Day 40: Totally (Well, Not Totally) Tubular

Good evening. Sorry for the late post. I was actually planning on posting earlier today, but I'm glad I held off until now. I took some photos earlier in the day that I thought was going to be all I had time for, but I ended up snapping some photos in "downtown" Indiana while waiting for a couple of friends to get out of class. Let's start with the one(s) I took earlier.

.8 sec exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

1.6 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

3.2 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

20 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

13 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

6 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

I took each of these images and composited them using the Photomatix HDR plug-in (which I finally ended up purchasing, which means no more watermarks. Hooray!). The composited image is below.

Composite HDR image.
Click image for larger version.

I kind of like how this one came out. There's a certain quality that HDR gives it, an almost painted look in some places. Oh, and in case you're wondering that's a poster mailing tube that I've had laying around for a while and always forget to incorporate into my shots. I took a few photos with it before I started the blog and liked the different nature that the tube adds to the photos. What do you guys think?

This next photo is of the marquee for the Indiana Theater (which is actually a bus station now, though I think they do an occasional show there; in fact, I think The Clarks are playing there soon) and the town's Clock Tower building. I think it's part of a bank, but I'm not completely certain. Either way, here it is.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 1600.
Click image for larger version.

It's an okay shot, I guess. I had to crank the ISO way, way up to be able to use a fast enough shutter speed. I didn't have my tripod with me, and I was getting some camera shake at lower ISOs. I think I'm mostly disappointed with the color (or lack thereof) in this one. There's just not much happening in that department unfortunately. But that's okay, because I have one more to share, and I really like how this one came out.

Right at the end of this block (if you move towards where I was standing, not further away), right next to the theater is a bike shop. Between the bike shop and a hobby shop is a street/alley. I was standing in that alley to block myself from the brutal wind while I was putting away my camera when this caught my eye. So I dug my camera back out and took a few photos of it. This one was the best, and I tweaked it a bit in Aperture, but I'll explain that in a moment.

.5 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 1600.

Click image for larger version.

That arrow is pointing toward a staircase, but I just really liked that black arrow on the side of the building; I like the way that it points, more angled down instead of just horizontal or vertical. All I did in Aperture was turned up the exposure to brighten it up a bit, adjusted the curves to brighten it up some more, and then I tried adjusting something I haven't touched before--I turned down the Black Point. I'm not sure exactly what this does other than it made it look much softer and more "vintage", but I really like that it does that. This is one of my favorite photos I've taken now, and it's mostly because of that softness that turning down the black point gave it. I love the "crispness" that digital photography offers, but it sometimes makes the photos look too clean, not enough character. This particular image needed a grittiness to it, and I'm glad I figured out how to do that (well, kind of figured out). It's another one of those ah-ha moments that remind why it is I'm doing this. Good day, goooood day.

I must be getting to bed for work calls early tomorrow. Not sure what I'll be photographing since I really am running out of things at work. But I'm sure something will present itself. It always seems to. Thanks for stopping by. I just want to give one brief, little reminder that I'll be doing another contest similar to the one in January. The deadlines isn't until the end of the month, but if you see a photo that you like make sure you let me know (i.e. comment!) and you might win an 8 x 10 print of it. Party on, dudes!