Zann’s One Word Photo Challenge – Up

I’m wrapping up the third week of my 2015 photo challenge, and the word for this week is “Up”.

I really didn’t get a chance to do much shooting during the week, and yesterday (Saturday) we were out of town for a family visit, so this morning I got out early in order to meet my self-imposed deadline of completing each week’s assignment by Sunday evening.

And, oh my god, it was cold outside this morning. It was 23° with a wind chill of 13° when I got to my first shoot site at about 7:40 a.m. Fortunately the skies were a beautiful blue with some fluffy clouds starting to roll in, in advance of a cold front, so it actually worked out well, even though my fingers were frozen!

Today I used my Nikon D700 with the 24-85mm lens so that I could get a good wide-angle view of the structures that I was shooting upward toward. I wanted to try and convey a sense of how tall they were by including as much of the base as possible. Of course this means I wound up with perpective distortion, but in this case I really didn’t mind, in fact I welcomed it. They’re all shot in portrait mode to enhance the “up” factor.

I’ve processed these, as usual, in Paint Shop Pro X7, using various Topaz plug-ins–Adjust, Clarity, DeNoise, B&W Effects, Lens Effects, and a new one that I just picked up this week, Restyle.

So, here are the results of this morning’s efforts:

Transmission tower, using Topaz Restyle for some color tweaking:

The same transmission tower, from a different angle, using Topaz B&W Effects:

Water tower, using Topaz Lens Effects (neutral density filter):

Flags in front of the Lee County Justice Center in Tupelo, using Topaz Lens Effects and Adjust:

The old Cotton Mill building, using Topaz Clarity and Adjust:

Another abandoned industrial building, using Topaz Clarity and Adjust:

The one-word theme for next week, starting on February 16, is “delicate”. Feel free to play along! Just be sure to use the hashtag #zannonewordphotochallenge when you post your photos to your favorite site. Here’s the list of upcoming challenges, each of which begins on a Monday. Photos must be shot in the week indicated, before the end of the day on the following Sunday, although they can be edited later.

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Bayou Pierre Church

I was going back through my archives this evening, looking for something to play with, and I came across a folder of shots that I took back in June 2013 near Port Gibson, Mississippi. We had driven down there to visit the Windsor Ruins, and we just happened across this little bit of history tucked into the trees just off the country road.

This is what remains of the Bayou Pierre Presbyterian Church, founded in 1807. It’s a tiny little structure perched on a slight hill, surrounded by trees that are dripping with Spanish moss. I had a great time shooting brackets there for HDR processing–that is, until I found myself standing in the middle of a mound of ants. As I remember it, I was sick for several days afterwards from all the ant bites. That’s probably why I never got around to processing these photos, but now seems like a good time.

All these shots were taken with my Nikon D700 and the 14-24mm lens. Each one is an HDR processed from seven bracketed shots using Photomatix. Post-processing done in Paint Shop Photo Pro using Topaz Adjust.

Textures of Downtown Tupelo

About three weeks ago, I decided to spend Sunday afternoon playing with my new 24-85mm Nikkor lens, so the hubby and I took off on a photo walk in downtown Tupelo. Like any Southern town, as soon as church is over, the downtown area is pretty much deserted, so I knew I’d be able to get some shots of some of the architecture without having to worry about having a lot of cars and trucks parked in front of the buildings.

We spent a little over an hour exploring some little nooks and crannies that I hadn’t shot before. We were having a great time until I decided to try and get some HDR brackets out behind an abandoned ice house. The vacant lot was full of weeds, so I was keeping a close eye out for snakes, and fortunately we didn’t see any. However, as I was setting up my tripod and absentmindedly scratching my lower leg with my other foot, my hubby suddenly exclaimed, “Baby, your legs are covered with mosquitoes!” And he was right!! As they say here in the South, I got “eat up” by the little varmints. I was so miserable, we cut the day short and went home to indulge in some Benadryl and ointment.

But before all that happened, I did manage to get some shots that I enjoyed working with later. Here are three images that I processed in Paintshop Photo Pro X5, using Topaz Adjust and Topaz Black & White Effects.

A Valentine From the Abandoned House

Continuing my series of images from the abandoned house we found on Highway 278 west of Tupelo, Mississippi:

I’ve been holding on to this image ever since I started processing this series, just waiting for Valentine’s Day to share it with everyone. I found this abandoned dirt daubers’ colony in the middle of a blank wall in the front room of the house. The heart-shaped sculpture created by those peaceful little creatures on this cracked and peeling surface just struck me as beautiful!

I used my tripod to capture a series of brackets and then processed this as an HDR in order get all the texture in the dauber nest as well as the wall itself.

This image is best viewed large, and I can’t wait to have it printed on canvas and hung on my wall!

Shot with my Nikon D700 with my 14-24mm Nikkor glass. Processed in Photomatix, Paint Shop Photo Pro, and Topaz Adjust.

The Kitchen Has Seen Better Days

Continuing my series of images from the abandoned house we discovered on Highway 278 west of Tupelo, Mississippi:

The heart of any home is the kitchen, and I’m sure this house was no different. Upon entering this room, we were struck by the layers of wall covering that were visible–some fabric, some wood. The fabric looked like it could have even been old bed sheets, tacked to the wall. The colors were preserved or faded in broad swaths, depending on what, if anything, had covered them in the past. The linoleum floor showed the faint outlines of a pink floral pattern that must have been all the rage at one time. It probably even matched the wall covering when it was new.

