Category Archives: River time exposure
The streams and waterfalls in the Smoky Mountains are great to photograph any time of year but when the Mountains are in their fall colors it is magical.
Fall in the Smoky Mountains
When working along the rivers I usually want to create a fluid movement and sharp focus through the image. When the light is a little brighter light a Neutral Density filter will give me a longer exposure. In low light conditions I can usually create this effect with a 3 or 4 second exposure without having to use the Neutral Density filters.
Man and Nature
For me watching the clients capturing images and having fun is the best part of teaching at any of the location. When capturing images whether you shooting a candid portrait or landscape timing is everything. You can see the enthusiasm in Steve’s face for the image he has just taken.
Having fun along the River
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Adobe CS6, Cades Cove, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Fall Colors, Fall Smoky Mountain photo workshop, Greenbrier, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Lake Michigan Lighthouse photo workshop, Little River Road, Michigan Photo Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, River time exposure, Rome Photo Workshop, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, Spring Smoky Mountain Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tuscan Photo Workkshop, Venice Photographic Workshop Tour
In the spring when the dogwoods are in bloom along the fast flowing rivers and stream the compositions are the best the Smokies have to offer. I used Topaz BW Effects 2 and then blended the image with the original image to give it the look of a hand painted B&W image.
Topaz BW Effects 2 blended with the original image
Which processed image do you like best. The Color image or the B&W with touches of color?
Image processed with Topaz Clarity
Which processed image do you like best. The
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz BW Effects 2, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Cades Cove, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Dogwoods, Fall Colors, Fall Smoky Mountain photo workshop, Fall Smoky Mountain workshop, Greenbrier, Gregg-Cable house, Little River, Michigan photographic workshops, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, River time exposure, Rome Photgraphic Workshop, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smoky Mountain spring photo workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Southwest Photo Workshop, Venice Italy Photographic Workshop
The spring wildflowers in the Smoky Mountains bring splashes of color along the rivers, streams and meadows. The main focus for capturing images during the Smoky Mountain workshop be larger landscapes of the wonderful meadows, mountains, rivers and waterfalls but we will also spend time on the small niches that bring color and character to the landscapes.
Wildflower close up captured during the Spring Smoky Mountain Workshop
This little cluster of wildflowers made a wonderful composition for a close up along a river that we were photographing last spring. I used Topaz Clarity to make this image pop and then used a vignette to bring the attention to the center of the Composition.
Hope that you will be able to join me for the Spring Smoky Mountain Workshop!!
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Cades Cove, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Dogwoods, Greenbrier, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Italian Photographic Workshop, Little River, Little River Road, Ogle Cabin, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Rome Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, Spring Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tremont, Tuscan Photo Workshop, Venice Italy Photographic Workshop, White Rainbow, Wildflowers
During the Smoky Mountain workshop the colors were amazing and it was hard leaving the smoky mountains with the colors in their peak. On Saturday I display at a the Christmas craft show at Divine Child in Dearborn Michigan. The last couple of years I have been in Italy teaching in November and it will be good seeing old friends at the show.
Fall colors along Little River Road in the Smoky Mountains
The unprocessed image has nice color but it does not quite have the punch that I enjoyed that morning.
Unprocessed Fall colors along Little River Road in the Smoky Mountains
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2 Comments | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fall Colors, Fall Smoky Mountain workshop, Fog Bow, Greenbrier, Little River Road, Photoshop CS6, River time exposure, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Topaz Clarity, Tremont
From the 26th through the 29th of October I will be back teaching in the Smoky Mountains one of our great national parks. The image of Sparks Lane was captured this april when the dogwoods were in full bloom and I am anxious to see it in its fall color.
Sparks Lane Simplify 4 Spring 2014
Throughout the smoky Mountains there are historical landmarks of the families that lived and raised their families in this area which help us make a connection with our past and sometimes our present. Last weekend I spent a few minutes with friend who’s last name is Sparks and asked if they had any connection to the Smoky Mountains. It was not surprising to find out that their family had moved to southern Indiana from Tennessee.
In October when I am capturing images on Sparks lane in the Smokies it will be fun thinking of the Sparks family members who I have spent time with capturing images of the masked characters at Carnival in Venice and at the top of St Peters Coppola in Rome.
Sparks Lane CR2 raw image Spring 2014
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Leave a comment | tags: Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Simplify | posted in Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fog Bow, Greenbrier, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Lightroom 5.6, Little River Road, Photographic Workshops, River time exposure, Smokies, Smoky Mountains Institute, Smoky Mountains National Park, Topaz Clarity, topaz simplify, Tremont, White Rainbow
The morning mist that the Smoky Mountains famous also makes it a great photographic venue. This lone tree silhouetted in the mist with the moon rising behind it in Cades Cove is a wonderful example of how the Smokies gives us unique photographic opportunities.
