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San Diego County Fair color in a new way

Gondola ride with layers of pink.
I gave the swings in front of the ferris wheel a vintage feel.
I gave the swings in front of the ferris wheel a vintage feel.

Swings and Ferris Wheel “hand-colored”

The original images from the San Diego County fair were pretty flat so I had to look at it a new way with strong color being my favorite.  So I tried a painted black and white look on the swings.  This is based on the hand-colored black and white images photographers used before printing papers were readily available with dyes for true color.  Photoshop can recreate the look – of course!  While I like the resulting image, it was too soft and painterly for this subject.  The fair was a loud, crowded and pretty raucous place to visit, especially on the midway, so it seemed to need a more intense approach.  I increased the color saturation until the color popped and added dense grain.  This created a slightly gritty vintage look that suited the subject matter and I was happy with it.

Bright county fair color improved the mood of the ferris wheel image.
Bright county fair color improved the mood of the ferris wheel image.

Ferris Wheel and rides to purple

The next image I worked on was the ferris wheel.  Interesting shape and I liked the American flag, but it was flat with the grey sky.  At this point, I just started playing to find something different.  I intended initially to just color the sky, but I accidentally masked the background instead of the foreground.   I can never remember which is masked for some reason, which is easy to fix by just inverting the selection.  This put color over the subject which I really liked!  It muted the flag, but it is such a strong subject that still shines through the color.  So I combined my happy accident with the original bright color background for this electric color image.  I really liked the almost pop-art flatness and the sort of disco over-the-top-color.

I combined the bright color and the grain in the swings.
I combined the bright color and the grain in the swings.

Swings to pink

The next experiment in county fair color was the swings. It had strong lines, but the color was flat and the random bits behind the swings didn’t contribute to the composition.  Removing them was an option so I started to mask everything but the swing itself.  I didn’t remove the background items after laying color over them, liking the layered effect. The lines really come through and as a bonus, it emphasized the interactions of the people on the swings.

Gondola ride with layers of pink.
Gondola ride with layers of pink.

Gondola ride to pink

After the success of the swings, I used a similar approach for the gondola ride passing a large inflatable (not entirely sure what that thing was…).  I used split toning and layer blending for the different parts of the image.  By treating them differently, it made the foreground different than the mid-ground.  The color over the background created further separation.  I also liked the slight fringing in the people’s hair that made an interesting purplish halo.  And the banding of light to shadow on the inflatable made it look substantial, like a small mountain.

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Green leaves on swing ride with flags

The next two images had less-clearly defined subjects so I couldn’t take the same approach.  I considered abandoning these two, especially since these were more difficult to mask.  The flags and chains had a very complex outline.  Stubbornly, I continue to play with different approaches.  I used various blend modes on different portions with a variety of grain and texture additions for the leafy ride with the flags.  This created a more subtle sense of depth with enough inherent crazy county fair color to hold its own against the saturated background.

Layers of discordant color around the Daytona driving ride are unified through amplifying the original county fair color story.
Layers of discordant color around the Daytona driving ride are unified through amplifying the original county fair color story.

Daytona ride

The Daytona ride also didn’t have enough sky to be separated from the background.  I thought about leaving the sky unedited, as there was enough color in the subject.  The out-of-focus background created a blurry edge which was quite tricky to mask.  I tried coloring the sky though and it was better.  I had to continue…  To separate the foreground from the mid-ground, I used different textures and blend modes.  The end result has been growing on me.

Spiral swing has altered county fair color, texture and patterns to capture the frenetic atmosphere of the day.
Spiral swing has altered county fair color, texture and patterns to capture the frenetic atmosphere of the day.

Spiral Swing

The last experiment almost didn’t happen.  I loved the image but, again, not the sky and just started playing with it.  Unfortunately, the deep depth of field meant a variety of focus levels.  So the sharper portions were easier to mask, the more out-of-focus quite a bit harder.  I almost gave up.  I ended up using overlays when I couldn’t get the masks as good as I wanted.  But I wanted to add the layers in the image and keep the exaggerated, augmented color.  So this image brought out my perfectionism and took a huge time investment.  I’m just glad I could finish it.

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Altered color on Santa Margarita Road

A spreading coast live oak in enhanced color.
Filing cabinets in extra saturated colors tumble down the hill near Santa Margarita Road., color altered and saturated to bring out the texture.
Filing cabinets tumble down the hill near Santa Margarita Road.

