I had hoped to do a similar repeat of an experiment as with the last posting 'Square Deal Garage', however weather and subject matter did not cooperate for me this time. Yet in some way, this evenings posting is a different venue as I am not noted for people photography in general but especially outside the studio and therefore could qualify as an experiment of sorts. It was an impromptu photo that was not planned, it just happened. Anthony and I were talking and as I looked at the two and how Sammy was holding Anthony there was that little voice in the back of my head saying 'get the camera you fool'. Glad I listened as it was only a half of a cars length away. This image has given rise to an idea of photographing a series based upon teenagers, documenting a fragment of their lives. Thank you for stopping by. Vielen dank das Sie vorbei gekommen sind. Grazie. Technical Information: CAMERA: Sony DSC-V1, Automatic exposure, ISO100, EV + -0.0, handheld LIGHT: Natural/overcast PHOTOSHOP NOTES: Minimal adjustments in 'Levels' and conversion to B&W using 'Channel Mixer'. The background was darkened first to bring focus to the pair. Entire image was then adjusted in 'Brightness/Contrast'. No retouching of any kind. Technical Notes for last Wednesday's image 'Square Deal Garage' PHOTOSHOP NOTES: I tried the method three different times, only to discover, I wanted to try other things in the conversion. So I am including options for you to try in these notes, but the sequence remains the same through all three of my attempts. 01: Adjustments in 'Level' to bring up overall brightness of the image. Setting were 15/1.30/175. 02: Adjustments in 'Curves' to create the illusion of infra-red. 'input' setting is at 125 and 'output' setting 235. Do not be shocked, your monitor now takes a turn for the bizarre. You may wish to lower the curve but keep it in the center of the two points. 03: Artistic filter 'Palette Knife' settings to 25/3/0 is then applied. Next head for 'Filter-Fade' and set opacity to 50% and mode to 'Screen' Your other options are 'Overlay', 'Soft Light', 'Darker', 'Hard Light', or 'Colour Burn'. In this presentation I choose 'Colour Burn'. 04: We now apply the principles of the magazine article. In RGB mode, go to 'Channels' and disable all but the green one. Next apply 'Gaussian Blur' set to radius anywhere between 2.0 to 5.0 pixels depending upon your image and preference. Enable all three channels and in 'Filter-fade' adjust Gaussian Blur to opacity 50% and mode to 'screen'. You now have created the basic infra-red colour image, yet further adjustments can be made in accordance to your image, including converting it to a B&W version at this point. 05: Return to 'Channel Mixer' and set the Source Channel 'red' to -20, 'green' to +135, and 'blue' to -20. It should be noted that here it all depends upon your image and its colours. Also by adjusting the "Constant' within Channel Mixer, you will see colours shift. So experiment! 06: If at this time you wish to convert to B&W infra-red version, click on 'Monochrome'. Remember, adjustment or fine-tuning can be made in the three channels before clicking 'OK'. Just remember, this cannot be undone without redoing the entire 'Channel Mixer' process. 06: If you are going to continue in colour, then your next step will be once more to go to filter and fade 'Channel Mixer'. Set opacity to 50% and mode at 'Multiply'. Other options for mode settings might be 'Darker', or Colour Burn'. 07: Finally we now adjust the colour to our liking using 'Hue/Saturation'. For this image I elected to de-saturate in order to lessen the red and yellow over bearing tones. Setting was -25 for saturation only. Results: By no means is this method an absolut. It is an experiment and one I would not mind trying again, especially when the sky has some colour and is not devoid of it as here.