Friday 29 April 2011

PP Tips 25 - Using Adobe Lightroom

This is part of a 'How To' series on post process work.

I have put together a fairly simple overview of using some of the adjustment tools in Lightroom. As it will be difficult to see the process steps here, I have created a PDF file which can be downloaded.

It is in two parts - For part one click here, and for part two click here

For reference, here are a couple of the images shown in the tutorial.


Original.



Adjusted.



Original.



Adjusted.



Cheers


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Other posts in this series - Click here for the index page.

Wednesday 27 April 2011

A Little Love And Care

I love my 'bike. It's not that big, nor that powerful, but it is perfectly suited for getting around the area here on the photo trips I do. Comfortable and quick on the highway, and excellent for getting through the traffic in town.

One year on, it has about 8,400 kilo's on the clock and I took it in today for its 8,000 km service.

One thing I also really like is that the local Honda shop is always so quick and efficient at doing the services. I pulled up at about 8 am and they started immediately. Half the bike was in pieces before I had a chance to start taking pix.




The petrol tank has to come off to get to the air cleaner. The guy at the left has just discovered that the nut holding the clutch handle in place, has disappeared. Glad he spotted that.



Seeing as the tank was off, I mentioned to them that it was 'surging' at about 4,000 to 5,000 RPM and could they check the mixture. Quick as a flash the air box came out.



Next, the carburettor was gone. There's an engine down there somewhere.



The carby getting a clean. They thought the probable reason for the surging was that it needed a clean.



More cleaning. Long story short, after it was all back together and I headed out for a ride, it still surges but not quite as much as it did.



While the 'bike was getting serviced, I had a quick look at the latest model. The new CBR 250R. Yes, I would like one.



Why would I like one ? Its got a bigger rear tyre.



Also, whilst I was waiting I had a look at the patient in the next bay. Ever wanted to remove spokes from a wheel ? This is how you do it.



Not sure why but the whole front of the 'bike got pulled apart.



Here's the wheel after a little surgery on the spokes.



I retired to the office for a bit and noticed the two beautiful young ladies there doing a little grooming also. Not quite sure what they were doing, but I think it was an eyebrow trim.



The patient.



So, after getting the service, I headed off to the Wash Me (Spa for your car). They do 'bikes also and again the service is excellent and speedy.



Didn't take long before it was starting to look a little more like I remembered it should look.



A little fine attention from the owner - Pang (Powder in Thai).



Well, with it all serviced and sparkling like new, I headed off to get a picture of it. It will be dirty again soon enough.



Cheers


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Sunday 24 April 2011

PP Tips 24 - Using 'Masks' In Photoshop

This is part of a 'How To' series on post process work.

This one deals with some techniques to create masks in Photoshop, and how to then apply editing steps with/within the masks.

There are several techniques to accomplish this, and I am simply showing some of them.

I have made an overview using several different images, and using different styles of masking for different purposes. As it will be difficult to see the process steps here, I have created a PDF file which can be downloaded - Click here

Due to its size, the document is in four sections. The above link will take you to part one and all the other parts can then be downloaded from there.

Please download and, above all, enjoy.

For reference, here are a couple of the original 'as-shot' images followed by the image as edited using the techniques as described.

In this first one, the idea was to completely remove the background to create a 'clipping mask'.


The original image.




The completed image.




With this next one, the goal was to balance shadows and highlights.

The original image.




The completed image.




Hope you find it helpful.


Cheers


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For other posts in this series, please click here

PP Tips 23 - Simple Photoshop Black And White Technique

This is part of a 'How To' series on post process work.

This one deals with a technique to convert a colour image to a black and white one, using some of the tools in Photoshop.

There are many techniques to accomplish this, and to accomplish different effects, this is just one of them.

I have made a very quick overview of a couple of image edits using this technique. As it will be difficult to see the process steps here, I have created a PDF file which can be downloaded - Click here

Please download and, above all, enjoy.

For reference, here is one of the original 'as-shot' images followed by the image as edited using the technique.




Hope you find it helpful.


Cheers


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For other posts in this series, please click here

Thursday 21 April 2011

Boats, And Stuff

Also whilst out and about today, we went down to the fishing port at Pak Nam Pran.

Here's a few shots (well, many) from around the area.































Cheers


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