Today's photo is a shot of the San Antonio skyline (from the vantage point of the top floor of the Marriott Riverwalk Hotel) that I took last year after the Christmas lights were lit along the Riverwalk and several of the local hotels decorated their exteriors with lights as well. This photo is also special because it marks the first one that I processed with my newly purchased Perfect Photo Suite 7 from OnOne software (I got it for half off as a Black Friday special, as I had previously purchased their masking product).
While I really enjoy all of the products that Nik Software has to offer, Perfect Photo Suite 7 has some extra flexibility and presets that Nik does not. I wish that I had been using a combination of both tools all along. but I am glad that I finally decided to give it a try, and I am one hundred percent sold on the benefits of using both tools!
I did quite a bit of editing on this photo, as I took several shots in an attempt to get the light streaks in the road the exact way that I wanted them. I also used a combination of a couple of processing techniques in order to get the exact effect that I wanted for the night sky and the skyline itself, and I combined those two photos in order to achieve my background, then I used layering to get the lights streaks exactly how I wanted them. This photo took quite a while to edit, but I am quite happy with the result, and I hope that you enjoy it!
San Antonio Christmas Skyline 2011
Please feel free to click on the photo above to view it in various sizes. Clicking on the photo also takes you to my online gallery, hosted over at smugmug, where you can browse this (and other) photos that I have posted. If you enjoyed viewing this photo, please take a moment and leave comments and/or feedback. Please also feel free to pass the link of this photo on to others if you so desire. Thanks for stopping by!!
Today's photo was taken during a recent trip to Pennsylvania at the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine Tour, located in Ashland, Pennsylvania. The tunnel ceased operation in 1931, but the mine tour (and steam train ride) were opened in 1963 as a tourist attraction, giving visitors the opportunity to learn a little bit about the history of the region as well as actually venturing into what was formerly a working mining operation.
I remembered visiting the Pioneer Tunnel when I was young (and lived in Pennsylvania) and I don't think it changed all that much from my childhood. Although, to be honest, there is really not all that much that could change, but it is still an interesting experience if you happen to be in the neighborhood (or if you want to visit the mine fire in Centralia!)
I took this shot from the last car out of the tunnel after our tour was complete. I cropped the shot to really center on the tracks that run deep into the side of the mountain, as I tried to capture the "deep, peering down the tracks" feeling in this shot. I didn't do much else outside of my normal processing other than the cropping of the shot to try to get it exactly how I wanted. Please feel free to visit the Pioneer Tunnel website if you would like to learn a little bit more about the attraction.
Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine Tour
Please feel free to click on the photo above to view it in various sizes. Clicking on the photo also takes you to my online gallery, hosted over at smugmug, where you can browse this (and other) photos that I have posted. If you enjoyed viewing this photo, please take a moment and leave comments and/or feedback. Please also feel free to pass the link of this photo on to others if you so desire. Thanks for stopping by!!
