Bean End

Yesterday I posted a photograph of “The Bean” found in Millennium Park in Chicago. This photograph of the Bean End was taken shortly after I complete the front view. I’ve had a few inquires on how I was able to accomplish the task of taking a photograph of a popular landmark without people. Here is the process for doing so (NOTE: This requires Adobe Photoshop CC):

• Setup the tripod in a location and make sure it does not move.
• Setup the camera. It’s best to use manual settings including focus as people walking by might trigger different settings and focus distances. I used Aperture Priority and should have probably used manual.
• Use a remote control to avoid camera shake.
• Take as many shots as needed. It’s like a puzzle. Each shot must include clear pieces of the scene. The more the better. Be patient.
• Import the photographs into Adobe Lightroom or your favorite cataloging tool and make the necessary adjustments to all the images.
• Export files to a folder as JPG.
• Go into Photoshop and select File > Scripts > Statistics.
• Make sure the stack mode is “Mean”.
• Hit “Browse” to find your files and select all the ones you want to use.
• Hit “OK” and wait for it to complete the stack.
• You may need to bring in some of the images to do some touch up.

The process is really quite simple. I wished I had done this on some of my trips abroad. It would have been great to have some of the popular landmarks without the large crowds.

This image was taken with my Sony Alpha A7R II using my Sony 16-35mm f/4 Lens set on 16 mm. The camera was set on Aperture priority mode with the aperture set at f/8, shutter speed at two seconds and the ISO set at 800. I used a tripod for stability. I captured 20 photographs and used a special technique in Photoshop to remove all the people. I completed the image in Photoshop using Nik Color Efex Pro.

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T. Kahler Photography
© 2016 T. Kahler Photography

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