Test Driving HDR, Part 2

Well, my first attempt at HDR, over a year ago, didn't work out so well.  I wasn't happy with the results.  Yet in that unbeatable American spirit, I have refused to give in.

I have been working with Photomatix Pro® for a few days now, and I am blown away with what this program can do.  You can certainly do minor tweaks and adjustments, but so often the selection of pre-set options is as far as you will need to go.  What is surprising, and not really surprising at the same time, is that you won't necessarily use the same pre-set for each photo.  One might look better "natural", another "soft 3", yet another in "default".  It simply depends on the scene and the subject matter.

Another surprising benefit is that you often need never even enter Photoshop.  I prefer to work with RAW files... just import them in here, use the program and its magic, and save.  Could it be more simple?

Today's shot is a church in a small town well after dark in Greenfield, Iowa, about a year ago.  I took a range of shots with HDR in min, but never got to processing them until now.

I'll admit, this one doesn't look 100% natural, but I like it.  I have some others of barns and such that do look 100% natural as I saw them with my naked eye.  More often than not, that is the real selling point of HDR... finishing photos and you can't even tell it was used.

Does it Have to be Real?

Seriously.  Sometimes, not always but sometimes, you can play with settings in Lightroom and Photoshop and end up with an end result that looks good.

This photo is a good example.  I took this this past winter on a dreary day.  The natural color... if you can call it that... had more grays and blacks.  And to be honest, I like this series in its natural colors as well.  But, when I imported them into Lightroom, just to amuse myself, I played with some settings... mostly the white balance... and came up with this.  I will admit that I was a bit surprised at my reaction.  I liked it.  It has a warmer, yet surreal, feel to it.  At the same time, it doesn't really have any pretense of being real or natural.

On of my earliest blog posts has a lake scene in Michigan where I shot the same scene during a foggy sunrise with several different white balances in the camera.  The natural color was yellow-ish.  Others were blue, purple, and so on.  They were all great, yet for different reasons.

Experimentation.  Give it a try!

Take a Peek

For those who are local and paying attention, it should be obvious from the overcast sky in this shot that it is not a recent shot.  Not with our current drought-like conditions.

But, in looking through past photographs this one jumped out at me.  The scene attracted me at the time, but the resulting images didn't "wow" me.  It's grown on me since, but most likely because I'm remembering what I saw at the time.  I think I need to go back and re-investigate this scene.

This is in the Amana Colonies, by the way.

Still a Sucker for a Silhouette

I took this shot this past December.  It was freezing cold out, just after sunrise, somewhere just above zero degrees.  Needless to say, the hands don't always operate so well in those conditions.  Just touching the button on the remote is like slamming one's fingers onto a metal railing, then smashing a book on top just to make sure it hurts enough.

Where am I now?  Well, it's raining outside... I'm inside... it is kind of chilly, but I am too cheap to have the heater on in late April... and all seems good with the photographic world as this picture looks good and the memories of the finger pain have long since subsided.

Just in case you're wondering, this was shot north of Mt Vernon, Iowa... and in the full light is far less interesting.

Try Something Different

Do you ever get into a rut? Well, I've been unusually busy with work and school, so yes I've been in a rut, just not a photography rut. I'd rather be in a photography rut. At least those can be fun.

Missy and I went out with some friends to watch some barrel racing. I've been to rodeos, but never barrel racing. I decided to take my camera along and see what I could get, and I am glad that I did. It was fun. It was challenging. It was... different. I would like to go back and do it again.

I found a spot, and using my 100mm macro f2.8L IS, was able to get shots like this. I was overall pleased with the outcome. I used the Tv setting so I could choose my shutter speed and freeze the action as much as possible.

It should be noted that I have absolutely no clue who this person is, btw.

An early spring? Maybe? Please?

Since we have had virtually no winter at all. Could we maybe have an early and unusually nice spring to make up for it? You know, none of that in-between garbage where everything looks lifeless and dead for over a month. Would be a nice change of pace, don'tcha think?

This photo is still one of my favorites. Taken in Dubuque about 5 years ago, it has a certain old downtown nostalgic charm to it. Of course the "L" has long since been repaired, so I couldn't repeat it even if I tried.

Well, I suppose I could use Photoshop to manipulate it, but that would be cheating. I like to use photoshop to "finish" a photo, but I don't like to use it to outright change things that were never even remotely like that to begin with.

Sometimes It Just has to Grow on You

When I first took this shot, I wasn't what you would call 'enthused'. The time of day was a tad too late. It was windy. It just didn't feel right.

Over time, I would look at this image and would like it a little more and a little more. Over time, it really started to grow on me... to the point that I decided to finish processing it and put it on my website and blog for others to see.

Funny how that works. And this isn't the first image that snuck up on me.

What helps 'finish' this image, so to speak, is the kayaker in the foreground. He adds a little bit of context and interest, I think.

A New Year...

...time to refresh.

I decided it was time for a major update on the website itself. It took a little longer than originally planned, as the more I got into it, the more I decided to do. Moved all the stuff in the "New Additions Gallery" to their respective galleries, (temporarily) retired and/or rearranged some of the photos within the galleries themselves, and have a completely new selection in the "New Additions Gallery".

I guess you could say it was long overdue for a fresh start. What's surprising is how difficult it is to decide which ones to remove. I have them all, of course, and some photos are apt to disappear and reappear at random.

This photo is one of the shots now in the "New Additions Gallery". It is of the dome of the state capitol building in Des Moines, Iowa. When there, these views kept intriguing me, but also foiling me at the same time. However, the more I look at this one, the more it grows on me. This is a shot that wouldn't necessarily interest you as a small photo, but really does grab you as a larger photo.

Cruise on over to the website itself and take a look.