Alphabet Bar And Reflection

I'm still finding interesting shots to process from my time in Chicago. From Salvage One, this is the back of the bar, a collection of random sign letters set in front of a glass block window. It was a tricky photo to figure out how to make into a good composition. I'm still unsure I did it well. With so many apps now for iPad, one can spend as much time (or more!) working with an image as in Photoshop, I think.

In the end, I settled on a black and white image to make it more silhouette-y. Then I added a "moonglow" layer and a grain layer to make the glass brighter behind the letters.

Mostly Hank

Beer and country music on a Friday night.

Austin Under Wraps

Found this on my morning walk with Maggie. This car, at a house near ours, has been under cover until today. I love the hooded headlights and the partially scraped off paint. It reminds me of one (or more) of the characters in Cars. A bunch of junk is piled all around the car so I added a vignette layer in Simply HDR HD app to condense the focus more onto the "face" of the car.

Tiffany Dome, Chicago Cultural Center

Another What's On The Ceiling shot from Chicago. I'm not the first to have made one like this, I bet. This is the second stained glass dome in the Chicago Cultural Center, formerly the Chicago Public Library, done by Louis Comfort Tiffany. You may have heard of him. When Tiffany was selected for this project, he had just finished redoing several rooms in the White House for President Chester Arthur.

A few details:
• The Tiffany Dome is 38 feet in diameter.
• 30,000 pieces of glass fill its cast iron frame.
• It is the world's largest Louis Comfort Tiffany glass dome.
• Only about 2% of the glass pieces had to be replaced in the restoration project.

Wedding Venue

Salvage One, Chicago wedding venue tre cool.

Healy and Millet Stained Glass Dome, Chicago Cultural Center

One of the grand surprises of my trip to Chicago was a visit to the old Chicago Public Library, now the Chicago Cultural Center. Opened in 1897, the building is an art jewel box with not one but two stained glass domes. This is the dome in the Grand Army of the Republic Rotunda. Shot with my iPhone using Olloclip. Post in Snapseed and iWatermark.

Piano Man

My Sweetie practices the piano before Carrie's wedding last weekend.

This is actually a photomontage on an iPhone photo I made at the wedding venue site, Salvage One.  The original was too bright and stark;  the warehouse clutter in the background too distracting.  I cropped it way, way down to the juice of the shot.  Then I added a watercolor texture image I made years ago,  manipulating it until it gave an overall warmth to the photo and toned down the highlight on the top of the piano.  

The Way You Look Tonight

Feeling sentimental today about our BIG weekend in Chicago for my daughter's wedding. Here's one of my best captures of the evening.

Oops!  Forgot to say post was done in Snapseed except for the ©.  A feature in Snapseed I love is the ability to click on a spot or area on the photo and change the selective brightness and (I think I remember it right) the detail visible there.  You can also scale the size of that spot up or down.  That's cool because I liked that I'd gone to the trouble of composing the crooning DJ into the frame but he was so dark you couldn't really see him unless you knew to look there.  With the Selective Adjust feature, I clicked on his upper body, dialed up the brightness and he appeared!  Not too bright; not too dark.  Just right.  Thank you Snapseed and, oh, I LOVE you!

Mt Hood On Approach

Flying out of the cold and beginnings of snow in Chicago and into the sunny spring skies of Portland yesterday we saw this delicious treat:

Cultural Center Pano

This is a first serious attempt at making a panoramic photo with my phone camera. The Grand Army of the Republic Rotunda in the old Chicago Public Library begged for experimentation. You can see Hugh and our excellent walking tour guide waiting for me to make my 360 so we could continue the tour.

Art!

An installation in the old Chicago Public Library, now the Chicago Cultural Center.

Chillin'

A great face on a great dog. Wine and cheese hour at Hotel Monaco.

Just Call Me

Floor phones in Hotel Monaco, Chicago. Post in Moku Hanga HD for canvas and black boost layers. Frame in Snapseed (the almost perfect post-photo app!), and © in the wonderful iWatermark.

Warehouse Madonna

Yesterday I played with light and light reflection on this bronze statue at the wedding venue. I enjoyed the odd juxtaposition of the woman's face with the industrial pipes in the ceiling. This warehouse is a cacophony of architectural details, columns, statuary, neon or antique signs, funky furniture, sculpture, church pews, art projects, and lighting. That's probably only 10% of what you'll find stashed here.

Tomorrow, I'll share the name of this place in Chicago. For now, take a look at my Warehouse Madonna.

What's On The Ceiling

I'm a "What's on the ceiling?" kind of photographer. I have photos (somewhere) of cathedral ceilings in France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium. Thank heaven cameras and phones now have functions allowing a ceiling photo-nerd to be more composed with her shot rather than just setting the timer, putting the camera on the floor, then stepping back quickly hoping to get out of the wide angle view before the shutter clicks.

Today we had lunch at Protein Bar in Downtown Chicago (highly recommend). Here's what's on the ceiling there.  Post in Photo Toaster for contrast, white balance, and adding a scratched metal layer.

Mirror Frame Abstract

An abstract taken of the silver mirror frame set on black wood and the yummy-rich red wall.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Monaco Hotel Chicago

Moku Crocus

I think it's finally spring here in Bridge City. I found one sign today; this purple crocus! I spent time with several post processing apps before settling on Hoku Manga again. Something about what they do to alter texture is exciting to my eyes! Next came Snapseed which I think is a near perfect app. If they would only add a text feature it would be completely perfect. Lastly, PhotoMarkr for the ©. PhotoMarkr is still seriously behind the door and it only does one thing. I'd LOVE it if it would display in horizontal mode.

Wedding in D-7 days.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hoku Crocus

Frost On The Car

A beautiful couple of days in Northern Oregon got some gardeners' passion for planting aroused. Good thing not everyone put tender plants in the ground. Here's what happened last night:


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Frost On The Car

Up From Oaks Bottom

Walking up the hill from Oaks Bottom with Maggie, is this great path. I love the curve of the path and the light and shadow across the path in front of us. I am still having fun playing in Moku Hanga HD.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad