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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 100 - 100th Celebration >> Challenge 100 - Color > 10th Place
48
by Lonnit Rysher
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10-AUG-2007 Lonnit Rysher

10th Place
48
by Lonnit Rysher

Air & Space Museum, Washington DC

I have completely stunned myself with this image. I have seen
such styles in the top magazines such as PDN and Communication
Arts, and I have ached to be able to produce such images myself.
As I finished the final step and saw the results, I gasped and
my eyes filled with tears. I never thought I could reach my goal,
and now, here I have! What an incredible feeling! Of course in
full size it can be much more appreciated than here at low rez,
but still, it gives a general idea of it.

My family and I wandered the Air & Space museum for hours. I was
not all that thrilled - I would have been happy with about 45 minutes
worth. This was the very last room we entered. I walked in and was
absolutely mesmerized by this jet hanging from the ceiling. I couldn't
stop staring at it. I want one! LOL! I didn't think it was going to
fit within the 24mm lens, but it just made it. Once again, I think it
was purely my passion for the subject that resulted in my enormous
success with the final image. No, you may not care for the style, but
to me, I love these types of images, and to finally be able to produce
one on par with those I admire, is nothing short of a dream come true!

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
1/10s f/4.0 at 24.0mm iso800 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Canon DSLR Challenge21-Aug-2007 20:54
Ahhh, the Puff Nod.... nice seal of approval! LOL! Thank you, sir! :) ~ Lonnit
Guest 21-Aug-2007 19:35
Dynamite in all respects. (That means I like it :-) -Michael
Canon DSLR Challenge21-Aug-2007 15:05
Thank you so much, Nico! :) This machine was just screaming my name. I couldn't stop staring at it. It was love at first sight! ~ LOnnit
jnconradie21-Aug-2007 11:47
"Cool" is totally the right word to use here. I can hardly imagine a more dynamic and energy-packed composition. Highly impressive work. Regards jnconradie
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Aug-2007 22:06
Added to your orig comments or not, 'tis still music to my ears! :) Thank you, CJ, as well. :) ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Aug-2007 22:03
Lonnit, I keep coming back to this image..... it's SOOO cool !! I couldn't put my finger on it earlier but, now that I've seen the image (5 times :-) more, it has a 60's graphic look to it that makes it so appealing to me. Sorry I this didn't get added to my original comments, it just "hit me" now. markjay
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Aug-2007 20:29
Your excellent processing really makes this image - well done! CJ
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Aug-2007 17:45
Thanks so much, guys! ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Aug-2007 14:05
WOW!!!!!Really something!Great work, Lonnit!
Elena
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Aug-2007 03:18
This is fabulous Lonnit, really captures the awesomeness of this display. Love your processing here. Excellent ~ Regards Melbob
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Aug-2007 22:29
Thank you, Sharon. :) ~ LOnnit
elips19-Aug-2007 21:47
Fantastic, Lonnit, really good work! ~Sharon
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Aug-2007 17:04
MJ, Are you kidding?!!! LOL! That would be sooo time consuming! Besides, like I said, I let each image guide me. It's very rare that I'm making a matched series of images, where I want the same look for each. I am in the midst of processing shots from my sister's vow renewal ceremony, and I repeated the same toning on all the church images. That was easy though b/c it was only a single filter I was using, so I just saved it. I do have some custom actions I use on virtually every image - one is a grid overlay to check my rule of thirds; one burns in the edges after I custom select the area; several resize and prep for the web, another for Alamy, and another for my print albums; I also created a bw/toning action that I ocassionally use. Other than that, these really aren't effects, just tools, and all effects are created according to the unique image I'm working on.

As far as my Rockwell goes, that was just a matter of playing around with the tones to get the strong reddish and greenish tints that mimic Rockwell's color palette, along with a curves adjustment. Other than that, it was straight photography.

