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I was down in New Haven at the Kentucky Railway Museum yesterday and decided to shoot some black and white images. I wanted to try out the newest Topaz B&W offering so I used it on this detail shot of Locomotive 152 inside the repair barn.
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This was a three frame bracket set -2, 0, +2 EV merged and tone mapped in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 starting with the Deep 1 Preset. I made some minor changes to the amount and method strength. I also dropped a control point on the sky in the background where I adjusted the exposure and contrast. I then returned the image to Aperture 3 and adjusted the overall exposure, cleaned up some dust spots, and enhanced the vibrance slightly.
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This image is from the Waterfront Park Amphitheater looking west. This is a magical place that affords a view of the Big Four Bridge and the Ohio River that many people aren’t aware exists. There are speaker and a sound system there that plays WFPK public radio music which is really a nice way to enjoy the view listening to music.
This image is from a three EV bracket set merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and tone mapped there before returning it to Aperture 3 for some adjusting and slight straightening of the horizon. After that I used some OnOne Perfect Effects presets dialed down to low strength to enhance the final image. One filter I used was the Polarization filter; it is very good and really mimics the characteristics of a real polarizer by virtue of being able to “rotate” it when applying it to the image.
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This is another image from that same shoot with similar post processing. The next time you are down in Waterfront Park take a stroll to the Amphitheater and discover another facet of our wonderful Waterfront Park.
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These images are detail shots of the massive nuts that are at the junction of the bridge spans. The nuts are at least 12 inches in diameter and when I first noticed them I wondered how big the wrench must have been that was used to tighten them. They are visible at the ends of each bridge span where it connects to the next span. They are down behind the curb; you can also see that the handrail looks different where it goes past them.
These images are single exposures that were first tone mapped in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 them taken into Color Efex Pro 4 where I used the detail extractor preset to emphasize the texture on the surfaces. I then returned them to Aperture 3 where I adjusted vibrance, contrast and sharpening.
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This image went through the same post processing routine as the one above. These colors are all there it just takes opening your mind and eyes to see them when you are photographing them. I don’t change the colors in my images but I do enhance their luminance when I get them into my digital darkroom.
The next time you are up on the Big Four Bridge take a look at these connectors. If you bring your camera try to remember that there is more to shoot on the Big Four Bridge than sunsets and bridge architecture; look for images in the textures and juxtapositions of surfaces that are all around you.
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I have been doing more experimenting with combining various software in my processing. For this image I used NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge my three shot bracket set. I did some initial tone mapping there and then returned it to Aperture 3 for more refinement. After that I took it into OnOne Perfect Effects and applied some of the filters there at very low strength to bring out more detail in the sky. I’m pleased with this image because it doesn’t exhibit a lot of haloing even after using multiple filters.
