Summer – Page 4 – tim mcmurdo

maximize your color

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

This image was taken last night during civil twilight from our local marina located at Buck Creek State Park. What you are looking at is the final image after post processing. The "blue hour" after sunset is the perfect time to capture brilliant colors. The reds and blues that result from the sun setting behind the horizon can be spectacular. This kind of display begs for you to get the most out of your colors. Don't settle for ordinary colors.

This is the image SOOC (straight out of the camera) and though the colors are there, they are somewhat subdued. I want to maximize the color and make it explode out of the image. How do I do that?

I get over the top colors by making color adjustments in my photo editor. I use Apple's Apurture for my relatively straight forward image adjustments. However, when I need something more complex like multiple layers and localized adjustments, I turn to Photoshop, a tool that I use professionaly as well as on my personal work. In thi simage, I want the blues and reds to come to life. Adjusting two seperate colors in different areas of the image requires multiple layers and layer masks… that means Photoshop.

First step is to copy the original layer twice, once for the blue and once for the red adjustments. I will save the original layer image unchanged in case I need to go back to it. In the image above, I have adjusted the reds so that they are stronger than in the original. I repeat the same process with the blues on a separate layer.

Notice that as I adjusted the reds, the entire image is changed. The blues are more purple and there is now a lot of red in the white boat that I don't really want. By placing the red layer on top of the blue layer and by adding a layer mask to the red layer, I can "paint" out the areas of the red layer that I don't like. This will allow the blue layer to show through from beneath. Using a soft brush with low transparency settings, I can slowly build up the blues that I need in the final image.

Once again, here is the final image. Notice the vibrant colors. I was able to showcase Ma Nature's color show without ruining the whites and greens that I wanted to remain untouched. Don't be afraid to maximize your colors when the occasion calls for vibrant hues. Go ahead, don't settle, knock your viewer's socks off.

how to beat the heat in three easy steps

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I know that all of you have been struggling to survive the heat dome of 2011, just like I have. Well, I am here to help you with three easy steps to help you live through the heat.

Step One:

Open the refrigerator door.

Step Two:

Climb into the refirgerator. This may require that you first dump everything that currently resides in the refrigerator onto the kitchen floor. However, don’t fret, sacrifices need to be made in the name of comfort.

Step three:

Close the door to the refrigerator. If you are claustrophobic, just close your eyes and pretend you are sleeping and you won’t know the difference.

And in case you were wondering (Renee Jackson Stewart), the light does go out. I just happened to bring a flashlight in with me. Hey look, cold pizza… sorry peoples of the web, you are on your own from here on out. the pizza is calling.

Have a great day folks.

morning walk

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I have a problem. A sort of addiction. I crave the sunrise. Every chance that I can get, I drive to the same location at the lake and sit quietly while the sun peaks its head over the horizon. I've reached the point where I get really bummed when I can't go or when I do and the sunrise isn't up to par. Today was one of those days. I got up and out of the house, drove over to the lake, parked and waited. Clouds, too many clouds.

A few clouds lead to a brilliant sunrise but too many clouds just difuse the light and all the world gets is a dull glow the sky. Pretty, yes but, when I make the effort to wake up early and greet the sun, I expect to get some value for my effort. So you see, I do have an addiction. Averge sunrises are just not doing it for me any more. I need spectacular colors reflecting off of towering clouds and leading to lush reflections on tranquil water.

However, I remember my Father's wise words about birthdays. He says that it sucks to grow old old, but it is better than the alternative. A crappy sunrise is better than no sunrise. Besides, I have plenty of company… seems like there are a lot of people that like to get up early and meet the sun. Crazy sunrise addicts. Should be a 12 step program for something like this.

wild berries

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I was on a walk around Buck Creek this morning, hoping to get a shot of the morning sun cast over a farm that I have been keeping my eye on. I took several images of the farm & liked none of them. I just didn't have the color that I wanted for a really impressive image. I will just have to get over there a little earlier tomorrow.

The good news is that the trip was not a total waste. I noticed along the way, that the wild berries on the side of the path are beginning to ripen. This can only mean that we are one step closer to Autumn and cooler weather. I like many things about the summer. Fresh produce like locally grown corn, tomatoes, berries and other fruits and vegatables. The ability to be outdoors, enjoying the sunshine. However, the brutal heat of this summer has really eliminated most of the outdoor time that I would normally enjoy. The experience has underscored my preference for the cooler temperatures and colors of the Fall. When I saw these berries, I smiled. Autumn is around the corner and can not get here soon enough for me.

a little culture couldn’t hurt. could it?

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

The heat wave continued today and I have been wracking my brain for another indoor opportunity to get out of the house. It suddenly dawned on me, that I have not been to the Dayton Art Institute in some time. I am a firm believer that a little culture is good for all of us.