Some people have a "look" that embodies their style, and they use it on all their images. That's just not me. I've never been one to pigeon-hole myself. I'd much rather experiment and play and stay passionate, rather than become mechanical about it. You can teach anyone to do a set series of steps, and then anyone can do it and your uniqueness is gone. If I'm not playing, I'm not evolving, and I'd never have reached my dream yesterday! :) ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Aug-2007 02:45
You really DO need to write down your actions as you go you know :-) This way if you EVER really did want to repeat the effect, you at least have a record of what you did. Your experimentation and use of filters is commendable. When I think of a "look" that most of us have seen from you, all wondering what "filter" or technique you used, it's the image that has the boy in the kitchen on the chair, reminding us of a Normal Rockwell. That.... is the one image of yours that sticks out in mind the most.
So.. without further ado, I'd like to ask you to give us a hint as to what treatment you used to create that one, if you would be so kind. BTW, thank you for sharing your sort of remembered workflow for this one!!! Markjay
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Aug-2007 01:06
Lonnit has no problem sharing when Lonnit can remember what she did! LOL! There isn't a "this technique" though. Although some might think I might have a consistent workflow for a particular look, I don't. I address each image individually and allow it to tell me where it wants to go. I believe I treated the entire initial image with an Alien Skin color film filter first. I may have used the Agfa cross processing one, which brought out the blues beautifully. As for this image, the people half had a bit of a greenish cast to it. I played around with several different Nik filters on it, then trashed the layers I didn't prefer. I rarely ever name the layer, so I never know which filters are the ones I keep and which I trash. I may have another layer of Nik on the bottom here, but on top of that I used the Midnight filter. I played with opacity until I was happy. I then ran a bit of Lucis Art "sculpture" filter. Again, showing that I don't have a typical process, I rarely use the sculpture filter. Here it was flawlessly perfect for what it could do to the image. It helped bring out all the detail in the ceiling tile. To finish, 99% of the time I do burn in my edges. In this case, I created an angled oval around the jet as a protective mask, then applied the burn to the rest of the image at an extremely low capacity - maybe only 7 percent. Very unusual for me - I normally burn in the 75-90% range. I then did a tad of hand touchup on the burning to take down the brightest parts of that tent-like object on the floor. I also took down the brightest part of that door to its right, and removed some overly bright papers on a rack on the wall, and burned down the floor slightly on the very left side. Voila! :) ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge18-Aug-2007 22:58
Lonnit been asked about this post process before and, I guess we missed that response. Lonnit is however a caring and sharing kind of person, I'm confident Lonnit would be kind enough to show us how it's done so that others can learn and experiment with this in a different way. Isn't that partly what some of us are here for, to learn and grow? Besides, it's not like we are competing in the same neighborhood or something, right? Thank you in advance, Lonnit. AADD
Guest 18-Aug-2007 21:09
Everytime I see your work (which I LOVE) I feel like it's an illustration. What post do you do? I do like the style, and I wish you would share it.
Debbi
Canon DSLR Challenge18-Aug-2007 19:23
Thanks, Trav. Yes, the monument is what it should be, done in a straight, traditional conservative manner, boring by comparison, unartistic, and done a million times, but still, what it should be. This image, OTOH, screams of high-tech and futuristic, quite appropriate to the subject. I am happy that I am not compelled to stick rigidly to any style. I like that an image can speak to me and tell me what direction it wants to go. That completely frees me up and in this manner I can never become stagnant.

The following image of the elephant, once more goes off in a completely different direction, grainy (extremely, in the high rez file) and rough, gritty and old. G_d, this is fun!!!!!! ~ LOnnit
Canon DSLR Challenge18-Aug-2007 19:16
Well, the image really does grab you...but I also like your Washington Monument shot very much...clean and what it is supposed to be.

This is much more visually striking with a nice placement within the frame, and the blue ceiling works very well.

You should be happy with this.

Speed and danger and conquest...indeed.

Best Wishes, Traveller