The Wandering Photographer

New to IR Photography

I recently had one of my old cameras converted to shoot Infrared photos. The stock sensor filter was replaced with a 590nm IR filter (also called a IR Super Color filter) by LifePixel. I have recently had a chance to try it out. 

I spent the day at Kensington MetroPark under some pretty perfect conditions, great foliage, scattered clouds, blue skies, and a beautiful lake. I've chosen one image to show my transition and early experimentation. This is new to me and I know that some of the stuff is way over the top. Hopefully I'll learn to tweak this and be a bit more subtle. My goal in the end was to try a bunch of stuff but end up with a quality black and white image of the scene.

My starting point was to choose a "Custom White Balance" since the camera responds differently to IR light. I set the WB using the grass as my target since it has a tone close to neutral grey.

 Out of Camera raw file

As you can see above the RAW image out of the camera has a sickly red tint. This is again because of the response to IR light. If I had shot in jpg mode the resulting image would be closer to the results of my next step, RAW files, however allow for more options going forward.

 RAW image processed using Camera Profile in Lightroom

I created a Camera Profile to pre-process the image in either Lightroom or Camera Raw using Adobe's DNG Profile Editor. You can find instructions in this comprehensive tutorial from Tuts+. The above image still needed a bit of pre-processing in Lightroom before moving to Photoshop.

 Further pre-processing in Lightroom

To get the above image I added some contrast and clarity in Lightroom. I then boosted the vibrance and saturation in the basic panel. The above result is now ready to be opened in Adobe Photoshop.

  Red and Blue channels flipped in Photoshop

The first thing I did was create a levels adjustment layer and adjusted the tonality to my liking. I then followed the advice of the tutorial above and created a channel mixing layer and fliped the Red and Blue channels (it is easy to create a preset to do this). This results in an image that is somewhat realistic in the sky and water but presents foliage that is yellowish. Not unpleasant but not realistic either. Of course we're not looking for realistic in IR photography.

I wondered what would result if I played with the channel mixer a bit. The two photos below show the results of flipping the other RGB channels.

 

Here is the results of flipping the Green and Blue Channels

Not sure I like this much. The colors have no relationship to each other. I thought I would try the last combination available.

 

Here I flipped the Red and the Green channels

Wow still really weird but it feels more surreal to me than garish. The above images were fun to manipulate, but my goal was to get to a nice, but different, Black and White image. So here's what I did.

I went back to the Raw file that I brought into Photoshop and again set the levels and flipped the Red and Blue channels. I then created a Black and White adjustment layer. I tweaked the contrast and tonality of the resulting images and came up with this:

Final Black and White Infrared Image

I'm mostly happy with the results, but I want to play with it a bit more. It's going to take me some time to figure this stuff out but I'm going to have a lot of fun along the way.

What do You think?

© Tim Marks all rights reserved 

Photo Friday: Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue 2014 Concert of Colors

I'm still culling through all the photos I shot at the Detroit Concert of Colors but I thought I'd post some of the images I made during the Saturday night extravaganza that is the All-Star Revue.

This year Don Was presented a reinterpretation of Bob Seger's breakout album Live Bullet. Each band performed one of the songs from the album. I got some pretty good images so I thought I'd share some here.

The Concert is presented each year by the Arab American National Museum.

 

Don Was Introduces the Show

 

Scot Morgan and the Sights perform "Natbush City Limits"

 

One of Scott Morgan's singers

 

The Corktown Popes interpret "Travelin' Man"

 

Jess Domain signs a beautiful Redition of "Beautiful Loser"

 

Mayssa Karaa gives a a haunting Arabic/English interpretation of "Turn the Page"

 

Liz Larin Sings the Classic "Katmandu"

 

Steffanie Christi'an and Nadir present a powerful rendition of Seger's angry "Lookin' Back"

So that's a look at some of the great musisians we ejoyed during this year's Don Was Detroit all-Star Revue. As soon as I get more sorted out I'll get another post together.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

2014 Concert of Colors Preview

Once again it is time for my favorite music event of the Summer. July 10th through the 13th marks the 22nd Annual Detroit Diversity Festival the Concert of Colors. Produced by the Arab American National Museum, its goal is to bring together metro Detroiters through the Diversity of music spanning Detroit and across the globe.

 

The Festival begins on Thursday evening at the Museum of African American History with Sun Ra and Mike Ellison.

On Friday evening the festivities move to the Detroit Institute of Arts presenting Latin Jazz from PanaMo and Baroque Avant Guarde from Cuddle Magic.

