Today’s image is from a six frame bracket set that I shot on a drive to Shelbyville KY along US 60. I took the brackets into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged and tone mapped them. I then returned the image to Aperture 3 where I straightened and cropped the image before applying a little noise reduction, sharpening and vibrance adjustment.
When I was down at Waterfront Park, the night before last, I was there because I expected some dramatic clouds and colors at sunset due to the thunderstorm that had passed through Louisville an hour or so before sunset. I had consulted my cloud map and it looked promising, based on the wind speeds and direction, for some dramatic skies. I set up my tripod facing west and captured some incredible images of the downtown bridges. The wind was kicking up and the remnants of the storm were scudding across the sky. I happened to turn around to look at the Big Four Bridge where I saw this scene unfolding.
Because the clouds were moving so fast I knew it was futile to try to bracket the shot so I looked at my histogram and started firing test shots. Once I had dialed in a setting that gave me a slightly underexposed histogram I just started firing the camera. I know from experience with scenes such as this that the biggest pitfall I face is too much light in the highlight areas which is why I chose a slight underexposure setting. I shoot almost exclusively in Aperture Priority mode in order to be able to predict and control my depth of field and this evening was no exception. I was using f9.5 and letting the camera choose the shutter speed based on the exposure value I was using. The clouds were moving very fast and I shot around 20-25 frames before they were no longer in a position that I liked.
Once I was back at the studio I started going through the images from this scene and chose this one for the position of the clouds and the way the golden hour light was shining on the bridge. I opened it in Aperture 3 and straightened the horizon before sending it into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. Once inside NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I started looking at the various presets and tried the Realistic Deep preset that I like to begin with for most landscape shots. I didn’t particularly like the effect it was having on the clouds so I switched to the Landscape presets where I discovered the preset I felt gave the best results. I then started adjusting the tonal range and structure until I had brought out the detail in both the clouds and the bridge. Once I was satisfied with the basic image I returned it to Aperture 3 where I further enhanced the color using the Vibrancy adjustment, along with the Exposure panel controls, to fine tune the image. Finally I adjusted the sharpness slightly and saved the image.
My point with the title of this post is that too often we photographers are focused on getting a particular image that we have in mind and fail to see the other great opportunities that are around us. As photographers we need to be “present in the moment” in order to capture the mystery and beauty that surrounds us. This whole scene came and went in a matter of minutes and there is no way that I could have foreseen this situation. If I hadn’t taken the time to look back behind myself I would have missed what I think is a dynamic and powerful image.
Here’s another image taken at sunset from the Clark memorial Bridge. I can’t stop going downtown and shooting from the bridge. This particular evening the sun was just dropping below the horizon and the colors were amazing. I especially like the way the sunset is reflected in the Yum Center windows.
The composition relies on the balance of the building and roadway with the texture of the clouds. There is also a complimentary color harmony going on with the blues of the sky and the oranges in the sunset.
I processed this image using NIK HDR Efex Pro using the “Realistic Strong” preset and Aperture 3 for final sharpening.
I took this image last week from the Clark Memorial Bridge. I used five exposure values +2, +1, 0, -1, -2 to capture the scene. I then processed them in NIK HDR Efex Pro to merge and tonemap the image. I also reprocessed the merged image with the anti-ghosting feature set at medium to clean up the vehicles on the highway and any ghosting in the clouds. I chose the Realistic Strong preset as my starting point and then tweaked the sliders until I had the colors and details where I wanted them. After that I returned the image to Aperture 3 for a little boost to the color temperature and sharpening.
I am especially pleased with the way the sky is reflected in the YUM Center in this image. I had been trying for several weeks to catch a sunset that was dramatic enough and high enough in the sky to reflect in the building’s convex glass. I checked cloud maps every evening for almost a month in hopes of being able to capture a dramatic sky such as this one. Many times the clouds would be where I wanted them 30 minutes before sunset only to fade away just as the sun set. On this particular evening the cloud map showed a lot of clouds out to the west so I set up my camera and tripod on the Clark Memorial Bridge and waited for their arrival. I was rewarded by these clouds moving in at just the moment the sun was setting.
Studying your location and accessing relevant sources, such as the cloud map, can really help when seeking to capture an image that you see in your mind’s eye. Keep this in mind the next time you wonder why you can’t seem to catch the scene you are seeking, patience and planning will eventually pay off if you do your part too.
The image above was taken in South Dakota with an iPhone 3S which fits my personal mantra that the best camera you have is the one you have with you.
For the past two months I have been participating in Pixoto.com photo duels. I have been able to see work from around the world and compare my efforts with those of my fellow photographers. The plus side for me is the satisfaction of winning an award for my work and the knowledge that photographers from around the world have seen my work and voted yea or nay on it.
I don’t know where Pixoto is heading but I feel pretty safe putting my images on their site. They watermark everything with a simple copyright © symbol with the photographer’s name; in my case it is ©Nick Roberts. They state up front that the photographer retains all rights to the images that they submit to Pixoto.
I find it interesting to see what they pair up in the image duels, (I participate enthusiastically), which show the varied approaches to photography from around the world. It is very gratifying to see that your image has been selected by your photographic peers as the best in the duel, and ultimately the category, whether it is for the day, week or month.
I encourage all of you who come here to view my work to take a serious look at the Pixoto.com site and try it out for yourselves. I think you will find it very gratifying and helpful. By the way I need to mention that it is free for the present time and you can earn posting credits simply by participating in the “Image Duels”
This link will take you to a page at Pixoto.com where you can see many of my images that have won awards from the Pixoto Community. http://www.pixoto.com/speeddemon2/awards
