Mighty MO

This is a one shot HDR image of Mighty MO (USS Missouri), located at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was then converted to a sepia tone.Mighty MO fought in World War II and was the spot where Japan surrendered the war.

We decided to go with a sepia tone since this ship has so much history it seemed to fit. You can tour the ship, it is on display in Hawaii where Pearl Harbor is.

If you would like to see the full resolution version of this photo, or you would like to purchase a copy visit our website at stoutandstout.com

The Streets Of San Francisco

This is a 3 shot HDR image, and it was then converted to black and white. This one of the many streets in San Francisco that is on a hill, the rail in the middle really kind of leads you in to the TransAmerica Pyramid in the background.

Be careful if you ever try a shot like this in San Francisco, the drivers really fly up and down the hill, so always be on the look out for that.

If you would like to see the full resolution version of this image, or you would like to purchase a copy, please visit our web site at http://www.stoutandstout.com/

The Downward Spiral...

Here is a picture of a popular destination to photograph, the stairs at Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, California.

Since this is such a common photo, we wanted to do something a little different with them. This is a three shot HDR, converted to black and white, some color was then added back in, and textures were applied. What do you think?

If you would like to see a full resolution version of this photo, or you would like to purchase it please visit our website at stoutandstout.com .

Under The Bridge...

Here is a one shot HDR image, converted to black and white, with textures added of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. Over the last few days we have been revisting some of our old images that were not as good. Of course this happens to ever one as you are just starting and learning, you are going to have a lot of images you look back on and don't like.

This image started of as an HDR in color the way we had it before and it was over done in our opinion. So the original intent was to go back and reprocess again in color, it didn't look right still. That's when we got the idea to try black and white, which looked good but still seemed to be missing something. We then added pictures and here is the final product. Much better in our opinion then before.

If you would like to see a high resolution version of this image, or you would like to purchase a copy, please visit our website at stoutandstout.com

If Your're Going To San Francisco

This is a one shot HDR image of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge. The bridge is a double decker bridge and carries about 270,000 vehicles each day between Oakland and San Francisco. Some say this is a better looking bridge then the Golden Gate Bridge, what do you think?

If you would like to see the high resolution version of this image, or would like to purchase it head over to our website at stoutandstout.com

Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay Part 2

This image we were literally sitting on the dock. This is another shot from San Francisco's Pier 7. We had seen this perspective before and wanted to try the shot with our own processing. So this started out as a 3 shot HDR image, it still looked too much like the other shots we had seen. We then converted it to infrared. It looked nice but it still needed something more, and that's when we added some textures to it. So this is a 3 shot HDR image, converted to IR, and textures were applied, whew that is a mouth full!!! Enjoy.

If you would like to see a full resolution version of this image, or you would like to purchase a copy go to our website at stoutandstout.com .

San Francisco Cable Cars

This image is a 3 shot HDR, it was then converted to Black and White leaving the cable car in color. Finally we added some textures to the image. The textures are actually from the walls of Alcatraz so this image is completely San Francisco. The cable cars are pretty fun attraction if you are visiting the city so give them a shot if you are ever here.

If you would like to see the high resolution version of this image, or if you would like to purchase a copy visit our website at stoutandstout.com

Lightning Over The Lighthouse

Here is a 3 shot HDR of the Lighthouse at Alcatraz. We wanted to give the image a more gloomy look so we added in the Lightning by the Lighthouse, this was done with a program from Alien Skin, called Xenofex.

If you would like to see a high resolution version of this shot, or if you would like to purchase it, visit our website at stoutandstout.com

The Grace Drawing

We just recently read an article on how to turn your photos into sketches so we thought we would give it a shot. This is the same picture as we posted yesterday, but processed to look like a drawing. We thought it turned out quite nice, what do you think?

If you would like to see some of our other work please visit our website at
stoutandstout.com

Grace and Gloom

This is a 3 shot HDR photo of the Grace Cathedral church in San Francisco. This is a very beautiful church inside and out, it really has the feeling of an old European church. The clouds were very nice on this day giving the photo a gloomy feel.

If you would like to see a high resolution version of this photo, or you would like to purchase it, please visit our website at stoutandstout.com .

Fun With Textures

Here is a photo of an area a little behind the Monterey Bay Aquariam. We took this before going on a photo walk with Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs.