I dearly love a good art museum & this one is very good. If you have never been to a museum with me you can't possibly know what an experience you are missing. I am normally fairly quiet but in a museum, I turn into a walking commentator. I comment on everything. I thought that in today's post, I would give you a little taste of what it would be like to spend some time with me in an art museum.

Just like I started today, you and I will begin with the European wing of the Art Institute.

"Hey this is cool. I like the way they put these walls in the middle of a room."

"Am I supposed to sit on the bench when I look at the painting? Is that what the artist wanted? A bench?"

"Hey, they changed the wall color."

"She's pretty." (Incidently, this is my favorite painting in the museum.

"Damn, what planet did she come from?"

"Dude! No means NOOOO!"

"I'll bet that hurt."

"Seriously, who paid for a portrait of her?"

"Love must be blind after all."

…

"I think that thing under her eye is moving"

"Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!"

"She is thin but I'll bet she weighs a ton"

"I saw that move in Mortal Combat."

"Dude, it's an Indian."

"It would take me about ten minutes to make that in Photoshop."

"Ha! Somebody painted the Gray Gallery yellow!"

"Dude… GO, it's your turn!"

"Man, I crack myself up."

You know that I pulled on every one of these doors. My face is imprinted on all of the door glass, all over the museum as a result.

"Finally! I can see the big picture."

"I'll bet it hurts combing the tangles out of their hair."

"Really, that's art?"

"I have a whole wall painted that same color and I would be willing to sell it to you cheap."

"I am totally going to bring that one home, it will look great over the headboard."

"Hey, guard lady, can I get a poster of that painting in the gift shop?"

"No? Seriously? Man that is too bad"

"They must have an incredible janitor here. Look at those floors!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, that completes our tour for today. Now you can see why I don't go very often. I don't want them to recognize me. I might get banned.

So, a little culture didn't hurt me. It's just that I might done some damage to culture.

split personalities

Posted on July 23, 2011July 5, 2015 by Tim McMurdo

Ever feel like there is more thatn one person bottled up inside of you? Yestrerday, I was having some of those feelings. This extreme heat is driving me crazy. Part of me wanted to go outside and brave the heat just to take some pictures. But, every time I would go outside, the heat would drive me back into the air conditioning. A heat index of 110F will drive you nuts. Another part of me just wanted to take a nap. Still another part of me was bored and wanted to get up and do something, anything!

That is when I decided to make this image. From beginning to end, an hour and a half for photography and photoshop. Not bad at all. Now that I've finished it, I want to shoot more shots & modify the image. I also have new ideas for other multiple self portrait images. I love it when a little bit of creativity gets the blood going and leads to new ideas.

In the end, going a bit stir crazy led to some great results. The key was acting on that "getting up and doing something, anything" feeling. I am glad that I went with the active personality and not the nap personailty. Though, I have to tell you, I am the king of naps!

Want to make a similar image of your own? Their are probably plenty of methods to choose from but, here is how I did it:

1. Set up your studio. For me this meant moving some furniture around and selecting a big blank wall.

2. Get your outfits ready for your "costume" changes.

3. Set up your camera on a tripod and test out your lighting. The more you perfect your lighting at tis stage, the less work you will have to do in your photo editor.

4. I selected an aperture of f8 to ensure that I had a fairly wide DOF. I wanted all of the "Tims" to be in focus.

5. I shot an image of the chair in AF mode. With the image in focus, I switched to MF mode to lock in the focus.

6. I had decided to shoot five "positions" of myself & placed a pencil on the floor to mark where each position would be centered.

7. I then shot several poses for each position, using the camera's timer. I tried using the remote but, every test image showed the remote in my hand & that is not what I wanted.

8. I then downloaded the images and brought my favorite image for each position into Photoshop by placing each of them on a seperate layer. I stacked the layers so that the over laping positions were on top of the underlying positions.

9. I added a layer mask to each layer and used a black brush to remove the portions of the layer that I did not want to show. This allowed the underlying layers to show through.

10. When I was satified that I had all of the layers the way that I wanted them, I copied and merged the copied layers into a single layer. This allowed me to retain the original layers just in cae I needed them again.

11. Finaly, I made all of my normal curves adjustments for color, tone, contrast, etc. on the new merged layer. I also used the healing brush and clone stamp tool to remove or blend any inconsistencies.

Of all the raw images, this one was my favorite. Why? Because I look skinny. Plus, how cool is that pose?