The Festival explodes with music on the weekend presenting fifteen acts on Saturday and fourteen more on Sunday.The diversity ranges from Detroit Rock and soul to the sounds of Cuba and Africa with lots in between. Here's a few things I'm really looking forward to.

 

On Saturday night producer Don Was will present the latest edition of his allstar review. The Don Was Allstar Revue: Bob Seger's Live Bullet Revisited. The show will consist of Detroit area bands such as The Detroit Cobras, The Corktown Popes and Doop and the Inside Outlaws covering the songs from Seger's signature album Live Bullet.

It gets even better on Sunday.

Detroit Blues great Thornetta Davis joins the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Grammy award- winning conductor John McLaughlin Williams to present a jazz/blues/classical fusion. In the words of the CoC website, "Get ready to experience some Saturday night gutbucket and Sunday morning go to meeting music with the always expressive Davis and her new DSO partners."

The big act on Sunday night reunites  to legendary Detroiters, Wayne Kramer and Melvin Davis.

 

Soul legend Davis worked with MC5 guitarist Kramer back in the 1970s in the band Radiation.

This Rock and Soul Summit, Kramer + Davis, should electrify Orchestra Hall. I can't wait to see it.

The festival presents more than 30 different acts over the four days.

The Concert of Colors is not only a great weekend of music, it is a chance for Detroiters to come together and celebrate both their differences and commonalities. Viva la Difference.

More info at the Concert of Colors Website http://Concertofcolors.com

See Ya There

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

The Henry Ford-Worth a Visit and a Membership

Cotswold Cottage: Greenfield Village

The folks at The Henry Ford were kind enough to host us for the Local Roots, Winter Evening Dinner last week. It was a fabulous time sampling various locally sourced comfort foods. The the strolling dinner menu included, Chicken & Waffles w/ Michigan Mustard Maple sauce, Carved Ham w/ two selections of Mac & Cheese as well as a number of other selections. The dinner was held inside the Henry Ford Museum amidst a host of wonderful old automobiles as well as the vintage 1946 Lamy's Diner.

What I really want to write about, however, is how important it is to support places like The Henry Ford. The Henry Ford comprises The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. The museum is jam-packed with Americana. Several massive railroad locomotives fill the east end of the building. There is a comprehensive exhibit on the development of the automobile which includes cars stretching back to the turn of the twentieth century, including the presidential cars of presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy (yes that car) and Reagan.

 

Massive Steam Engine 

One of my favorite sections of the museum is the display of old industrial and farm equipment. As a photographer I love to make images of great, massive, Gothic steam engines, as well as closeups of machinery.

 Tractor Gearing

The Village is a large collection of historical buildings that tell the story of our history. Buildings are open to the public and most have docents present to explain the significance of the presentation. Buildings include the Cotswold Cottage (circa 1619) from England to Thomas Edison's entire Menlo Park Lab.

 

Coming in to the station

One of the highlights for any visit is a ride on the 19th century train that circles the village.

A membership to The Henry Ford allows unlimitted admitances to the village and the museum during the year. It only takes a few visits to make up the price of the membership, and you will be helping to support a great community asset. For a photographer a membership is like gold. You can go early in the moring and stay only as long as you need to get the photos you want without feeling like you have to hang around all day to get you money's worth. When I worked near by, I would often sneak out on a frustrating afternoon to take a walk in the village. Other days, a couple of co-workers and I would head over to the Eagle Tavern for lunch. None of which we could afford to do without memberships.

If you would like to learn about memberships to The Henry Ford head over to the membership page on their web site here. To browse the collection visit here. And if you don't live nearby please find a museum in your town to support by buying a membership.

The Museum is open 9:30 - 5:00 seven days a week year round (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas)

The Village is open April Thru October 9:30 - 5:00, and weekends during November

© Tim Marks All Rights Reserved

2013 Concert of Colors: Ozomatli with the Detroit Symphony

 

This year for my Concert of Colors coverage I plan to write several posts concentrated on one or two acts each. Today is the Latin hip hop-rock band Ozomatli playing in conjunction with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Ozomatli is an LA band known for representing their city and bringing their version of Latin music to the world.

Ozomatli commented on their Facebook  page about the Detorit Show "The "D" did me right today....the show with the Orchestra went amazing". They noted that they even sampled some of Detroits most famous foods, Coney Hot Dogs.

So Here's some images from the show.

 

 

Getting the Crowd Goin'

 

Belting out a song.

 

Conductor and strings section

 

Strummin' and Drummin'

I'll finish up with a short video of the final song in the set. This highlights how well the band and the orchestra combined to make wonderful music.

