Went Wandering in Colorado


This is a nice image actually, it really shows how diverse the landscape can be. All 4 variations placed strongly at the foreground.

Enhanced your original image for contrast & saturation.
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/750/medium/Zichar_Colorado_base.jpg

Image directly after SEP2
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/750/medium/Zichar_Colorado_AfterSEP2.jpg
Using the following:
High Structure Preset
Tonality Protection -> highlights 3/4
Green Filter -> for contrast

SEP2 Image after Dodge & Burn and USM.
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/750/medium/Zichar_Colorado_SEP2DB.jpg


Final Image using DIY method
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/data/750/medium/Zichar_Colorado_DIY.jpg
I did not purposely try to emulate the SEP2 version; just to show there are 2 ways to the same goal.

DIY Method (CS5) steps
B&W Adjustment Layer -> red filter (not much difference between all the presets, probably same result if you used de-saturation)
Levels -> moved black point slightly right
Curves -> slight S curve for contrast
Shadows/Highlights -> recover highlights 8%, shadows 0%
Selective Colour -> Blacks > Black +6%, Whites > Black -33%
Brightness -> +12
Dodge & Burn -> Sculpt contours, enhance texture
USM

Conclusion: Relatively same results on final inspection. SEP2 is a good shortcut for the DIY method, but if you don't have it you're not lost either. Have to be better in PS that's all.
 

Took me awhile to wrap my head around what was posted
Your comments also sparked Zach to flickr mail me some more... lots of stuff to explore
Sometimes I think the more I know the more confused, indecisive I become?! lol I feel like trying everything!

>>

I felt like rolling down the dunes! Plodding slowly on, my weight coupled with the steep slope had me on the verge of tipping over

Two girls perhaps late teens early 20s, one of them started putting on her bug eyed sunglasses,
wrapped her scarf around her neck, zipped up her jacket and pulled the hood up and tight over her head
... then slid down the steep incline!!!
Her friend laughed out loudly, peering over the incline
But after much cajoling she still didn't dare try it, and ran down the ridgeline instead.

Didn't think it was possible, yet desperation (or laziness) being the spark of invention,
so I stuffed my tripod underneath my hoodie, hugged my bag and jumped down thinking I'd slide
I stopped after 3 feet, ugh.
With bucket loads of sand in my jeans, insidiously worming their way into all ahem cracks
Like Pigpen, for all my other steps, I had dirt falling out of my pantlegs
Still not sure how she did it

 

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foxtwo said:
#52 is really nice!
Click to expand...

Thanks!

>>

I think this here's the last of the dunes, walking back was a hellish chore
The bag felt heavier than when I started out, its strap cutting deep into my shoulders
I tipped over the plastic bottle rolling my tongue into a cylinder and sucking out all the precious last drops

Distinctly remember giving up when I encountered this mother and her two young children
The boy of about seven, dragging along a blue plastic sled
And the girl, maybe three, hand-in-hand with her mom tottering over her ginger steps on the dunes

He asked me if it was much further up and if I reached the top
I managed a grin, and told him nay, it's tough going
His mother smiled back, a small Pentax DSLR lay around her neck
You're going all the way up, for real?
The boy gave an exuberant Yea and the woman a strangely wistful We'll manage

And he ran past me, the sled swung left and right, snaking its way behind him like a rattle
I paused to look back, watching his legs pumping wildly fighting against the shifting and falling sands
Gaining ground quickly, he then simply turned and jumped into his sled, whooshed down
Stopping at the feet of his mom

Face beaming, I'm going again he yelled, those words striking daggers into my lactic acid encrusted legs
Swallowing dry spittle I stared transfixed as he repeated this at least 4 more times
With the rest of his family trundling along, going past the highest point of where I had been
Oh to be young again

 

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Hi Sir, I think you have changed the style of PP...:) #52 and #53 is very nice and I think silver efex will definitely suits you well. There is more structure detail in the last two which can be easily achieve in silver efex and the choice of filter can help to change the contrast and bring out different details as well. For myself I must have this software to do my b&w.
What I feel for the last two is a little too heavy for structure or texture details to be seen. Maybe I'm wrong because I have not seen the actual place...:)

I have said before that this is a very good leaning thread you have shared. I learned quite a lot here...Thank you so much.. more please...
 

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soulFLY said:
Beautiful....great lines and the lil humans at the end of the frame adds so much depth and perhaps scale to the grand dunes...

