Weekly Photo Challenge: On Top

My entry for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.

Rooftop done right. New York City. I want to explore it so bad!

A useful tool: Topaz DeNoise

I took this original shot at 6400 ISO with lots of noise:

Original

And using Topaz DeNoise converted the shot to this:

DeNoise, BW conversion, soft vignette

Topaz DeNoise allows one to get rid of the noise without destroying the clarity of the photograph.

If you click on each of the images they will open in a separate window where you can examine the larger image. I am particularly happy with her whiskers which still maintain their detail, rather than turning into a blurry mess (which is usually what happens with most “remove grain/noise” options in processing software).

Image

Blue

Forty Years

As you are aware, I took a brief trip last weekend to Oklahoma. Waiting at the other end were my two brothers and my mother. Only one brother knew I was coming. I was a surprise for Mom and my younger brother. Forty years ago, when I was graduating from high school, we had a formal family portrait taken.

In all the intervening years, for some reason, we’ve never all been in the same place at the same time. Until last weekend.

Here’s one I got of my mom while I was setting up the shot and testing the shutter release. I’m just out of camera to the right, so yeah, it’s me she’s looking at.