This image is a composite of two of my images shot over in Half Moon Bay. For some reason, these two images popped into my mind as I was watching the CreativeLive session today with Brooke Shaden. I decided to try merging the two into something more creative.

The trees are one of the classic views of the cypress tree “tunnel” in the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.

The fishing boat is from Princeton Harbor – where the boat has run aground a couple of years ago.

I combined the two images in Photoshop – adjusting the angle of the boat’s list to roughly line up with the trees. I converted it to monochrome using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and added a bit of sepia toning to finish the image.

Here’s another view of that decaying piano outside of the Submarine Cafeteria at San Francisco’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. It’s stuck in a corner around the back of the building – looks like it’s been there for 50 years!

This image was taken with a Nikon D600 and post-processed in Photoshop CS6. It’s got a subtle “warm black” toning created with an action developed by Doug Kaye with thanks to Ming Thein.

While touring Hunters Point in San Francisco with Doug Kaye, we rounded a corner and suddenly noticed this old upright piano – left abandoned outside the Submarine Cafeteria building. Still proud, lots of structure, but well past its prime.

Shot with my iPhone 5. Post processed in Photoshop CS6 with Nik’s Color Efex Pro 2.

While Doug Kaye and I were out exploring Hunters Point in San Francisco this morning, one of the buildings we came across – which was also open as part of this weekend’s Open Studios – was this one – the Submarine Cafeteria.

Shot with Nikon D600, post-processed in Photoshop CS6 with Nik’s Color Efex Pro 2 (Tonal Contrast filter).

While exploring a bit at the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, I came across this wonderful old Airstream trailer parked near one of the Open Studio buildings. It’s been crunched a bit – but otherwise seemed to be in great shape.

Some of the windows had been taped over – but the back window had this wonderful image of a couple taped over it. Seems like we caught them as we were peeking through – don’t you think?

I shot this with a Nikon D600 and post-processed it in Photoshop CS6 and Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2. I just love the look!

Earlier today, Doug Kaye and I headed to Open Studios at Hunters Point in San Francisco.

We had a great time talking with one of my favorite local visual artists – Pep Ventosa – at his studio in Building 101. I love Pep’s work – with multiple exposures and blending in Photoshop. Beautiful work.

Afterwards, we headed over to another area of Hunters Point for some photography…

This is a shot of +Doug Kaye working one of the more interesting subjects we came across – a sculpture of a woman seated – made of nails. Doug’s shooting with his Sony NEX-7.

Shot with my Nikon D600 and post-processed in Photoshop CS6.

With several photographer friends, I recently attended a lecture by photographer John Paul Caponigro sponsored by the Palo Alto Camera Club. He spoke on the subjects of “Illuminating Creativity” and “Landscapes Within”. A 20 minute version of his creativity talk from 2010 is available as a TEDx video.

Caponigro’s purpose in his talk was to push us to explore our own creativity – to realize that we’ve got a lot more that we might not even realize. I’m not sure about that in my case (!) – but I tried to take some of what he taught to bear on this particular image.

It’s a morning sunrise shot from the Kona coast in Hawaii. Sunrise, of course, occurs in the east – and this image looks to the west – off the coastline of the Kona coast on the big island of Hawaii. There was a lovely bank of low clouds (not visible in the image) which were reflecting lovely sunrise colors down into the ocean waters – and that’s what I tried to capture as I processed this image.

Processing involved several steps – including an excursion into Lab color, selective use of Topaz Simplify, some luminosity painting – and other steps I’ve already forgotten!

This is one of those special images that brings me back – back to a very special early morning, walking along the coast in Hawaii and watching the light slowly shift and sparkle. Beautiful. A beautiful memory. For me, that’s what creativity is all about.

Doug Kaye and I recently met up for one of our regular photo walks – this time choosing to meet at the City Hall in San Francisco. It had been years since Doug had been there – and I can’t recall ever having been inside although I’ve certainly driven by it many times and admired its splendid architecture from a distance! Beautiful from the outside, San Francisco’s City Hall is even more spectacular inside!

This particular shot, taken with my Nikon D600, shows some of that architectural perfection inside. I took it hand-held while sitting on the staircase that heads upstairs below the rotunda. It’s not quite perfectly aligned in the frame – but I find it beautiful – and perfect – just the same. As I was processing it, I was imagining the workers actually constructing this dome – with all of its amazing details. The blend of natural and artificial light just adds to the mood of perfection!

One of the best things about this week was that we had Cuban photographers out with us as we walked the neighborhoods in Havana. They really helped us see – and opened our eyes to the beautiful people and places in Havana.

One of the Cuban photographers we really benefited from working with was Raúl Cañibano. It was such a treat to be out in the neighborhoods with him – and watch him as he captured images along with us. Raúl works very quickly – with minimal gear. He’s got a great gift for seeing an image in the moment – and capturing it quickly.

While we were out working with him in Havana, he had a small portfolio book of his photography that he shared with us. It’s a beautiful small size – with some amazing black and white photography both in Havana and out in the countryside in Cuba. We wanted to buy a copy of this book – but he couldn’t sell it to us.

Raúl’s book recently become available for ordering on Amazon.com – and it’s a real delight. I keep it in my home office alongside my desk – for inspiration! Raúl’s eye and capture is a real treat for the eye! If you enjoy great black and white photography of real people, you’ll really enjoy Raúl’s small book!

This afternoon I joined a Google+ photo walk in San Francisco. While the main group headed west towards Fort Point, Doug Kaye and I (along with his wife Cessna) peeled off and headed over to the Palace of Fine Arts – another one of our favorite locations.

Here’s an unusual shot from that venue – an ice cream vendor shopping his goodies. Shot with my Nikon D600, this was post-processed in Photoshop using several techniques – including using Topaz Simplify 4 to soften up part of the image and Lab color to brighten up some of the colors. This is a modification of a technique I first saw used by Chris Hilgert on Google+.