I really love how you capture the dunes as of late...i am digging it..well done my friend..
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words Thomas. Was also lucky enough to set off moments earlier than the crowd; looked over my shoulder and there were a lot of people heading my way but just 3 couples ahead of me. I tell everyone that I let them get ahead of me on purpose....... lol

MGohzxc said:
Hi Sir, I think you have changed the style of PP...:) #52 and #53 is very nice and I think silver efex will definitely suits you well. There is more structure detail in the last two which can be easily achieve in silver efex and the choice of filter can help to change the contrast and bring out different details as well. For myself I must have this software to do my b&w.
What I feel for the last two is a little too heavy for structure or texture details to be seen. Maybe I'm wrong because I have not seen the actual place...:)

I have said before that this is a very good leaning thread you have shared. I learned quite a lot here...Thank you so much.. more please...
Click to expand...

Thanks Manita. I kinda wish I had a sense of structure to what I'm doing lol; am processing based on what I remember and then to what feels right(?)
Have recently purchased Topaz B&W and am loth to pick up Silver Efex so soon considering its price tag yikes. It's supposed to be similar, although the user interface takes a bit of getting used to. Must admit that it remains highly covetous...

The key feature I had wanted to retain from the previous photos was the 'idea' of texture; barely visible but yet you know it's there?
It's funny you should say that; Zach shared with me something I found amusing - that we're probably misrepresenting the place by omitting all the bits of shrubbery and irregular patterns, concentrating on the stronger curves and simplicity of lines lol. There's a lot of debris, carried up here in the wings of winds

>>

I had an eye on the clock all the time, as we had to check out by 11
Left the wife in the room propped up on pillows, remote in reach
Like Gattaca, overextended myself heading up, tank on empty heading back

Rames was really cool though, he simply let her stay in as he didn't have any guests coming in
Plus he let us have all his leftover sodas, in a dusty crate by the machine
Left silently unplugged to hibernate the winter

<54>


Flickr​
 

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Having said our goodbyes we hit the road knowing there was naught but a long stretch ahead of us
With nothing but the GPS to guide us, we drove
through endless fields of golden stalks, shorn of seeds left barren to rustle in the wind
Not a car in sight, only contemporary Christian radio stations on the band

After miles of backroads, we slowly wheeled into a small town, more like a pitstop
We needed gas, and both stations seemed to be the focal point of activity if not the only major buildings
Where cars and jeeps in lines await their sip of automobile nectar

It was only when I went inside to pay up that I realise that everyone there was Latino
From the cashier to the attendant and every one of the customers queuing up beside me
Farmhands who sat or squat just outside enjoying their lunch break
Even the gas station's hot meals were tacos and burritos
Not wanting to be left out, I followed up my gas purchase with a couple of scratch-and-win tickets
Just like the three customers in front of me
Won five bucks

I left the wheel to my co-driver, the tiny weightlifters behind my eyelids having packed up and gone for their siesta as well
I left behind tufts of white clouds amidst blue skies and a bright shining sun, the last I could remember as I dozed off into pleasant slumber

And awoke to gentle pats on my thigh and whispers of my name
I shivered and shuddered as I'm wont to do when awoken
Fresh whiteness filtered in through the slits of my eyes
Which flew wide open in bewilderment ... because lo
we were in a mountainous pass, pine trees, falling snow
Patches of ice line the roads
as my wife's voice slowly reassured me I would want to see all this

Rubbing my puffy peepers, transported to another world, mental scream
When off over on the side I spotted a river, frozen, its whiteness blinding
Pull over please, the words dribbled from my mouth, my hands they crawl towards the opening of my camera bag
And we simply sat and stared, at the howling wind, whipping flecks of snowflakes wildly with reckless abandonment

She noticed it first from off the side of the car, a tiny head popping out
And I fit on the tele, the juddering window creaking and groaning, struggling to stay shut
Cold air instantly displacing the warm interior, stinging my cheeks as I took this with the door frame as my brace
We would later find out, consulting the park rangers,

Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus

 

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The click of the door handle spooked the critter away
And I extricated myself from the car, shaking slumber from my joints
Another dark colored sedan pulling up behind us,
its driver getting out to survey the river as well
Road trains went rumbling past, tremendous gusts of wind
Akin inhaling with a curiously strong mint in your mouth

<56>


Flickr​
 

We slowly wound our way above, ears popping with every yawn
Snowflakes fluttered in lazy circles, growing denser with every passing minute
And we stared amazed, head down as low as possible to look out over the tops
Necks craning to see the tall tips of pines, slowly gathering white dust

Packed snow littered the landscape, fields of white greeted us nearer the top
And right off a bend, a small clearing and overcropping disguised as just another runaway truck lane
But for the ubiquitous brown scenic lookout sign