This is kind of a weird area because there is a nice hotel in the area, and the area overall is very nice. This is basically the only pocket there that is not as nice and has graffiti. We added some textures to this image to make it more interesting.

If you would like to see a high resolution version of this image or if you would like to purchase it go to our website at stoutandstout.com

Monterey Boat Sunset

We have a new image up at our website stoutandstout.com . This was taken on a photo walk with Trey Ratcliff from stuckincustoms.com in Monterey. One of the stops was at this very nice boat dock right around sunset. This is a 3 shot HDR image of that boat dock.

If you would like to see a high resolution version of this image or to purchase a print of it please visit our website at stoutandstout.com

Sitting On The Dock of The Bay...

Here is a photo from Pier 7 in San Francisco, this is a three shot HDR image. This is a very nice pier where looking one way you get this view, and looking the other way you see the Bay Bridge, Ferry Building, and Oakland. The pier extends pretty far out in the water so you get really nice views.

To see the high resolution version of this photo, or if you would like to purchase this image go to out website at stoutandstout.com

House on Haunted Hill...

Well the big house that is. This is a 3 shot HDR image of Alcatraz in San Francisco CA. The HDR image was converted to Black and White, Lightning was added via Alien Skin Xenofex, and a texture of a wall actually from Alcatraz was overlayed.

All these together gives the image an old horror film look to the image, which we felt was appropriate for the prison. If you are ever in San Francisco consider taking the tour, interesting history and a great audio tour. Also if you happen to be lucky and be on the island on a clear day you get beautiful views of downtown San Francisco.

If you would like to see a full resolution version of this image, or would like to purchase it, please go to our website at stoutandstout.com

Photographing San Francisco

We have two very good recommendations for books on photographing San Francisco. The first is called
 Photographing San Francisco Digital Field Guide by Bruce Sawle. This book is nice in that it gives you suggestions on some great places to photograph, ideal times to shoot, maps, and equipment you might need.

The second one is called  The 50 Greatest Photo Opportunities in San Francisco by Matthew Bamberg. This book is similar to the other, it gives some other places to visit, and this book also tells you how to get to each place via driving or public transportation.

Both are very good books if you are visiting and would like to find some places to go and/or photograph, or even if you are a local.

If Your Going To San Francisco...

Be sure to visit Coit Tower. Coit Tower on top of Telegraph hill offers fantastic 360 degree views of San Francisco, and the best part is it's very cheap to go to the observation deck. This picture is a 3 exposure HDR image, shot on a very clear day in San Francisco. On this side you can see the TransAmerica Pyramid in the center of the frame. Though it can be a challenge to take a picture up there with the glass and reflections, a little post processing gets you a beautiful picture.

Go over to our website stoutandstout.com  to see a full resolution image. This shot as well as many others are available for purchase as well.

Alcatraz Ruins

We have a new image on our website stoutandstout.com

This is a HDR image of the ruins of the Warden's House at Alcatraz. The house burned down during the occupation of Alcatraz by American Indian's after the prison closed. If you are ever in San Francisco you should take the Alcatraz tour, interesting history with a great audio tour. Also on a nice day you get a great look of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Go over to our website if you would like to see the unwatermarked version or would like to purchase this image.

Amazing Grace

We have a new image at our website stoutandstout.com ,

The inside of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California. This is a very beautiful and massive church. The inside of the church is so amazing, it really makes you feel tiny. If you are ever in the area go inside and take a look.

Go over to our website to see the non watermarked image or to purchase if you like.

City Lights

Just uploaded to our website stoutandstout.com , we took this picture at Pier 7 in San Francisco. This is a very beautiful photo spot day or night. This is a three exposure HDR image, in the background you can see the famous TransAmerica Pyramid. Go over to our website to see the non watermarked image or to purchase if you like.

Textures

Textures, what are they? Well they are images such as brick walls, stucco walls, wood, trees, etc... pretty much any image that is a close up shot like the one below:

With these types of images you add them to your images via layers to create something interesting. You can go with on texture, or you can go with multiple textures in each image. Take a look at the image below, we took a picture of it in Las Vegas, in the Mirage outside of The Beatles Love show.

While the image is interesting with the colors and lines, we thought it could be better by adding some textures, below is a version of the same image with 2 different textures.

As you can see the image is a lot more interesting. So be sure to take close of pictures of any surface that may seem interesting to add to your photos.