Less altered color

These are rusting filing cabinets — I’m pretty sure — in a tumbled pile in a hidden ravine next to the dirt Santa Margarita Road. Likely they arrived when a supply person reasoned this was the easiest way to get rid of the old furniture.  An office furniture-knowledgeable person may be able to more definitively identify the metal’s past life and maybe how long they’ve been there.  It’s hard to know because rust comes quickly despite the relative lack of rain here.  It is regularly damp from dew and fog.  Coast live oaks are in the backdrop with some cactus. All this adds to the “texture” in this area of wilderness.

Because of this texture, I initially thought to make this a black and white image to best capture the variety of plants and the shapes of the branches but the red of the rust played well with the tones in the grasses especially when I toned down the inherent goldness.  The increased green-yellow of the cactus then balances the increased red.

Coast live oaks near Santa Margarita Rd in enhanced and altered color.
Coast live oaks near Santa Margarita Rd in enhanced and altered color.

Enhancing and shifting the colors already there

These oaks were originally black and white as well.  The grove is full of majestic, large trees with many dead branches, likely due to years of drought.  The branches give the trees an ethereal look with a lot of movement and texture, just calling for black and white.  I did try it and liked it, but gave it a fresh look when I reviewed my edits.  After enhancing the shadow color of the branches, the cyan/aquas just stood out.  After that, it was just a matter of determining what the rest of the image needed.  I desaturated the color almost to black and white, leaving some green and adding back tones to the grass to keep from being too stark.

A spreading coast live oak in altered color.
A spreading coast live oak in altered color.

‪Evolution of the image

This oak was also originally black and white as the shapes and textures were great but there was little color.  When I returned to adjust the tones, I started from scratch.  After playing with it, I discovered the shadows were much improved in purple.  The green leaves didn’t work so I desaturated them and emphasized the shadows to deep blue.  I brought back the warmness of the grasses in places to keep it from being too stark, and kept some of the golden leaves for some hits of a complimentary color.

As I was working on this image, I thought about Danny, my brother-in-law.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer three years prior and lost his fight the day before.  I continue to be surprised when I realize I will not speak with him again.  After 30 years in the Navy, he is returning to sea.  This tree for me, with it’s cool and peaceful shade provided a resting place for him to prepare for this last journey.  I will share Nate’s comments about his relationship with his brother in another post.

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Purpleness of Beets

The purpleness of beets in simulated motion.
The purpleness of beets is astounding and my favorite feature.
The purpleness of beets is astounding and my favorite feature.

Purpleness of beets

Perhaps strangely, my favorite thing about beets is that they are purple.  Besides that it is my favorite color, the intensity of the color and the flavor I like. The purpleness of beets might be what I like most, perhaps odd considering they are food. But they “taste purple” if that is possible, and purple makes me happy.  So while I like golden beets, I really prefer the richness of the purple ones.

Gorgeous purpleness of beets highlighted by acid green new leaves.
Gorgeous purpleness of beets highlighted by acid green new leaves.

Healthy too

I’ve read beets are really good for you.  Like any fruit or vegetable, they have fiber, antioxidants and vitamins. Beyond these benefits, beets lower blood pressure, improve brain function by increasing blood flow, fight fat accumulation in the liver, and improve endurance.  Great for triathletes.  I don’t need another reason to eat one of my favorite vegetables.  I’ll still happily take better health and more endurance as an excuse to add more purple into my life.

The purpleness of beets in simulated motion.
The purpleness of beets in simulated motion.

How to cook beets

The purpleness of beets is best appreciated by preparing them yourself instead of opening a can.  Although, I have found a few sellers of some very nice pickled beets available (Pernicious Pickling is one.)  However, throwing them into a hot oven for an hour after wrapping clean beets in foil is really easy.  Once baked until soft, I toss them into the fridge, pulling them out, to peel and sliced as needed.  I combine with other tasty things depending on what I have.  Tomatoes are another favorite, especially since they don’t mind a bit of purple dye.  Green things, especially if they don’t pick up the purple are good too: celery, green onions.  Also bits of meat for a whole meal.

A bit more work is to cut each root into smallish slices, roll in melted butter with salt and pepper and spread on a sheet.  Put into a 350 degree oven (ish is in effect — hotter won’t hurt but just need to watch more closely).  They’ll go about 30-40 minutes before slightly browned around the edges and softened through.  Turn them at least once for the reward of slightly caramelized sweetness tempered by the salt and pepper.  I based this on a Cooks Illustrated recipe for squash which apparently works with other vegetables too.