This photograph was taken a while ago whilst on Holidays in Hawaii.  Honolulu is the largest city on the Hawaiian islands with a population just under 1 million.  Personally i didn't connect with the city of Honolulu or the Island of Oahu.  It was over run with tourists, poor over priced restaurants and crowed tourist attractions. 

The second week i spent on the island of Kauai and had the opposite experience.  Quiet, peaceful, friendly people and amazing scenery combined with an ideal tropical climate made for paradise.  I hope to dig out the archives some more photos from this amazing island as i couldn't of had two more contrasting travel experiences. 

The photograph in question was taken along the picturesque waterfront of the tourist precinct of Honolulu with the sky rise hotels dotting the background.

This photo was processed using Adobe Photoshop CS5 with the Nik Software Viveza Plugin filter to help enhance the contrast between the sky and the clouds without the use of a polarizing filter.

_As i continue my love affair with Nik Software and its range of post production filters and photoshop plugins continues i thought i'd share 3 quick photos that i ran through Silver Efex Pro. 

Silver Efex Pro offers an excellent way of processing images into black and white.  There is a large selection of presets available varying in contrast, tone, key, and traditional film effects.  And as with all Nik Software plugins you can also maintain precise control with micro adjustments to brightness, contrast, structure as well as the ability to control specific sections of an image with control points.

For those who grew up shooting film (or those stubborn enough to hang onto the benefits of still shooting film) you will be pleased to be able to apply your knowledge of coloured filters and replicating film type with specific grain and contrast capabilities of your favourite films including Kodak, Fuji, Agfa and Ilford.

For the shots above i've chosen a "Film Noir" preset then custom adjusted get the gritty contrast and reduced tonal range with the degraded / bleeding edge that used to add that fine art touch.

Again these three shots were taken during my recent trip through Rajasthan India, with the two portraits taken in Ranthambore and Ranakpur and the landscape taken in Jaipur.

These three portrait images are part of my initial portrait series from Rajasthan, India.  All three a worthy shots on their own accord but i have just started to play around with the HDR Efex Pro photoshop plugin by Nik Software.  I've been blown away by the power of this program and its capabilities to enhance photographs.

The control you have over the Nik software settings is astounding.  You can easily add control points to alter small sections / tones of an image.  You have mirco adjustment control over exposure / contrast / blacks / whites and other standard settings you'd see in Adobe Photoshop Raw.  But then you also have a series of presets down the left hand side that make editing a very quick and easy process to achieve stunning photographic results.

As these three shots were of elderly men, i wanted a very raw and contrasty finish that really amplified the textures and wrinkles in the faces.  Below is an example of the Nik Software HDR Efex Pro interface.