Tag: HDR Efex Pro

Window to a Spirit World

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Window to a Spirit World
Window to a Spirit World

This is another bracketed shot of five exposures processed in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and Aperture 3. By using five exposures I was able to capture both the exterior detail of the brick and stonework and the barrel inside the building. I returned the tone mapped image to Aperture 3 where I cropped and straightened it as well as adjusted the sharpness, vibrancy and exposure slightly.

The blacks you see are a mold that forms on everything around a distillery. It is nurtured by the evaporation of the alcohol as it ages in the barrels. The distillery folks refer to the evaporation as the “Angels Share” which probably has it’s roots in the religious beliefs of the Scots, Irish and Welsh people who brought the distillation of whisky to Kentucky in the 18th century as America pushed westward from the coastal settlements.

The image is a symmetrical composition because the window is centered in the frame while within the window the barrel on the left side of the opening shifts the viewer’s eye and adds movement to the photo.

Resting Spirits

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Whisky barrel warehouse
Resting Spirits

Yesterday morning I joined 25 or 30 fellow Louisville Photographic Society members for a tour and photo walk at the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States, Buffalo Trace Distillery, located in Frankfort, Kentucky. The tour included a great deal of the lore and history of bourbon making and it’s deep roots in the central Kentucky region. We were very fortunate to have as our guide a third generation employee of the distillery Freddie who gave us a behind the scenes look at the distillery and the history of whiskey in Kentucky. Freddie took us into the warehouses and explained the way that the whisky ages in the barrels and why they are placed where they are in the warehouse. The barrels placed at the lowest levels are there for a long slow aging process that imparts the characteristic flavors of the charred oak barrel and the tannins in the oak to the bourbon inside.

I shot this image as a bracketed set of exposures for HDR processing. I first processed it as a color HDR image in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I tone mapped it using the realistic preset before returning it to Aperture 3 for final adjustment of the vibrancy, clarity and sharpening. Once I had completed that I created a duplicate image and reopened the duplicate in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I used the Black and White preset to convert it. I then applied a yellow filter which enhanced the highlights and deepened the shadows.

The image below is the color version that I started with to create the Black and White photo. With this image I am showing you that there are sometimes several ways to create a memorable image by taking advantage of the tone mapping ability of NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and then applying different presets to the final image.

Resting Spirits #2

I think the composition is strong in both the images due to the perspective and the leading lines taking the viewer’s eye down the corridor to the lights in the background. The HDR process allowed me to capture the detail in the structure and the barrels which would not have been possible in a single exposure.

Street Rod Nationals 2012

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Untitled

HDR bracket set of five exposures merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I then used the Dark preset which I tweaked for contrast, shadows and highlights. I then returned it to Aperture 3 where I adjusted the clarity and vibrance before a final sharpening.

 

Ohio River Sunset

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Ohio River Sunset
(Topaz Version)

Today I decided to give this image from an HDR bracket set a quick processing with Topaz Adjust 5. I started with the Spicify preset which I then tweaked slightly before sharpening and exporting the image. What I hope I demonstrated is that a dramatic image is possible with minimal processing provided your original photo is an interesting composition.

HDR Ohio River Panorama

Posted on by Nick Roberts

This image is along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. The building on the left is the Muhammad Ali Center which serves as a multicultural center with exhibits, classrooms, distance learning facilities, an archival library, exhibit galleries, a retail space and a café. The mural on the side of the building is made up of individual tiles that really pop when shot with the HDR technique.  Here’s a link http://alicenter.org/site/ for more information about the Ali Center and it’s mission. I shot the panorama from the Louisville Belvedere in downtown Louisville using exposure values of +2, +1, 0, -1, -2 inorder to capture the full range of tones in the scene.

I created this image from twenty exposures of the scene which I stitched together in Photoshop CS5 after first merging each section of five exposures in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I used five exposures for each section of the panorama which I first brought into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 from Aperture 3. Once in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I applied the Realistic Deep preset which I then adjusted to suit my concept for the overall image. After merging and adjusting the first set of exposures in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2  I created a custom preset that I then applied to each of the other sections of the image after merging them in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 in order to create a consistent tonal range in the final panorama.

After completing the HDR merges in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I took the four resulting images into Photoshop CS5 where I used the Automate Photo Merge setting to create my panorama. I then cropped the Photoshop image to clean up the edges before returning it to Aperture 3 where I made some final adjustments to the vibrancy and sharpening before saving the final image.

NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 did a fantastic job of anti-ghosting in the HDR processing which kept the texture of the water and definition in the clouds. I had it set for 100% anti-ghosting which seem to work very well in these types of situations. I hope this helps you the viewer see the possibilities that using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 along with Photoshop CS5 and Aperture 3 offer when making panoramas.