Moon over tree silhouetted by the morning fog
Using Topaz B&W Effects 2 in the Platinum Collection I used Platinum VI to turn this lone tree into a great B&W.
Moon over tree in Cades Cove silhouetted by morning fog Topaz B&W Effects
I used Topaz Clarity to process and pop the color which I also like but I think that the Black and White gives this image more impact.
Cades Cove tree in the morning fog
Morning fog Cades Cove processed using Topaz Clarity
Cades Cove tree – Raw CR2
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Spring Photo workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Cades Cove, Fog Bow, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Little River Road, Ogle Cabin, Paul Christopher James, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Topaz Clarity, topaz simplify, Tremont, White Rainbow
During the Lighthouse working along the West Coast of Michigan we spent some time photographing some of Michigan’s wonderful barns.
Northern Michigan Barn Processed with Topaz Software
Barns are normally red and to have a white barn in perfect condition was fun to capture. This barn in the northern Lower Peninsula is one of the best I have ever seen and I will be visiting it with clients for every workshop I give in Northern Michigan.
Unprocessed barn image
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Leave a comment | tags: Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Barns, Michigan Photo Workshop, Michigan photographic workshops, Nik software, River time exposure, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokies, Smoky Mountains National Park, South Haven, South Haven Lighthouse, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Simplify, Tremont
The 4th of July is a great day to have fun with family and friends and plan trips to our great National Parks. My images below capture the beauty of Grand Canyon and remind me of the visual treasures the parks hold for us to photograph. I have scheduled two workshops this fall in our National Parks, hope you can join us.
The Great Smoky Mountains Workshop tour October 26-29 2014
Southwest Slot Canyon Workshop tour Nov. 8-14 2014.
Hope you can join me in one of our national parks!
Shadow Lands, South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Both Topaz and Nix software can work magic on your image. Today Ihave spent a little time today working on images of the Grand Canyon that are in my Panoramic Gallery. The Topaz software that I used to finish these images makes a huge improvement over the original processing in Photoshop CS3 used just a few years ago.
Tapestry of Light, South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Raw image with a few adjustments
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Leave a comment | tags: Italian Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity | posted in Antelope Canyon, Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fire Canyon Arch, Fire Wave, Fog Bow, Grand Canyon, Greenbrier, Hopi Point, Little River Road, Natural Arch, Nik software, Ogle Cabin, Owl Canyon, Page Arizona, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains Institute, Southwest Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, The Watchman, Topaz Photo Software, topaz simplify, Tremont, Valley of Fire, Virgin River, White Rainbow, Zion National Park
I arrived in the Smoky Mountains for sunset along the mountain rivers tonight and captured this image of dogwoods with a 4 second time exposure giving the river its fluid motion.
When I am on the road I use my laptop to process images which has a nice screen but is hard to calibrate and should be recalibrated periodically. The two images below are an example of what an image will look like on a properly calibrated monitor and what one looks like if the screen density shifts. The density shift on the laptop was probably U. E. User Error.
Smoky Mountain – Dogwoods
Smoky Mountain – Dogwoods
The Dogwoods are in great bloom and the weather predictions are good. It is going to be a great week!!
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1 Comment | tags: Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity | posted in Dogwoods, Greenbrier, Little River Road, Ogle Cabin, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, topaz simplify, Tremont
While in Cades cove a couple of years ago I captured this wild pink Aster at F5.6 to keep the majority of the blooms in focus while fading out the background. The image was nice but I did not want to spend time cleaning it up so I let it sit until a couple of days ago when I decided to run it through Topaz Simplify 4. 1st I creating a layer and then in Effects I selected Painting in Presets then I selected Impressions Color. After Simplify made its changes to the layer I changed the opacity to 35% to soften the effect and this gave the image the a nice look and color boost without healing areas of the flower that I would normally.
Aster processed using Topaz Simplify
This weekend I will be heading to the Smoky Mountains to arrive a day or two ahead of my workshop group which starts on the 21st of April. The wildflowers are in great bloom in the park and the shooting will be amazing. We will have partially cloudy skies with some chance of rain with temperatures will be from the low to high 70’s during the day and drop down to the 50’s at night.
Aster Raw image unprocessed
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Leave a comment | tags: Digital Photographic Workshop, Little River Road, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Simplify | posted in Dogwoods, Greenbrier, Greenbrier, Little River Road, Ogle Cabin, Photographic Workshops, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Smokies, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains Institute, Smoky Mountains National Park, topaz simplify, Tremont
Photographic Workshops 