Month: October 2013

PhotoPlus 2013 Takes Over the Javits Center

IMG_1705 sAnother huge PhotoPlus Expo has come and gone at New York’s Javits Center. I attended yesterday (Friday) so that I could also swing over to Grand Central Station to check out the Scenic Hudson exhibit, which was there for the one day only. This also made it possible to visit the B&H and Adorama booths, which are closed on Saturdays for religious reasons. I didn’t attend any presentations or workshops but did manage to get a look-in at virtually every booth, including handling the Nikon D7100 and the latest in the Lumix G series, the DMC-GX7KS. Lovely cameras both!

Here are some photos from the day.

Proudly showing the Nikon colors

Proudly showing the Nikon colors

Nikon always has an interesting set-up for people to practice their skills on. I liked this retro look--it fits right in with my obsession for photographing interiors of vintage diners.

Nikon always has an interesting set-up for people to practice their skills on. I liked this retro look–it fits right in with my obsession for photographing interiors of vintage diners.

At the AdoramaPix booth you could spin the Wheel of Fortune and win a prize. I won a coupon for an 8 x 10 aluminyzed print!

At the AdoramaPix booth you could spin the Wheel of Fortune and win a prize. I won a coupon for an 8 x 10 aluminyzed print!

 

 

Interpreting Poughkeepsie

With all my travels up and down the Hudson Valley for our book Historic Hudson Valley, I never sufficiently explored Poughkeepsie, a historic city in Dutchess County.  Yesterday I thought it was about time to put that right, especially since I’m doing a talk and book signing at the Mid Hudson Heritage Center on Thursday October 24.

Poughkeepsie has several historic districts, including this one on Main Street. Here are two versions of one of the photos I took, both processed in Photoshop CS 5 with Topaz Adjust 5.  (The building on the right houses the Mid Hudson Heritage Center.)

Each version expresses a different side of the character of the Main Street district. The first has a hint of the gritty look I associate with this kind of area. For this I used, from the Topaz Adjust Vibrant collection, Detail Strong – II, in which I increased the number of color regions to five and boosted the saturation to 1.30.Ed IMG_1978 Top Detail Strong s

For the second version I used the Faded Glory (the name itself says it all) with the original presets.

Ed IMG_1978 Top faded glory s

Please leave a comment as I’m interested in knowing which version you prefer.  And don’t forget — my talk/book signing at the Mid Hudson Heritage Center on Thursday October 24. I’d love to see you there!