"Faux Caesars Palace"

Thanks for your time and of course, view the Larger image!

Amazing! Regards.

just beautiful Mark,

the black and white rendition is stunning here. I love the clarity and glow on the statues, and the depth of tones elsewhere, included that beautiful cloud in the sky. I think the picture is tilted CW. I know there's a strong distortion produced by the wide angle lens, emphasized by the fact that you aimed the camera upward, but the tilt is easily spottable if you look at the small surfs on the fg, or if you compare the inclination of the column on the left with the "Faux San Marco Bell Tower" on the right ;-)

This is very minor though, as it's very easy to fix.

 

Ciao,

Paolo

Excellent work, all the best!

Thanks Gunnar, Paolo and Ovidiu. I have uploaded a straightened version, well straighter. The converging perspective is actually a desired effect in this image, creating more apparent scale to the palace. BTW, the revised has yet to complete the circuit, still not showing for me after 12 hours and two empties of the cache.

This is striking!! Right now I don't know which version I'm looking at -- your original post or the edited version. Regardless, it's out of this world! It really is other-worldly and the wall is super.

 

It's really unusual what they're doing in Vegas these days for architecture.

 

Regards,

Maria

Thanks Maria!! This is still the original version, for some reason it has not found the revised, which looks mostly the same, just rotated 1.5 degrees CCW. I did have to crop some from the top when I rotated, but the overall look is nearly the same. Thanks again!

If not for the sky, I think this could easily pass for a drawing. Very interesting B&W conversion. I like the "tilt" the way it is in this version.

 

Anish

I've found it sometimes takes a couple of days for the edited image to stick.

 

This is why b/w rules -- it's so dramatic. You can't get this effect with color. You were smart to convert this and you should do more b/w.

 

Maria

Thanks Anish, and again to you Maria. I have uploaded another version again, just a little larger to reveal more detail. This image is actually kind of weak in color. While processing the color version, I wanted to give the gold a boost. I made a color range selection to isolate the gold, and when I viewed the mask, I could see the potential for a reasonable b&w. Please make sure to click the image for a Larger view, as the preview appears somewhat soft.

Mark, how did you do this. It positively glows and the detail is delightful.

Thanks Jeff. This was actually a lengthy process. Probably the most important step was making a color range selection of the gold highlights and adjusting the whites and midtones in levels with a layer mask for the highlights. Then I loaded the saved selection and inversed, now adjusting the blacks and midtones from another levels layer mask, all the while protecting the brightest highlights from blowing out. Then of course I used the b&w tool with CS3, but I adjusted two layers and then blended the best of both. The b&w adjustment tool in CS3 still has some limitations, mainly lack of control over the darkest and lightest tones, therefore, it is necessary to adjust from duplicate layers, making different adjustments of each and then blending with a layer mask to pull the best tonal range. Well, that explanation may not clearly explain what I did, so just jump in on one of your own and play until you get something you like.

Thanks Mark. I'll give it a try but your PS skills are on a different planet to mine.

Mark,, Great B/W shot..

Interesting comments on this shot and picked up some great pointers. This is one outstanding conversion on your part. You ought to send an E-card to Caeser's Palace I think they could find a place to hang this one...RAY

Thanks Steven and Ray for your comments.

This is quite amazing Mark. Perfect in every way.

Thanks Brian, always good to hear from you!

I'm not sure I understood all of your technical procedure with this, but I do know that this is an amazing end result. It has an old Roman ruin feel to it, and it's just extraordinary in every sense. I see that Ray is trying to help you promote your work too! BTW, thanks for your comment on my train picture the other day, as well as for the encouragement about my low ratings. And another BTW.....this is going into my faves!

Thanks Christal, always good to hear from you. Always an honor to get placed in a favs folder as well. I love the red streak, your timing was impecable. Now, did you also put a penny down to see if it would get flattened (more likely disintegrated).

indeed a very craftfull job you did here no question about it. Even those clouds looks great.

A very tardy thanks. I try to get back with everyone, but sometimes I forget or get busy. Thanks again!

Really great, I must confess discover you throu Facebook and Rick Gale note... ;-)

Very interesting B/W

My bow.

 

JM