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Pentax K10D, SMC Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, ISO 320,  f/1.4, 1/60 sec, +.3 EV, IS on

This photo was taken while waiting in line at Moe’s in Auburn, AL. It was shot from the hip without being composed in the viewfinder. The composition turned out OK but I had to apply a fair amount of post processing in Lightroom to get to this point. Here’s the original unmodified as-shot image:

As you can see, it was a bit underexposed and the white balance was a little out of whack due to the mixed lighting conditions. After playing around with various white balance settings I settled on “Auto” as the best choice. Next all I really did to fix the exposure was jack the Exposure up to +1.42. While I was at it I also dropped the Blacks level to 0 and dialed in more contrast to darken things back up a bit without loosing shadow detail. Finally, I added in a touch of saturation to bring back up the color that was lost when I cranked the exposure.

April 17th, 2009 | Tags: Adobe Lightroom, bokeh, dining, DoF, eating out, food, handles, lunch, mexican, Moe's, Pentax K10D, red, reflection, restaurant, Robert S. Donovan, SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4, Southwest, steam table, yellow | Category: photos | Comments Off

Pentax K10D, Pentax SMCP DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL @ 18mm, ISO 100, f/16, 30 sec, +/-0 EV, IS off

Benihana Japanese Steak House, Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Casino.

I had lunch today in the noodle shop in the back of the Benihana restaurant. The main part of the restaurant was closed and I was leaving I was struck by all the decor all lit up for nobody. I stopped, switched my camera to manual mode, dialed in f/16, ISO 100, and 30 seconds of exposure. I set the self timer to the 2 second delay and set the camera on a flat top of a wooden handrail support post. I didn’t compose the shot with the viewfinder (due to the low height of the railing) nor did I review the shot after taking this single exposure. Later, in Lightroom I dialed back the exposure -0.42 EV and set the white balance to tungsten. Not bad for a “snap shot” :-)

March 5th, 2009 | Tags: asian, bamboo, Benihana, blue, Casino, empty, Hilton Hotel, Japanese, Las Vegas, long exposure, motion blur, Pentax K10D, PMA 2009, red, restaurant, Robert S. Donovan, rocks, SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL, Steak House, travel, water, waterfall, wet, www.booleansplit.com | Category: photos | Comments (1)