Been Editing Away/NYC Pics/Why Use Layers in Photoshop?

I haven't taken anything new in a few days...haven't had much energy for it. Instead I've been editing a lot of the New York City series I took last Saturday.

Tonemapping the single RAW file has produced unbelievable results. When I compare the before and after it's an amazing difference!

This photo from Times Square has become another favorite of mine from the day mainly because I love how the sun is shining in the top left of the photo and then the light literally makes its way across the street like a spotlight.

Spotlight



Muted City









More of my Tonemapped and HDR photos can be found here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3868580/1/234754647


Lady??? Liberty





Lady in the City



I forgot to mention that when we were in the city we spotted ELVIS!

Yes, ladies & gents - ELVIS is alive & kicking in NYC! He was sporting a giant clock around his neck heading for McDonalds!







Santa also made an appearance at the Wall Street Journal in triplicate:





On another note have you ever wondered why you should use LAYERS in photoshop? I certainly have!

I found some links that help explain Photoshop Layers and I just realized I have a lot of reading to do!:

http://www.art.ncc.edu/courses/art130/unit3/layers.htm

http://www.webdesign.org/web/photoshop/photoshop-basics/introduction-to-layers.10947.html

http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/layers/Layers.htm

http://www.theflyingparty.com/photoshop/layers.html

I HEART New York

Today my husband and I made our way into New York City.

The weather was freezing cold to spend hours walking around the city streets but we bundled up and made our way on the NJ Transit train into Penn Station.

Once we got there we made our way around the city to see the "touristy" sights of the Christmas season. We saw the Empire State Building, Macy's window displays, Time Square, Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center & the tree, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Barts, and Radio City Music Hall. We also saw our share of some great "people" sights. A random Elvis, Statue of Liberty People, breakdancers, Santas, various musicians, street artists, a large Doggie, an Elmo (LOL!)

We had a great time even though we coudn't feel our extremities! LOL!

I'll try to post some photos as I edit them. As of right now I started at the end to edit the night photography:

The Empire State Building


Radio City Music Hall



St. Patrick's Cathedral



Rockefeller Center









St. Barts





Grand Central Station





More of my night photography can be seen here: http://jenweaverphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2753068/1/232758801


BTW:

Tonight when I got home I bought all of the ingredients to create my very own DIY Lightbox at The Home Depot (4 utility lights, 4 100 watt lightbulbs, light colored masking tape and a power strip (I had foam boards already).

I will try to photograph the entire process and post it on tomorrow's blog post. I have some websites I will be using to reference and let's just hope I get it right!