HDR Photography

Photoshop can do many things one of them is taking care of the lawn. In this 3 minute video I will show you how to turn dead grass into green grass. Photoshop grass can look pretty cool if you do it right, especially with a HDR photograph. It almost gives the grass a life of its' own. This is my second quick tip for Photoshop and I hope you enjoy. Please leave me some feedback and don't forget to tell your friends!

Scott, the organizer of the Vero Beach photography group, better known as Adventure Photography Workshop, left his camera unattended, so I snuck in a few shots of his gear while he was away. I really liked how this HDR shot came out. I was extremely impressed when I applied Topaz Adjust, I can't really explain the results so I will post a before and after photo with this article. I've been very happy with the extra detail that Topaz Adjust has added to my work. I was amazed with my rocking chair photo.

The Photoshop burn tool is used to darken sections of an image allowing the artist to control the darkness in a photograph. By darkening areas of a photo using the burn tool the artist can create depth in a scene. This video will show you how I use the Photoshop burn tool to create dramatic shadows in my HDR photographs. The burn tool is also available in Photoshop Elements so this video will apply to Photoshop Elements as well.

This Saturday I had a photowalk with the Vero Beach photography group at the Driftwood Resort. This hotel is actually listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. The Driftwood Resort was founded in 1935 by Waldo Sexton and placed in the registry in 1994. As the name would insinuate the resort is entirely built from driftwood. If you're into wood textures, this wood* be a great place to take pictures.

It seems lately like I'm getting up earlier and earlier to take photographs and since I don't go to bed till around 2-3am thats bad for me. So now my sleep schedule is all messed up. Oh well, the things I do in the name of photography.

This is a HDR photograph taken in Palm Beach Gardens of the PGA Boulevard Bridge. A friend got me interested in this spot when he emailed me a photograph of this bridge.

I drive by this bridge probably once a week. There was a few times when I've seen a good shot as the sun was setting but I never had my camera with me at the time. This time it was different. I had my camera and I was ready to capture a nice bridge with the sun setting in the background.

If you're a local Palm Beach Gardens resident and you plan on going to shoot the PGA bridge from this vantage point, I'm going to warn you now, beware of the ants! No joke, these ants are everywhere. They're not fire ants, thank goodness, but their numbers are unbelievable.

You might have notice captainkimo's website layout has changed. I decided to go for the traditional 3 column look to accommodate ads which will help pay for hosting cost. Some of you are probably thinking, "well isn't hosting like, 3 dollars." No, not for me. I didn't buy cheap hosting service. Like my photo gear I prefer quality over price.

Among other things that have changed. I have disabled LightboxV2 on all the thumbnails so the image no longer pops up when you click on the thumbnail. But it will take you to the original page and there you will be able to click the preview to view the pop-up image.

Another shot of Coral Cove Park but this time during sunrise. I photographed this HDR image a couple of weeks back but never had a chance to sit down and process any of the files.

That morning the rain seem to fall from nowhere with no sign of stopping. However it manage to clear up just in time for the sunrise. The clouds at first appeared that they might ruin the shoot but to my surprise it ended up being pretty spectacular.

Makes waking up in the morning worth every cent! I am far from being a morning person. The only thing that gets me moving that early is coffee and the thought of capturing the perfect scene. I think this photograph is close to qualifying for perfect.

This was one of a few amazing images I manage to capture while out Monday shooting with the Vero Beach Photography Group. The shoot was held at a draw bridge in Jupiter, Florida. I have some more shots on the way with the Sun setting, which was gorgeous that night.

This HDR photo was merged in Photomatix, processed in Photoshop Elements 7 and detail enhanced with Topaz Adjust.

You all are gonna kill me but I wasn't able to do a video for this HDR photo. The reason being is that I started demoing Photoshop Elements 7 to see if I like it or not. I've used Photoshop since version 3 and I don't mean CS3. I'm talking about the version released over a decade ago!

Why am I using Photoshop E7 instead of CS whatever? Well... because of 3 things. One, I can't afford to be dishing out 2 to 3 hundred dollars every time a new version of PS comes out. Two, I'm trying to become more of a minimalist for the sake of performance. Three, it's come to my attention that a lot of photographers are using PE7 instead of the pro version. Mainly because of the cost difference.

I will be organizing Scott Kelby's 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk for Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. On July 18, 2009 at 7:00am I am leading the Photowalk starting at the Jupiter Inlet. The group will be walking west towards Dubios Park and making their way to the end of the park. If you're a local, consider joining the group. There is still plenty of room left. For more information about the Photowalk please visit http://worldwidephotowalk.com/palm-beach-gardens-fl-usa/