innovation

This was a parking meter in Laguna Beach, CA.  Leave it to Laguna beach to have the artsy way of trying to eliminate panhandling.  Didn't exactly see people crowding around the meter to put in change, but it definitely caught my eye.  Amazing to me that all of the other parking meters (that were used to generate money for the local economy) accepted credit cards, but this one did not.  Just a thought...

love...

Took this walking along the outskirts of Hollywood coming back from visiting LA Ink.  Modified in Aperture and Color Efex Pro Plug-in to give it a "midnight" effect even though it was the middle of the day when I took the picture.  Didn't edit out the Trailer Park sign, because I thought it gave the photo a balance.

on vacation...

so I haven't done so well posting the modified pictures every day.  I have been in California since Wednesday on a short end-of-summer vacation that was planned at the last minute.  Posted alot of photos from my iPhone on troybradfordiphonephotos.blogspot.com.  Hope to be back to posting photos on this website next week.

old picture...

This is a picture that I took of Maci downtown Greenville during her Senior year of high school.  Loved the pictures but never got it printed because we had her Senior pictures taken by Veraska in Cooper.  Edited it in Aperture using a NIK Silver Efex Pro plug-in.  Created the look by using the Antique Plate option and then applying the Tmax 100 film setting.

before and after...

Ok, I am constantly posting pictures on this blog that I have edited to make them exactly how I like them.  I really like the new software (Aperture 3) that I bought for my macbook.  Usually in 5-10 minutes you can take a ho-hum image and make it stand out.  I decided to show how significant the difference can be with just a few minutes work.  This image was edited in about 5 minutes.  I adjusted the exposure, contrast and vibrancy.  I added a little vignette, polarized the sky and dodged (lightened) the area around the boats and water.

before

after

colorful artist...

This one is technically a picture, but it is actually a picture of a sketch.  This is a picture that I took of a project at an open house from Sadi's 6th grade year.  My how time flies.  Sadi is going into 9th grade...  I went away from my current norm of black and white on this one and adjusted the individual colors, vibrancy and saturation in a big way.  A neat record of my little aspiring artist...

matt...

This is an older picture that I took for a friend Matt Koger.  I took several pictures at a old abandoned cemetery that inspired some of his songs.  The pictures were for the CD cover on a second recording.  I don't think he ended up using this one, but when I was looking through some of my old pictures it looked like a great candidate for editing in Aperture 3.  I converted the entire image to black and white.  I then used the brushes to remove the black and white from the guitar and strap.  I also adjusted the contrast and added a slight vignette.

more getting ready...

Like I said in the earlier post, I didn't take hardly any pictures of Maci and Sadi on Maci's wedding day.  Should be getting the pictures from Nick (the photographer) soon.  Until then, I thought I would post a couple more pictures that I took at our house prior to going to the wedding.  Changed them to black and white in Aperture.  Maci and Sadi really appear to be getting along here...

getting ready...

This is a picture that I took of Maci while she was at our house getting ready to go to her wedding.  My little girl getting married!  No matter how much I wasn't ready for this, I just have to say how thankful I really am that God answers prayers.  He has given Maci the man that I have been praying about for over 19 years...

If you can believe it, I didn't take pictures at their wedding.  Nick Minton, a friend of Tyler and Maci, took the pictures.  The preview pictures are available at nickminton.tumblr.com.  He did an AMAZING job and I look forward to seeing all the rest of the pictures...

the space needle...

Another Seattle photo.  This time it has nothing to do with coffee places.  One of the first times that I went to Seattle we went to the Space Needle.  Much more impressive in pictures than going up on it.  Took this picture after leaving the Space Needle on our way back to the car.  Modified it in Aperture 3.  The brushes have the same capability as layers in Photoshop, except they have the standard Apple simplicity.  Used a brush to darken (polarize) the sky and clouds.  Used another one to remove the black and white on the train.  Used yet another one to burn (darken) some of the bright areas on the sky.  Added vignette around the edges and slightly adjusted the contrast.  I am really starting to like Aperture 3...

signs...

This is one of my favorite areas of Seattle.  Look behind you and you will see the famous 'Public Market' sign (see 'Pikes Market' post in May 2009), look down the street in front of you and you will see the Post Alley Seattle's Best Coffee with the famous cup sign (see 'Seattle's Best' post in October 2009).  The signs and overall picture were a little bland and washed out.  I used Aperture to make it a little more colorful.  The signs were enhanced using the tinting brushes.  The 'edge detect' function worked perfect here.  I adjusted the luminance of the background and added black to the bricks.  I also added vingnette to the edges of the picture.

gloom...

It is amazing what black and white can do...  One of my first pictures on my blog was taken of this old house, which I posted in color ("is anybody home" posted in June 2009)?  I never thought about it too much but color vs black and white definitely sets the mood.  To me this picture presents itself as very gloomy...  No hope... Despair...  Not exactly a place you would want to live.  I used the new software to modify this picture.  After removing the color, I was able to "polarize" the sky separate from the rest of the picture to make it more ominous.  In the rest of the picture I adjusted the color, contrast and exposure.