That folks, was all. Not a whole lot of work for such a fun image. If you give it a try, post your results in the comments. I would love to see your split personalities as well.

talking to jack

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Jack is an old mule. When I say old, I mean that Jack is really old… in the neighborhood of thirty years. Poor jack has seen a lot of life & his replacements have already arrived ont the farm in the form of Kit and Kate, two much larger mules that have already started to pull their own weight. Jack may not be around much longer but, while he is here, he will always have some company and conversation from this young child.

Exposure	0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture	f/6.3
Focal Length	300 mm
ISO Speed	100
Exposure Bias	-1 EV

In this image, I stopped down the exposure one stop because the sun wanted to blow out the bright colors of her pinafore. I knew when I took the image that I would want to convert the photo to black and white and thought that having a blown out area would ruin the tones that I was shooting for.

pond walk

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I am always amazed to see all of the wildlife that I can find when walking around a pond.

But, the most common critter seemed to be these strane orange and white/yellow round ones.

Have a great Thursday folks and be very careful out there in the heat. Here in Dayton, we should hit 95 with a heat index of 110 degrees. Air conditioning is such a great thing on days like this, along with plenty of water and ice cream.

flight time

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

During one of my recent morning walks over at the dam, I watched this model plane flying overhead. There was a model plane field nearby so, I knew where it came from and headed over to have a look.

By the time that I got there, I could see that two men were prepping the plane for a second flight. Shooting into the morning sun with the ground fog was really a lot of fun.

It seemed as though the man in the red shirt was being shown the ropes while the older man went through the paces.

When I left them, the plane was airborne again, on a morning flight to nowhere. I left the two men in the fog to enjoy their fun in the fog and headed back to my walk on the meadow. It was a nice diversion to see them but, I really liked the peace and quiet much better.

ted’s dry run

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

When I woke up this morning, the weather was nasty. The temperature had already reached 80 degrees and the rain had filled the air with with moisture. I took a deep breath and it felt like I was drinking water from a glass. After letting the cat out, I headed to the kitchen to make some coffee and put together some toast. This was part of my morning routine and my body could go through the motion on its own, while my brain wandered. The hot and humid weather reminded me of another time right after I got home from the war.

The summer of 1947 was a terribly hot summer and everyday that it would rain, the humidity would come out fighting just like it had this morning. If I remember right, it was a Saturday morning and I had nothing planned. I decided to head on down to the pond with my fishing pole. I didn't really care if I caught anything, the idea was to sit on the edge of the pond and dangle my feet in the cool water while I enjoyed the shade. So, I got my pole and tackle together and headed for the watering spot out near Stanton's Farm Road.

It wasn't long before I was settled in, watching my bobber floating on the still water. Soon, I caught sight of a turtle on a log. From where I sat, he looked like he was stuck in mid air. His feet were flying but he wasn't going anywhere. He looked likable enough, so I offered to lend him a hand.

"Mr. Turtle, can I offer you a hand into the water?" To my complete surprise, the turtle answered me back!

"No thank you" said the turtle, "that will not be necessary." Holy cow, a talking turtle!

"You can talk!"

"Yes, I can speak he said" between gulps of air. All the time, his legs never stopped. They just spun and spun like a whirligig. "It is a curse."

"A curse? It seems like a blessing to me, Mr. Turtle." By now, I had put my pole down, I wasn't interested in fishing anymore. "Why would it be a curse?"

"Well, now that I can speak, my big mouth keeps getting me into the worst of trouble. I just bet the catfish that I could cross the pond to the other side."

That threw me for a loop. Of course he could cross the pond, he was a turtle after all.

"Mr. turtle, that seems like a sucker's bet to me, of course you can cross the pond, you are a turtle."

"Oh no" said the turtle. "And call me Ted"

"Ok Ted, it is. And what seems to be the problem, you will surely win that bet."

Ted just turned his head and looked at me with a worried expression. "I can't swim and the catfish knows it!" His legs were still turning as fast as he could make them go. "But I got a plan!"

With that, Ted rocked his way off the log and into the water. I gasped, he could drown! But it wasn't to be. Ted's legs were spinning so fast that as he hit the glassy water, he shot across the surface like a skipping stone. Ted skipped eleventy seven times, enough to land him into the cat tails on the opposite side of the pond. I had never seen anything like it in my entire life!

I stood up to see if I could see Ted on the other side but, I couldn't spot anything other than some movement in the tall plants. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to congratulate Ted on winning the bet.

Unfortunately, I never saw Ted again. I just suppose that is the way it should be. Still, I give a chuckle when I think about Ted flying across the pond. Sometimes, I just bust out laughing to myself. When that happens, my wife looks at me like I have lost my mind. She doesn't know about Ted and his bouncing flight across the pond. She has no idea that what really makes me bust out loud is that, though I never found Ted again, I did see the look on the catfish's face when Ted skipped over his head and won the bet.