Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.
Today I am sharing an HDR image that has been processed with Aperture 3, NIK HDR Efex Pro 2, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CS5, Topaz Clarity and OnOne Perfect Effects. I shot the scene along Floyds Fork in the new Parklands Park that is being developed in eastern Louisville. My bracket set was -2, 0 and +2 EV which gave me three versions to work with for my HDR merger and tone mapping.
I first took the three bracket set into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged them and applied the Balanced Preset. After that I made some adjustments in Aperture 3 before opening the HDR image in Adobe Camera Raw where I adjusted color saturation and luminance and then saved it in Photoshop CS5 as a tiff file. I then used Topaz Clarity to add micro-contrast and further refine the colors in the image. After returning the image to Aperture 3 I adjusted the sharpening, definition and added a vignette. I then opened the image in OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 and used Perfect Effects where I first applied the Vecchio filter at approximately 75% opacity to warm the image even further. Next I added the Holga Filter to another layer in OnOne Perfect Effects before returning the image to Aperture 3 for final sharpening.
Truly stunning result. Thank you for sharing with us.
The enlarged image is amazing, Nick. Beautiful details.
Thank you Karen I’m glad you enlarged it to see the amount of texture and detail the HDR process can reveal when applied with that goal in mind. I was also using an aperture setting of f22 to maximize the depth of field.
Very nice Nick, without being over done. Perfect.
Thank you that was my goal with this image.
Is that a Question mark butterfly resting on the left trunk of that V-branched tree on the right? A fine image that demands that you trek that trail….and savor its surprises.
I can’t find a butterfly anywhere in the image Jeffery. Are you pulling my leg or do you see something I’m missing? You are the butterfly expert so I’ll defer to you on this.
Thanks for the kind words about the image and the story it presents.
Uh oh! I was expressing how rich the image was…that it was persuasive enough to easily delude you into thinking that there were other details just beyond the …. Didn’t mean to confuse.
Back to basics. I liked it. Period.
Jeff
I thought that was where you were going but since you are a butterfly expert I thought I was missing something. The name “question mark butterfly” had me going for a moment. Thanks for the humor… 😉