Heard a Podcast on Photography.ca about the Orton effect.  Since I heard about it I’ve wanted to try a few samples to see what I think.   I found some suggested processes to create Ortons using Photoshop.  But needing multiple copies sounded like a perfect fit for Lightrooms  Virtual Copies.   Basically, I made 2 virtual copies.  Lightened the exposure on both copies.  On One copy I increase Clarify all the way to the right, increase contrast, and sharpened.  On the other copy I reduced Clarify all the way to the left, left contrast alone.  Then I Edited as layers in Photoshop.  Which is where I changed the blend mode to Multiply.

I’d heard that the effect works well with portraits and animals:

I thought that it would also be a good effect to use on old rustic buildings and ruins:

Let me know what you think.

I took this photo twice.  Once with the bridge in focus & once with the ice plant in focus.   I loaded both into Photoshop as layers.  Then I did Edit / Auto align layers.  Then Edit / Auto blend layers.   The resulting file had both of the in focus sections merged together.  Results were OK but I noticed that there was a small out of focus “edge” between the 2 parts.  I ended up having to clone the edge to get rid of this distraction.  I’m wondering if Helicon Focus would have handled the blend better.  (I’ve lost my license of this and don’t know if I want to buy it again now that PS handles merging multiple focus points.

I went to the Japanese Tea Garden a few years ago, and my camera died.  Didn’t get any photos.   So I was determined to make it there while I was in San Francisco.  Camera held up this time, but my Wide Angle lens finally fell apart.  Not a big problem for most shots.  But I really wanted to get a shot of the Pagoda with the waterfalls below it.  What to do?  I took an HDR pano.  This one was a double vertical pano (top to bottom left, top to bottom right.)  8 slices, 24 photos.  I got it all in, but there is some major slant in the pagoda.  Guess that will motivate me to buy a new Wide Angle lens.

This is how much I could take in at 17mm:

And this is the pano:

Lesson 1:  Be sure and save you WP draft on your Iphone before leaving WP  (Maybe I went to music in the middle to change albums, who know… but I lost the entire blog I wrote.)

Lesson 2: Rainy days are the best times to go to Zoo’s.  That’s where I went on Saturday.  On a rare San Diego rainy day.  The crowds were gone, the animals were active, and the photos were plentiful.

Lesson 3: Better use a higher ISO if the light is lower than normal and you want to use a long lens.  The increase in speed (and steady shots) is worth the small amount of noise.

Lesson 4: DxO Pro as a Raw processor, is the way to go if you have some noise.  It took 3 hours for DxO to run… way slow.  But the results were worth it.  There was a real reduction in noise, with no loss in sharpness.

I don’t know why I didn’t think about making this photo Black & White before.  I looked at the result and said wow.  What do you think?

So in the comments for this post, there was some feeling that the picture needed to be straightened out.  I hadn’t done this because I didn’t want to lose the 2 fish at the bottom.  So as a test I used Photoshop, cloned the fish, moved them further up, and then straighted out the photo.  Which version do you prefer?

As I mentioned earlier, I’m thinking about putting out a Balboa Park Calendar.  After reviewing my photo’s I’m definitely leaning towards using IR photos for the calendar.  These would include original IR’s and IR’s converted to Black & White.  (I really believe nothing makes better source material for a black & white then a IR photo.  Here is the photo I’m thinking about putting on the cover:

I’m thinking about putting out a 2010 calendar.  (Yes I know it’s a little late for this.)  I’m thinking about making the theme for this years calendar Balboa Pak.  Seems like a good idea.  Last year I did Southern Utah.  Beautiful images but I know very few people in Utah.  Was able to have calendar carried in a couple of places in Springdale3 (Zion).  But not a roaring success.

Since San Diego is my home town, more opportunities to find places to carry a local calendar?  Who knows.  Too late to do much for this year, but it’ll be good practice.

One of my favorite series in Balboa Park is with my IR camera.  Some of the pictures work great for this.  SO the calendar may be all IR.  At least this will be a unique slant on the place.  But lately I’ve really been enjoying converting my IR shots to Black & White.  The IR shots really work well in BW.  I use Nik Silver Effects Pro, and love the results.  Of course one concern is that a B&W calendar will be harder to sell.

Which version of this shot do you prefer?: