Tag Archives: railroad depot pictures

Santa Fe Depot, San Diego, California

Oh, noooooooo! They found out!

How I Did It

Pictures copyright 2012 Russel Ray Photos

I have some San Diego friends who follow my blogging adventures, and one of them took me to the woodshed this morning because my picture of the Santa Fe Depot in my earlier post this morning “is nothing like that.”

He is right.

Here is the picture I put in my post:

Santa Fe Depot, San Diego, California

Santa Fe Depot, San Diego, California

Pictures copyright 2012 Russel Ray Photos

Many decades ago, the Santa Fe Depot was probably the tallest building in downtown San Diego. No more. That area is so overrun with skyscrapers that there is no way to get a decent picture of the Santa Fe Depot. I have 206 pictures of the Depot, and this is the best I could get of the full building:’

Santa Fe Depot, San Diego, California

Pictures copyright 2012 Russel Ray Photos

The beautiful domes were hidden behind the palm tree or lost in the maze of the skyscraper. The other tilting skyscrapers didn’t add anything to the picture.

Enter Photoshop CS6….

I spent 1½ hours removing the skyscrapers using Photoshop’s Magic Wand and Quick Selection tools. Removing 90% of the skyscrapers was really easy. It was those skyscraper parts invading every nook and cranny of the outline of the Depot that took so much time to get right. Once I got that, I simply inserted a new sky and — voilà! — nice picture.

What I noticed as I was compiling this post was that I was so excited about the sky and the lack of skyscrapers that I forgot to lighten the shadows. When I lightened the shadows, I noticed the people, the car, the trash can, two poles, two electric raceways, and a sign on an exterior wall. They started bugging me, so back to Photoshop I went. Here’s my final product:

Santa Fe Depot, San Diego, California

Pictures copyright 2012 Russel Ray Photos

I’m wondering which picture you like the best. Actually, no I’m not. You don’t get to vote…. you don’t get to choose…. you have no say whatsoever…. so there!

Pictures copyright 2012 Russel Ray Photos

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Pictures copyright 2012 Russel Ray Photos