Along the far wall was a row of large nails that had been hammered into the wood at odd angles. What were they for? Did they hang pots and pans there, maybe their coffee mugs? And what were the two faucets sticking up from the floor used for?

So much to see, so few answers. But old houses like these leave so much to the imagination!

HDR image created from brackets taken with my Nikon D700 and my 14-24mm glass. Processed in Photomatix, Paint Shop Photo Pro, and Topaz Adjust.

Check out the other rooms we visited before:

The Living Room

The Back Room

Continuing my series of images from the abandoned house that we discovered west of Tupelo, Mississippi…

After entering the door of the house and walking through the living room, you enter a back bedroom. But don’t go in there too quickly, or you could find yourself standing on the ground. The floorboards in the middle of the room have rotted to the point that there’s a huge, gaping hole, partially filled with the remains of carpet padding, where you can see the ground under the house.

I love the old windows with the triple panes at the top, through which the sunlight poured to illuminate the mess in front of us. An open closet contained a few old coat hangers, one with the paper advertisement of the local dry cleaners still attached, telling us that this place must have been inhabited in the not-too-distant past.

We walked through here very gingerly, staying close to the walls to set up the tripod and camera to get this shot. Enjoy!

Shot with my Nikon D700 and 14-24mm Nikkor glass. Processed in Photomatix and Paint Shop Photo Pro, using Topaz Adjust filters.

The Living Room

Continuing the tour of the Abandoned House on Hwy 278…

Upon entering the door of the old house, this is the sight that greets you. Even though it’s sad to see a house in such disrepair, one can’t help but try and imagine what happened in this room. Who lived here? Were they happy? Did something awful happen here that caused this place to be abandoned, to slowly return to the elements?

The room is coming apart, layer by layer. Wood paneling on the ceiling gives way to acoustic tile, which gives way to insulation and wood. Wallpaper gives way to older wallpaper, which gives way to wood. Multiple layers of flooring are peeling away, and the underlying structure is rotting back into the ground.

Only the brick in the fireplace seems permanent, although it too will eventually dissolve.

If only the walls could talk….

Shot with the Nikon D700 and my 14-24mm glass. Six-exposure HDR. Click on the photo and view as large as possible.

Houston Museum of Fine Arts in HDR

A few days ago I posted a shot of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. Today I’m offering another view of the same building from a different, closer angle.

It’s such a magnificent building, and the grounds are meticulously groomed, making it a magnet for photographers and sight-seers alike. I really wish we had had time to visit the Picasso exhibit that was on display there…next time we’ll have to plan our trip a little better!

This is another HDR image, composed of nine bracketed photos shot with my Nikon D700 and the 28-300mm lens. I processed the brackets in Photomatix Pro V4, and then did final editing in Paintshop Photo Pro X5.

Texting God?

I love candid shots, and I love black-and-white photography. And when I can combine the two, it makes my day!

While I was in the process of shooting brackets for HDR processing at St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Houston, I noticed this guy sitting on the steps in front of the huge wooden doors. I’m not sure if he noticed me as I pointed the camera toward him, but if he did, he didn’t really care. He was much more interested in his smartphone. 🙂

I processed this in Paintshop Photo Pro X5, using the Topaz Black & White plug-in. It’s one of my favorite shots from the trip.

Houston Architecture in HDR

Wow, it’s good to be processing photos again! I especially enjoy the HDR processing, and while we were in Houston I was able to get a few good brackets to bring back to the computer. For most of them, I was using the tripod and shooting nine exposures (that’s one of the things I love about the Nikon D700, it allows a LOT of bracketing!). But there were a few where I just shot hand-held exposures of five brackets. I haven’t processed any of the latter yet, but I’m hoping that Photomatix will be able to align them without too much of a problem since there are a lot of straight line, architectural features in the shots.

So…here are a couple of images that I’ve processed so far.

This first one is the Museum of Fine Arts, which just happened to be hosting an exhibit of Picasso’s work, thus the banners on the front of the building. The grounds were beautiful with the spring flowers in full bloom, and the partly cloudy skies gave plenty of shadows and light to enhance the HDR effect:

This next one is St. ~~Luke’s~~ Paul’s Methodist Church, located nearby the museum and medical center. I probably should have pulled out my really wide angle lens for this one, but I don’t think it came out too badly. I love all the detail in the facade of the building. It was a breezy day, so there’s a little bit of ghosting in the tree limbs that I wasn’t able to totally remove in Photomatix, but I don’t think it’s too distracting at all:

There are more images to come, so stay tuned! It’s good to be back!

the Zen of Zann

…exploring my world with my Nikon and iPhone

Tag Archives: architecture

Zann’s One Word Photo Challenge – Up

Bayou Pierre Church

Textures of Downtown Tupelo

A Valentine From the Abandoned House

The Kitchen Has Seen Better Days

The Back Room

The Living Room

Houston Museum of Fine Arts in HDR

Texting God?

Houston Architecture in HDR