Canon 20D

Poster – Golden Hour.

The image is one of the posters featured in the new eBook, Maui by Poster.

You can read more about this photo and poster on my Maui blog, and the original version of this photo here.

– Kris

Photo: A de-saturated look at one of my previous beach photos.

Of all places to find inspiration for creative work in Photoshop, would you believe this one came from Windows XP?

I had this photo as my desktop background on my office machine – which unfortunately is still running the ancient operating system.  For those of you that might remember it, the Shut Down sequence fades your desktop to black and white in the background. And there you have it.

I couldn’t help but keep some of the color in the blue skies and a touch in the water, but always open to feedback.

– Kris

Another subtle but (I think) effective touch up to an old favorite with a minor tweak in Adobe Camera Raw and Topaz Adjust.

The Before Image

Overall a good image to start with.  Unfortunately it was not shot as a RAW file, so my options in ACR for recovering details in the shadows was somewhat limited. Fear not, though, as Topaz Adjust was able to help out there.

The After Image

The first change I made was in ACR to adjust the White Balance, since this was taken indoors and before I really knew how to use the Custom WB feature on my Canon 20D. You can see that effect in the white sheet under our furry friend here. From there, I increased the exposure compensation just a tad, but not too much because this was not a RAW file.

Next up, Topaz Adjust had its turn using the Exposure Correction preset and tweaking the Detail tab just a bit. You can see from the detail around his eyes and nose where there’s more detail and texture from his fur.  In the resulting image, his fur does end up looking a little lighter than it was in real life, but I’m willing to except that for the additional detail it provides.

Missing Our Little Friend

The photo is more special now than ever because our furry little friend is no longer with us. He passed last summer while fighting with a few medical issues on and off. This is by far my favorite image of Sky, and seeing it makes me wish I could still take more.

Thoughts?

Just like all editions of the Before and After series, let me know what you think of these adjustments and any other suggestions you might have.

– Kris

Photo: Our bunny Star in the process of launching out of her cage.

“Bunny blur” almost sounds like a technical term, doesn’t it?

Since Star here is unofficially becoming the site mascot when changes are made or things go wrong, I figured it would be fair give her the spotlight every now and again.  I’m also in the process of touching a few of her and our other rabbit – who has since passed – to move over to my photonelly flickr account, so I’ll probably have a few more uploaded in the days/weeks to come.

For now, check out the bunny tag for more photos of our furry friends.

- Kris

Photo: Iconic green palm trees against cloudless blue sky.

Grabbed this shot back in ‘07 while walking around the grounds of the Westin Maui Resort in Ka’anapali. We were just taking in the sights – as it was our first return visit to Maui – and happened to look up and decided to snap this one. It became an instant favorite.

A Different Look

I posted this image in a different form about a year or so ago when I was playing around with AndreaMosaic. Here’s another look at that image.

Click on the image to see a larger view on Flickr where you can see all the tiny little photos it’s comprised of. Seeing as I’ve been to Maui two more times since I last played with AndreaMosaic, I should probable give it another whirl.