James Gordon Patterson Photography: flickr

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Turf Paradise Opening Day 18 October 2014

A lovely autumn day in Phoenix as Turf Paradise opens another racing season. It was as crowded as I've ever seen it, but there was plenty of hot dogs, beer, and soft drinks for racing fans.

I photographed and betted. My normal perch is at the top of the grandstands. I use a Canon 5D Mark III with a Canon 70-300mm lens.

For post processing, I used Lightroom and this time made extensive use of MacPhun's ColorStrokes (to paint color back in on a black and white photo) and SnapHeal Pro (to eliminate distracting items from the background).

Former PVCC Science Division Chair Dr. Hank Mancini provided betting tips. We used "Docs" tip sheet along with one last hunch bet from yours truly on Dirty Diamond Jim to win (he did, at 16 to 1 odds!).

Until My Next Adventure,

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr or by clicking the Zenfolio slideshow below!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Turf Paradise Horses and Models 5 April 2014

Coming Down the Stretch!

I spent a pleasant Saturday with Marni, and colleagues Hank and Casey at the horse track, Turf Paradise, in Phoenix. It was nice to be with friends on such a beautiful day in Arizona. Plus, I wanted to use a lens I normally don’t use all the time, the Canon “L” class 70-300mm attached to my Canon 5D Mark III.

Lovely Model at Turf Paradise

I thought I was only going to photograph horses. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was also a model shoot going on for a video game. So why not tag along and photograph lovely models along with the action on the track?

We Have a Winner!

Of course, I use Lightroom 5 as my main post processing platform. I had to pull the shadows out on every shot, it seemed. Plus I did some sharpening on all photos.

On the models, I also used OnOne’s Perfect Portrait to soften skin and highlight the eyes.

Another Lovely Model at Turf Paradise!

On some of the horses on the track photos, I used Macphun’s SnapHeal pro to eliminate rails, for instance, along the track. On one shot, I used Macphun’s Focus2Pro to put everything except the horses out of focus.

It didn’t take much time to edit these photos. Probably took me less than an hour total. Then I uploaded to both my Flickr and Zenfolio sites, write the blog, and post that.