Tag: NIK HDR Efex Pro 2

A Path Through The Woods

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Nick Roberts

Enchanted Wood

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Today I am sharing an HDR image that has been processed with Aperture 3, NIK HDR Efex Pro 2, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CS5, Topaz Clarity and OnOne Perfect Effects. I shot the scene along Floyds Fork in the new Parklands Park that is being developed in eastern Louisville. My bracket set was -2, 0 and +2 EV which gave me three versions to work with for my HDR merger and tone mapping.

I first took the three bracket set into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged them and applied the Balanced Preset. After that I made some adjustments in Aperture 3 before opening the HDR image in Adobe Camera Raw where I adjusted color saturation and luminance and then saved it in Photoshop CS5 as a tiff file. I then used Topaz Clarity to add micro-contrast and further refine the colors in the image. After returning the image to Aperture 3 I adjusted the sharpening, definition and added a vignette. I then opened the image in OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 and used Perfect Effects where I first applied the Vecchio filter at approximately 75% opacity to warm the image even further. Next I added the Holga Filter to another layer in OnOne Perfect Effects before returning the image to Aperture 3 for final sharpening.

Reflections of Louisville

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Nick Roberts

The Highlands Reflected in the Leatherhead Front Windows.

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I have been trying to represent each of the eclectic business districts of Louisville in a single image for a couple of weeks now. I tried various angles but each time I wound up with too much pavement in relation to the amount of architecture. While shooting one morning last week I discovered that I could show businesses on both sides of the street by using the reflections of one side of the street in the shop window across the street.

I shot all the images in this post in three shot brackets that I merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and then finished them in Aperture 3. I built a preset in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 that I used on all these shots so that I had a consistent feel to the images. By using the preset I could quickly get the HDR image where I wanted it and then take it back into Aperture 3 for final processing.

Plehn's Bakery and Jimmy John's Deli Reflected in 60 West Windows in St. Matthews. — Plehn’s Bakery and Jimmy John’s Deli Reflected in 60 West Windows in St. Matthews.

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I used the same processing for the rest of these images.

St Mathews Hardware Window

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Highlands Businesses Reflected in Leatherhead's Front Window. — Highlands Businesses Reflected in Leatherhead’s Front Window.

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St. Matthews Reflected in 60 West Front Windows.

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Doo Wop Shop Facade With Highlands Businesses Reflections.

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Doo Wop Shop Facade #2

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Ohio River Sunset

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Nick Roberts

Ohio River Sunset

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This is a three exposure HDR using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 for the merger and tonemapping as well as some exposure and structure adjustment. The three kayaks in the scene are from the middle value exposure which is the default frame for NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 when anti-ghosting is applied; I used a 60% setting which seems to work very well for preventing ghosts when objects in the scene are moving in one direction. The anti-ghosting also worked very well for the women walking along the landing at this 60% setting. After completing my NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 adjustments I returned the image to Aperture 3 where I adjusted the separate color channels to get the image I wanted.

Beautiful May Evening

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Nick Roberts

May Sunset on the Ohio River

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This image is from a photo shoot I did last Thursday evening after shooting at the Pegasus Parade earlier in the afternoon. I wasn’t ready to go home yet so we headed down to Waterfront Park to explore it further and capture some images with Derby Festival goers using the park. We walked around the park for a couple of hours and wound up on my favorite place to shoot Waterfront Park from, the Big Four Bridge. I had been up there the prior afternoon and evening to photograph the Great Steamboat Race but I really wasn’t happy with a lot of the landscapes I shot after the race ended. I wanted to capture the dramatic sky that was visible Thursday so we hung out on the bridge waiting for sunset.

I shot my normal three frame bracket set of -2, 0 and +2 EV for this HDR image. Today I made a change in my processing and started my post processing in NIK Sharpener Pro 3. I allowed the program to determine the amount of RAW pre-sharpening to apply and then I opened the sharpened RAW files in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. I merged the three frames in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and kept the anti-ghosting set at 20%. I then applied the Deep #1 preset which I tweaked slightly to improve contrast and accent the highlights and shadows. Once that was finished I returned the HDR image to Aperture 3 where I spent some time adjusting the individual color channels as well as the vibrance and saturation of each one. Finally I applied my sharpening and a very light vignette to the image.

Parklands Morning

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Nick Roberts

Parkland Morning — Parklands Morning

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I rode out to the Parklands yesterday morning to revisit the images that I shot the last time I was out there. It was a cool brisk morning and I enjoyed riding my motorcycle in the early morning darkness. I am so lucky to have two things I am passionate about that bring me out into the early morning awakening of the planet. As a photographer I need to get up early and get to a location in time to get my gear out and get in position to capture the dawn of a new day. As a motorcyclist the early morning hours are also magical and allow me to see, hear and smell the world as it rises out of the darkness. The feel of my machine as I carve through turns and feel the wind on me is something I have enjoyed for over 48 years and hope to continue for many, many more years; when I do I will always have my camera with me too.

I returned to this spot because I wasn’t particularly happy with the noise in the earlier set of exposures I shot here last week and wanted to capture the feeling of spring before the trees filled in completely. Instead of trying to capture the scene just at sunrise I took a walk along the shore and scouted some additional vantage points. After that I headed back down along Floyd’s Fork to see if the redbud trees that I shot last were still blooming. I wanted to revisit those images as well. I found what I was looking for and shot along the creek for a while before returning to the lake about an hour after sunrise.

The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and illuminating the new born leaves beautifully. There was a weather front moving in from the west and it was bringing with it some very interesting cloud formations. I set up my tripod and started shooting again. The air was still and left the water undisturbed to reflect the sky beautifully. I was hoping for a fish to break the surface so that I could have the rings on the water when I heard these two geese coming down from the cove as they lifted themselves into the air. They were moving along in the shadows on the left when they turned and started flying toward my position. I shot two frames and then waited until they were up in the sky before shooting the last frame.

This image is another HDR from a three frame bracket set. I merged them in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and applied the Deep 1 preset before returning it Aperture 3 for some minor adjustments and sharpening. NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 anti-ghosting worked incredibly well, set at 40% strength, to isolate the two geese and prevent ghosting that would have shown the geese in different places in the frame.