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I have been trying to catch the sunrise each morning from the Big Four Bridge. Yesterday I arrived at the bridge at the same time that a cold front was moving in from the southwest. The weather forecast was for rain to start by 10:00 am and the sky was very active as the front progressed. I decided that it might be interesting to shoot the river and the Kennedy Bridge as I watched the clouds build up.
I set up my tripod looking west from the ramp going up to the Big Four Bridge and captured several five exposure bracket sets of the Kennedy Bridge. Back in the studio I opened the morning’s shoot and found this image. I usually try to get several variations of my subject when I shoot as I have learned over time that the best way for me to evaluate a composition is in the studio on the monitor. I chose this image because I liked the way the handrail swept into the frame.
I used all five exposures +2, +1, 0, -1, and -2, which I merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I used the default preset in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 as my starting point as I started my tone mapping. I liked the way the sky and bridge had turned out but the lawn had acquired an over saturated green tone that was in conflict with the blues and grays of the rest of the image. I dropped a control point into the grass and desaturated it slightly to get it back to what I saw as I shot the scene. I find that these control point adjustments work well when there is a marked difference in the colors in the image where they are applied. In this case the green was so distinct in the image that it worked like a charm.
I returned the merged TIFF image to Aperture 3 where I adjusted the vibrance very slightly and applied some sharpening before exporting it as a jpeg for the web.
Great photograph Nick! Clearly you are getting the most out of HDR Efex Pro! Love your posts! Best, Lauren
Thanks Lauren. I’ve been a little lax in posting for the past couple of weeks and want to get back where I was before the break. I find the act of posting each day to be both demanding and fulfilling. Demanding in that I have to decide what and why I am going to post and fulfilling because I hear from other artists such as yourself. I find that putting myself out there is making me look ever more closely at my work as well as pushing me to new levels of awareness about my work and what it means for me.
You are so right, Nick. Nothing like submitting your work for all to see and critique! I have been so busy with my projects that I have allowed my posting to lapse. I have got to get back to it!
The lighting in this one is so soothing!
Thanks LBT I felt the same way when I was there shooting. The light was so soothing: it was just after sunup so the world was very still too.
Hi Nick, so happy to see that you are back— I did miss your daily posts/photos. You have a wonderful river waterfront in Louisville, and your photographs of it are always inspiring—thank you for sharing with us.
Willa
Willa, Thanks for the kind words, it’s nice to hear that my images are appreciated and that my daily posts are too.
Great capture, and your post-processing sounds spot-on. I like the thought of you on the Harley, looking for that next great vista… : )