Two other cars were parked there, one with a lone woman traveler
And the other, filled with young Latinos early twenties in probably cliched wear, flannel shirts over tees
with oversized 3/4ers and large baller sneakers
The winds whipped us silly and all of us were rubbing our hands together
A moment of understanding passed between us and we all started laughing
They jumped up and clung to the fence, taking quick shots with each other
camera phones clicking in a flurry, mad glee imprinted upon their faces
Before escaping into the warmth of their SUV
Watching them go, my teeth began to chatter, and it was not long before I retreated within

 

Hi Zichar,

Actually you can buy SFX from DSI (DigitalSilverImaging), at a heavily discounted price. I'm wondering what would it look like if those images are printed :)
 

hanzohattori said:
Hi Zichar,

Actually you can buy SFX from DSI (DigitalSilverImaging), at a heavily discounted price. I'm wondering what would it look like if those images are printed :)
Click to expand...

Hi hanzohattori, unfamiliar with that; tried googling. Ilford SFX?

>>

Through twist and turns we gaped
The straights we blew right through
Of towering black sheet rock
And needles creaking beneath their new white burden
Past the ski resort, and cars slumped into the side
Spilling out their contents of brightly colour snowshoe walkers
Though the descent less felt,
the change of colours, and mountains away and not beside
We knew, just knew the highlands were well to our backs

 

Tried to recreate a similar shot taken on the other side of the world
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zichar/5468569694/in/set-72157625911268730
Unruly and wild in comparison, the branches sprout into all directions
And I'd say downright creepy actually to be standing at the edge
With a rutted path to my left, wooden posts and a fence gate hanging by one hinge
Going down to the shadows where I can't peer in no more
The clicks of the shutter fiendishly loud, the place deathly silent

 

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wow what a stunning images you have taken....
 

heroes19 said:
wow what a stunning images you have taken....
Click to expand...

Thanks, glad you liked them

>>

The Million Dollar Highway, US550, so good that I planned to traverse it twice though alas I didn't
Possibly one of the best, harrowing, craziest drives I've ever been on
With no guardrails, steep vertigo inducing cliffs, roads that were crumbling at the edges
I watched with eyes wide open, peering into the abyss below
Anxiously as the tyres, the rubber rims like fingers with extended nails
clung on to whatever asphalt there was left, some only mud
Pebbles flew off, crackling like cocoa flavored cereal down below
Narrow dual carriage, slippery with black ice
Or minor streams and falls, sprung out from melting snow up above
Perhaps Ymir taking a piss from yonder high

Maintenance roadworks kept some at a single lane, no Bangladeshi worker to hold up a Stop Go sign
Just plain guessing, hopefully the opposing driver understands from behind the reflected windscreen
Unspoken rule being truckers get first dibs of any passageway
Ours suddenly alarmingly large

The roads were simply cut hewn from the mountains, some just a simple shelf for the cars to pass by within
If I stuck my hand out, I'd touch the red brown rock mud on my face
There was no room to stop, no room safe enough to stop
I had wanted the wheel but too late, no longer possible to swap drivers
Cradling my black hunk of light equipment in my lap I watched the view breathtakingly go by
And I prayed

 

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Just a lil' bit more to our next stop
But as before, we knew the windy road was behind us
One last concession I pleaded to the wife
Dark and gloomy, evening was setting
While fiddling with the controls the skies opened up for a moment
And then it was gone

 

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The roads simply opened up and the town lay below in a valley, roads slowly winding down towards
It was a surreal small town, Silverton, like something born from all my years of watching Spaghetti Westerns
Reading Cowboy Picture Library and turning the musty yellowed pages of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy comics
With unpaved hard packed dirt roads, and large front stores
Half expected the sheriff to come riding along

And so we ended up at the local radio fundraiser KSJC mountainradio by chance
Stayed at the Elevated Sleep-In, stumbled into the cafe looking to pay the owner of aforementioned house
She was the caterer at the event, we were famished, it looked like one of the only places left open for dinner so hey anything for a cause!
Took away the most important lesson, alcohol hits hard at 9000ft! 'Tickets' came with one free drink...
And embarrassingly, I couldn't keep upright, tottering and taking one rest too many (can't remember if I sat in the middle of the road once)
Just to get back to the house on the opposite side of the street
All this after ... one glass of red

Taken from our 'hole in the wall' table, hastily cleared for the guests from out of town, between the main door and de facto coat rack

 

Here's another from the fundraiser, 'open mic' night with a pretty receptive, boisterous crowd
With 500 townsfolk and doors that are left unlocked, homes and cars, I guess it's where everyone knows your name
Looking on, I felt really disappointed not knowing how to play any musical instruments
More so when a 9 year old stepped up and tried the first few bars of Smoke on the Water...

 

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