NormLanier.com

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Luling, Texas - The entire series can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/normlanier/sets/72157632025756161/

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Lasvegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

Neon Sign Museum - Las Vegas

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Jackson Square looks great at any time but I really like it at night.

The night has just begun on Bourbon Street.

I think New Orleans is the only town where you can walk around with white powder on your face and no one will think you're a druggy.

Home of the Hurricane.

Bourbon Street is wild anyway, but on Haloween...

I noticed when we were on Bourbon Street that with parking being so bad in the French Quarter that most employees biked to their jobs. Thanks in advance for comments and Favs

Every night's a party on Bourbon Street

Strangely enough this photo strikes me as kind of creepy.

Great place to watch the revelers go by.

This looks like a scene from a movie

The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center is a luxurious hotel located in the heart of The Woodlands, Texas near fine dining and shopping. This Woodlands Waterway hotel offers easy access to entertainment venues. 1601 Lake Robbins Drive The Woodlands, TX 77380 (281) 367-9797

The Waterway connects The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, Waterway Square and The Woodlands Mall. The office buildings located at Waterway Square serve as the home for many of The Woodlands major employers, including Anadarko Petroleum, Woodforest National Bank, U.S. Oncology and American Financial and Automotive Services.

The Woodlands Waterway Cruisers that travel along The Woodlands Waterway providing the perfect way to explore all the amenities that the Waterway has to offer.

The Woodlands Waterway Cruisers that travel along The Woodlands Waterway providing the perfect way to explore all the amenities that the Waterway has to offer.

The Woodlands Brio Tuscan Grille 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr The Woodlands, TX 77380 (281) 465-8993

The Woodlands Cheesecake Factory 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr #302 The Woodlands, TX 77380 (281) 419-3400

P.F. Chang's The Woodlands 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr #301 The Woodlands, TX 77380 (281) 203-6350

The Woodlands

The Woodlands

The Woodlands

I love Photomatix Pro for combining exposures for HDR. After using it for a short period of time I realized that Photomatix wasn't giving me everything I wanted. I still found areas of the shot that were too dark or too light and no amount of tweaking with sliders would pull it all in. So I started experimenting with hand painting back in the details I wanted. In the above example you can see the result Photomatix gave me. You can see that the area especially around the carrousel is blown out. Going back to the exposure that was 2 stops under you can see that the detail is there. What I did was open up the output from Photomatix in Photoshop and import in the -2 stop exposure as a layer on top. I then added a layer mask to that exposure and inverted the layer mask so that none of the -2 exposure is visible. I then take a brush with 100% feather and set the flow to somewhere around 5. Setting the paint color to white I then start painting on the layer mask and the detail from the under exposed frame starts to appear where I want it. You can see the final layer mask in frame 3. When I'm done it goes back into lightroom where I adjust color balance, crop, and detail for the final image. I'm not sure how common this technique is but I hope someone can learn something from this process.

The Tower of Terror attraction drips with amazing detail.

Love the detail in these tractors.

I tend to like my night shots lots better but not too bad if I say so.

Detail from Carsland

The entrance to the show sets the stage.

Tough shot with the light coming from behind.

Everyone gets a shot from here. Experimented with taking this fisheye shot, lens correcting for the bow and then cropping to create a pano view.

The detailed lights in A Bug's Life area of California Adventure

One of the details in the TOT lobby in Disneyland

A shot I grabbed after the park had closed. This is an HDR shot composed from 5 exposures in Photomatix. I then did a little cleanup in Photoshop to reduce some lens flares I didn't like by masking back in some elements from one of the exposures.

I set my tripod up to do multiple exposures and on the last and the longest a log went down the shoot and the flash went off for the photo you can purchase at the end of the ride. I was quite surprised when I looked at the screen to see how cool it was that their flashes light up the scene so perfectly. 5 shot HDR run through Photomatix. A little photoshop to remove my brothers large head from the bottom of the photo. Thanks Gary for getting in the way.

The Disneyland Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background with the Yeti footprint in the foreground. 5 exposure HDR run through Photomatix.

So this is a little gem I'm sure most visitors miss. So I ran upon this spot just as the little light show went off. I stood there and stood there waiting and nothing so I got some shots of the Astro Orbiter and then left to get some other shots. Came back right at the end again. Finally figured out it went off every 15 minutes and was able to get this shot.

What you get isn't always what you end up with. To see where I started take a look here www.flickr.com/photos/85864407@N08/8045489196/in/photostream

There's something I really like about this shot that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the way the street looks wet but it wasn't. Or maybe it's the blue glow and the way it contrast with the warm lights. Anyway I think it's a keeper.

This an HDR shot from the train station. I left remove ghosting off and love how the multiple exposures blended together to create movement in the shot.

Shot with my Rokinon 7.5mm on my Olympus PEN E-P3

Photographically there is nothing special here, it's just a cool-ass lamp that helps make Port Royal Curios and Curiosities an awesome store.

Photomatix is great for combining exposures for eye-popping HDR but for me it's just the beginning. Once Photomatix has done the hard work I finesse the shot by impotying it back into Photoshop with other layers and using layer mask and paint back in other exposures to get the final image where I want it.