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Month: August 2012
Jason Odell’s NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 eBook Review
As many of you know I have been using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 since it was first released. I think it is the best HDR plugin on the market today and I wanted to see how another photographer found using it. I found Jason Odell’s eBook on NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did.
I had the opportunity this past week to read Jason Odell’s eBook “The Photographer’s Guide to HDR Efex Pro 2” I found it to be well written and very instructive. Jason does an excellent job of guiding anyone new to NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 in setting up and using the software. His instructions are complete and concise and make getting started with NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 a simple task. He goes into detail about the use of each slider and feature so that the reader can understand and predict what each one will do once they start using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2.
Jason covers the anti-ghosting feature very well and offers tips that help the reader make good decisions about when and how much anti-ghosting to apply. His observations parallel my own experience with the anti-ghosting feature which is that it isn’t always desirable to apply the anti-ghosting at 100%; doing so can produce unwanted results with some images. I, like Jason, often find that using it at 20% is effective and eliminates unwanted results in some images such as those with a lot of sky.
Jason includes several examples of images that he used NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 on and explains which settings he used and why he used them. He shows his readers how to create everything from realistic HDR images through surrealistic HDR images and offers excellent commentary on the subjects.
As an added perk he includes 40 presets that he has developed and he also goes into great detail about how the reader can expand on or develop their own presets too.
All in all I think “The Photographer’s Guide to HDR Efex Pro 2” is an excellent manual for anyone interested in learning how to use NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and well worth the price. I’m glad I read it and have it as a reference book when I need to figure out how to use NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 more effectively.
If you are looking for a great book on NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 then by all means get this one you won’t be sorry.
You can find the book at http://www.luminescentphoto.com/hdrguide.html and download it to your computer in minutes. There is also a link to Jason’s order page in the sidebar under the Blogroll and Training tabs.
Oldsmobile Rocket
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I shot this image a while back and processed it using NIK Define 2.0 and Viveza 2.0 to bring out the colors in the photo. I liked the pinstripe work and the artist’s choice of colors for the car. It’s a simple image and there’s not much else to add about it.
Morning on the Big Four Bridge Project
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This image is a single frame that I did the RAW processing in Aperture 3 on before taking it into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I used the Deep 2 preset as a starting point. I had to fiddle with many of the tonality sliders before I could get it where I wanted it. I had to be careful with the structure slider in particular because it was emphasizing the noise in the sky. I then brought the image back to Aperture 3 and performed a little cropping and noise reduction before saving this final version.
I feel really fortunate to be allowed up here to shoot this project. The men on the job are justifiably proud of their work in rescuing the bridge and converting it from a former railroad bridge into a pedestrian bridge linking Louisville with Jeffersonville Indiana.
A Postcard From Louisville
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I took this photo this morning from the Big Four Bridge looking southwest into Louisville. After cropping and adjusting the image in Aperture 3 I took it into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I applied one of the Realistic presets, Deep 2. I adjusted the tonality as well as the black and white points before applying the Graduated Neutral Density filters. I dropped the sky approximately 1 stop and opened up the lower part of the image approximately 1/3 stop before adding the vignette to the final image.
