More great work with Cameron.

The image above require a bit of lens correction. The wide angle that allows the photographer to capture these great dynamic spaces also has the inherent problem barrel distortion.


The architect wanted the feel of a lush forest outside the windows and a nice clean look inside. I removed all extraneous fixtures including the projectors in the class room and exit signs in the hallway. The outside exposure is just a touch darker than reality but I feel it conveys the "lush" feel the client was looking for.

Shooting in the Grocery store.

I'm not exactly sure what these bags have against sandwiches but I think somebody needs to do something about this!

Back on set!

Vacation's over. Time to get back to work. I spent the slow part of the this summer hitting the books and developing some new skills which was extremely refreshing but it always feels good to get back on set and do some great work with some great folks.

Firebird at The Bechtler

This image was shot by Cameron Triggs in two pieces, top and bottom. He had me create an exposure composite and a vertical panoramic stitch. I removed several unwanted shadows and elements that detracted from the image and corrected the mixed lighting.

Portals of Barcelona

Walking the streets of a any large city will introduce you to, not just, the culture of the city but specifically the neighborhood you are walking through. As we meandered through the maze like alley ways I started to notice more and more the old wooden doors juxtaposed to the modern steel doors covered in graffiti.

Spain

Just back from a great trip to Barcelona. This is just the first of many great images I shot in Spain. More to come...

Kiosk

I got to work with Armando Bellmas on this image. The Charlotte Douglas airport has a new info desk in the baggage claim area and we had a very limited area to shoot it. Thankfully the Hertz desk was closed and the gentleman at the Avis desk was quite accommodating. Neither of us realized the extent of the parallax issues with the ceiling beams and floors that we would have but Armando got enough image space for me to work some magic and get everything looking great. As always you can see more at my website.

www.byfirelite.com
www.bellmas.com

Indian's at the Air field

This was a shoot that I got to help Cameron Triggs out with, on set and in post. It was a lot of fun but very hectic. We were to shoot the new Indian motorcycle model, The Bomber, on a small airstrip in North Carolina. The bike has a vintage WWII look and the client located this airstrip because it had a WWII airplane museum and a few planes they were willing to let us shoot with.

We needed to get at least five shots done out side and, because of a few miscommunications, the client was running late and there was a huge storm rolling in. To make matters more tense the planes were aluminum and aren't supose to get wet or they will have to be polished from tip to tail. Also this airstrip is a functioning airport so there were many buildings, planes and other vehicles in the background that were obviously modern and thus out of place if in the shot.

Needless to say with a bit of hustle we got some great images that only needed a few things fixed. On the bottom set I had to remove some background elements. Because of he weather we had to work around the sun and sky so several exposures were need to get all the elements we wanted. The gauge cluster on top of the fuel tank of the silver bike was also not the correct color. The day of the shoot it was black but when it went to production it would be silver so that also needed to be fixed. To see the before and afters better head over to my website.

www.byfirelite.com
www.triggsphoto.com

Let there be light

The retouching for this image was fairly basic; remove dust spot, speakers in the ceiling and picture frame on the right, bring the tonal information back in the ceiling lamps, correct for the lose of depth of field on the closest chairs and make the light on the right look like it continues to the end of the wall. The last one not quite as easy as the rest. This light is influencing the rear and side walls as well as the ceiling which is highly reflective. This is where having some photography experience comes in handy.

Below is another shot of the same room just from a different angle. The client has this painting in another of their offices and wanted it in this shot. The only photo they had of the painting was a small Jpeg and it took up about an eighth of the image. I had to up size it a bit, but I think looks alright and the client was pleased, which is the the most important part.



www.byfirelite.com
www.triggsphoto.com

Removing Brenden

I have to laugh every time I see this image. I'm not sure what the circumstance was, but the privacy curtain for this conference room didn't have a tie back and the curtain covered half the room and the great view of Charlotte's downtown.

Initially I removed Brenden. To take him out and for the image to look correct I had to recreate the floor and wall which he was covering and also maintain the reflections in the glass. The curtain is also translucent and I had to rebuild it where Brenden's darker colored clothes were showing through. I then created a silk looking band where he was holding the curtain to make it look as though it was tied back. This images looked great. The client however thought it would look better with out the curtain altogether.

I then had to rebuild nearly all the right side of the room; ceiling, wall and floor. I also had to remove the curtains texture while maintaining the reflections in the glass. I think it turned out well and I believe Cameron and the client thought it looked great. Check out some larger versions at the website.

www.byfirelite.com
www.triggsphoto.com

Wedding Portrait

It has been a wonderfully busy year thus far, but I finally got a moment to breath. I'm always trying to think of new techniques and methods to deal with everyday retouching needs. I decided to revisit some portraits I shot of a friend for her wedding last fall. I'm working through some new methods of retouching skin. If you want to view the before and after please check out my website:

www.byFireLite.com

Thanks for the look and feel free to make some comments.