Tag: art

We’re Almost There

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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We are just a couple of days from the opening of the Big Four Bridge. All the work has been completed and all that’s left is for the gate to be removed and the dedication on Thursday morning. After that the crown jewel of Waterfront Park will be open to everyone on the Kentucky side. Later this year the ramp from Indiana will be completed and we’ll be able to walk or bike over the river.

I processed this image in HDR Efex Pro 2 from three exposures +1.3, 0, -1.3 EV. After tone mapping the merged image I returned it to Aperture 3 for some additional adjustments to exposure, definition, vibrancy and sharpening.

I finally broke down and started using the auto bracket feature on my Nikon D90 to capture my bracket sets. I don’t know why it took me so long to adopt this feature but I am really glad I did. It really simplifies the HDR bracketing process and allows me to focus more on composing the images while speeding up everything about the shooting process.

Macro on the Mountain

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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While hiking in Pine Mountain State Park I was intrigued with the plant life that was on the trees. I assume these green guys are a moss since they were primarily on the north side of the trees. This image was taken using my 60mm Nikkor macro lens and processed in Aperture 3.

Another shot of the moss from a little closer. This image was also processed in Aperture 3.

I was also fascinated by the various lichen that accompanied the moss. The patterns and textures are so intricate. As with the previous images I used Aperture 3 for processing.

The more I studied these mosses the more intrigued I became.

These lichen remind me of coral reefs floating above canyons in the sea. The forms and colors are amazing and seem as endless as the ocean depths.

These lichen are everywhere in the forest at Pine Mountain. These were on a branch I found lying on the ground but they were everywhere on the trees and on the forest floor as well. The texture and delicate structure is something that really draws my eye to them.

I’m not sure that I have properly identified any of these organisms and welcome any input that people want to share with me about what they are.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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Single frame image taken today. My Pine Mountain preset applied in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 then sharpened in Aperture 3.

More HDR Exploration

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Nick Roberts

This image was created using 5 exposures +2,+1,0,-1,-2, EV

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Today I am going to share several versions of one image to further illustrate the HDR process. In the image above I combined 5 exposures using NIK HDR Efex PRO 2. I then started with one of the realistic presets in NIK HDR Efex PRO 2 which I adjusted to my vision for the image. After getting it where I wanted it I created a custom preset that recorded all the adjustments I made to the image. I named the custom preset Pine Mountain #2 and saved it in the custom preset panel in NIK HDR Efex PRO 2 so that I could use it with any image I chose. I then started applying it to some of the single frames from this scene.

I’ll start with this frame which is the -1 EV underexposed frame. As you can see it is very dark and lacks detail in the shadows.

Below is the same image with the Pine Mountain #2 preset applied. It opened up the shadows and brought out a greater color range as well as some shadow detail.

-1 EV after applying Pine Mountain #2 preset

I followed the same process for the 0 EV exposure below. This exposure has better shadow detail than the underexposed frame but it is beginning to show some blown highlights in the upper area, notably the small amount of sky and the mountain laurel leaves.

Once again I applied the Pine Mountain #2 preset I had created earlier to this single frame which produced the image below. There is now more detail in the shadows, the colors are richer but the sky is starting to gray slightly.

0 EV after applying Pine Mountain 2 preset

Lastly I used the overexposed image with the +1 EV and followed the same procedure with it. Once again the highlights are blown in the sky and on the leaves as well as on the rocks themselves.

This is the overexposed image after applying the Pine Mountain #2 preset.

+1 EV exposure after applying Pine Mountain #2 preset

Once again there is marked improvement both in the highlights and in the shadows but it still isn’t as rich as the first image in this post that was created by merging multiple exposures in NIK HDR Efex PRO 2.

My conclusion from this experiment is that; while there is increased detail in the shadows, better highlights and increased tonal range available when using NIK HDR Efex PRO 2 on a single image; the use of multiple exposures produces a richer more detailed image. I stand corrected regarding my earlier post about the differences in single vs multiple image HDR processing and the results that are attainable.

I hope this helps my readers and that they benefit from my exploration and experimentation with the NIK HDR Efex PRO 2 software. I feel certain that these results are repeatable regardless of which software is used be it Photoshop, NIK, Photomatix or any of the myriad of other HDR programs out there.

Pinnacle Point Sunset

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Nick Roberts

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After my post last week about HDR processing I decided to follow up by processing an image from multiple exposures. In this case I shot four frames at +1.3, +.3, 0, and -3 ev then merged them in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I was watching the histogram while shooting which is how I came to use these settings. The histogram was fine on the dark end but was still blown out at the upper end until I underexposed it by 3 stops. That frame was the one that made the image work.

After merging and tone mapping the merged image I returned it to Aperture 3 where I cropped it slightly, added some sharpening and enhanced the definition and vibrancy. I also tried creating an image as vibrant as this using only the 0 ev frame but it was way too dark and noisy. From this experiment I have to admit that it is definitely better to use multiple images when the exposure range is as wide as this sunset was. Without the multiple exposures the lake and mountains in the center of the image would still be too dark and lacking in detail.

I am also including the four frames I used to create the HDR image below so you can see what I was working with to create the final image.

Speeddemon2 Photography

Fine Art Photography