Hope you enjoyed these photos. More to come over the next few weeks.

© 2013 Tim Marks all rights reserved.

A Look Back at past Concerts of Colors

Well the 2013 Detroit Concert of Colors is past and as usual it was a fantasic weekend. It will take me a week or so to go through the almost 900 photos I took duirng the Festival so you can expect a recap post sometime befor the end of the month.

In the meantime, You can see some images from Friday nites show here.

In this post I'd like to take a look back at some of the photos from past years. So here they are.

2006

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

2009

Sir Mack Rice

2010

Tien Huicani

2011

Trombone Master

2012

Don Was Detroit All Star Revue: Jazz City Edition

So much for the old stuff. Head back here in a week or so to see the good stuff from this year.

© Tim Marks all right reserved

Favorite Festivals: 2013 Detroit Concert of Colors Day 2

Friday evening was day two of the 2013 diversity festival The Concert of Colors. The festival is a celebration of the great diversity of Southeast Michigan and presents music from around the world.

The energenic and photogenic award winning multicultural funk/jazz group October Babies opened the evening with a show that rocked crowd gathered on the South lawn of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Lead singer Toko Shiiki lead the band in a rousing set that got the crowd going.

Toko Shiiki of October Babies

 

Bassist and Arranger Erik Santos of October Babies

Returning to the Concert of Colors after five years was Lafayette, Louisiana based Feufollet. Feufollet got the crowd dancing with their brand of indie cajun rock.They included cajun/french favorites and several of their own compositions. They got the crowd dancing with a cover of the Beach Boys hit "Heroes and Villans".

Feufollet

 

Dancin' to the cajuns

 

What would a Cajun band be without a fiddle?

Following the music on the South Lawn, the Detroit Film Theatre presented the documentary Louder than Love. The Tony D'Annunzio film celebrates the 1960s rock palace the Grande Ballroom. Many great rock bands made their name at the Grande including the MC5, Bob Seger, the Frost and others,

The Concert of Colors continues through the weekend at the Max Fisher Music Center in Midtown Detroit. Great fun and a great purpose.

© 2013 Tim Marks

Memorial Day

Tomb of the Unknowns

Arlington

Please Remember as you celebrate Memorial Day.

© Tim Marks All Rights Reserved

Favorite Photos series: It's a Duesy!

Duesenberg Aircraft Engine

A visit to the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana is a photographer's dream. Floor after floor of gorgeous automobiles from the early 20th century to admire and photograph. Cars are not the only things to make images of however.

I came across this aircraft engine in the Drafting Room on the second floor of the museum. The repeated pattern of the exhaust pipes immediately caught my eye and I made several images of the engine.

When I arrived home and began editing my images I thought this one would look more striking as a monochrome image. I made the conversion using Nik Silver Effects Pro and tweaked it a bit more in Lightroom.

Here is the full color version of the image.

I think the black & White version has more impact, but that's just my opinion. The monochrome version placed 2nd at my camera club competition. Which do you like best?

Here is an earlier blog about my day at the ACD Museum.

© Tim Marks All Rights Reserved

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks: Baseball in Lansing MI

Cooley Law School Stadium: Home of the Lansing Lugnuts

Here in Detroit, planning a family outing to the ballpark is an expensive proposition. Four tickets run $100 to $140, parking $20 to $25, not to mention way overpriced hotdogs, snacks, pop and beer. Planning a night out at a Lansing Lugnuts game is much less painful. Infield box seats are $11 each and food and drink are affordable.Even considering the 90 mile drive from Detroit, the price can't be beat.

A Swing and a Miss!

Midwest Guest and I had the opportunity to catch a game this month as the Lugnuts took on the Dayton (OH) Dragons. This is Class A Minor League Baseball at its finest. The players in this league are on their way to the majors, so you get to see some great baseball at bargain prices.

The city owned stadium seats 11,000, making for a cozy atmosphere. (see the stadium layout here). Sitting this close to the action would cost you $75 per ticket in most Major League stadiums.

And the Pitch

This is baseball as it was meant to be played. These are the big-leaguers of the future, see them now before you have to catch them on the tube.

Whether you are a real fan of the game, or you are just looking for a cool family outing, Lugnuts Baseball is the way to go.

© 2013 Tim Marks, All Rights Reserved

Thanks to the Greater Lansing Michigan Convention and Visitors Bureau for sponsoring my visit to Lansing, providing lodging, meals and a tour of Lansing area attractions for my review during my recent visit there, with no further compensation. I was free to express my own opinions about the stay and experiences, and the opinions expressed here are mine.