mm at 96mm (2x crop factor), ISO 800, exposure 1/125 sec @ f/6.3)

The image above shows the interior of a 1920 Pierce Arrow automobile. The car was one of many on display at an event held at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan (near Kalamazoo). What I find most interesting about this shot is the speedometer. If you look closely, the speedometer is more like an odometer and appears to max out at 75 MPH before returning to 0 again.

The Gilmore Car Museum is a great place to visit if you enjoy automobiles. They have a huge collection of classic cars and the people who run the museum are knowledgeable and friendly. Many of the cars in the museum are actually owned by people who work at the museum.

Comments and feedback welcome.

Image and text Copyright © 2008 James W. Howe – All rights reserved

This image can be purchased.