Tag: NIK HDR Efex Pro

Jack Alpha On Top Of Big Four Bridge

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Jack Alpha the Ironworker

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This image is a single frame that I used NIK HDR EFex Pro 2 and Aperture 3 to process. By using NIK’s U-Point Technology feature I was able to enhance and fine tune the tonality of the oranges and blues of Jack’s welding jacket while maintaining the natural colors of the river and skyline in the background. I was in the man lift basket which allowed me to shoot him from a safe vantage point above the bridge. I am especially pleased with the way the arc of his welder has maintained it’s brilliance and the way the sparks are spraying to the right side of the frame.

This composition has several elements that make it strong. There is the angle of the bridge safety rail  in the foreground to the Kennedy bridge in the middle ground and the Clark Memorial Bridge beyond that. There are also the complementary colors of the jacket, safety harness and the river below all of which work in harmony to unify the composition. Finally there is the way the safety harness and Jack’s arm  create rhyme in the photograph along with the repetitive linearity of the bridges and handrail.

Waterfront Park Morning

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Waterfront Park Morning

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This image is one that I shot while in the man lift a few weeks back. We were 135 feet above the Big Four Bridge and the view was incredible. Fall was just beginning and a few of the trees were stating to turn adding just a bit of color to the park. This view of the Louisville skyline is one that I won’t be able to get again and I’m very grateful to the man lift operator, Tim Williams, for taking me up in the man lift. I also want to thank T&C Construction and Construction Solutions for allowing me to be a part of the project and giving me such unique perspectives of the city

I processed this image using Aperture 3 in an effort to create a realistic photo with a high dynamic range. The histogram for this image was an excellent exposure with no blocking up in the shadows or blown highlights. I am relying more and more on reading the histogram while shooting and using 1/3 stop EV adjustments to get as optimal an exposure as possible. I still shoot brackets, in most cases, but where possible I use only the best frame to create my image. This doesn’t mean I am abandoning  merging multiple exposures for HDR images though. There are still many times when the dynamic range of a scene can only be captured with bracketed exposures in order to open up the shadows or prevent blown highlights. I still love the richness and latitude that HDR processing affords me and will continue to use it but there is a great deal of satisfaction in capturing the full dynamic range, such as this image exhibits, in a single frame.

Across the River

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Kennedy Bridge Sunset

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This image was captured from the Jeffersonville, Indiana shore of the Ohio River looking west toward Louisville. It was a great evening for a sunset and I chose to ride over to Indiana to see what the Louisville skyline would look like.

I processed this single frame in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to enhance the colors in the sky. After adjusting the tonality to create the feeling I was looking for I returned the image to Aperture 3 for final sharpening and some additional tweaks to the definition, vibrance and recovery sliders as well as performing the final sharpening on the photo. Before sending it to NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I applied some RAW pre-sharpening in Aperture 3 which I have discovered is a good way to start processing an image.

Waterfront Park View #2

Posted on by Nick Roberts
We’ll Be Landing in Louisville

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This is another shot I took from high above the Big Four Bridge last month.  It was early and the sun was just rising when I captured this scene. The airplane in the sky adds interest to an otherwise empty sky. The river is so placid early in the morning almost as if it has been sleeping and is just waking to a new day. Waterfront Park is a treasure that many Louisvillians are unaware of; the park extends east of downtown for several miles and reinvigorates a former blighted area of Louisville. The park sits on land that at one time had nothing but scrap yards, asphalt terminals, barge docks and derelict structures all along the riverfront. The land has been reclaimed and decontaminated over the past twenty five years to create one of the most unique parks in America.

I processed this single frame HDR image in Aperture 3 and NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to get just the right atmosphere.

Stormy Morning in Louisville

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Stormy Morning

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This image is another HDR from a bracketed set of exposures. I was looking east from the Big Four Bridge around sunrise last week and found the sky to be very dramatic and foreboding. I really like the view from up on the bridge with the boat club on the left and the ramp up to the bridge on the right. In this composition I wanted to emphasize the many triangles that were formed by the channel on the left, the ramp and parking lot on the right and the clouds as they receded into the distance.

I merged the four exposures, +2, +1, 0, and  -1, in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to begin the tone mapping. I initially used an anti-ghosting setting of 20% but when I viewed the merged image there were several issues with the way the clouds rendered. I returned the merged image to the merge panel and applied 100% anti-ghosting which solved the problem. Normally I try to keep the anti-ghosting setting relatively low to avoid an artificial appearance but I have discovered that dramatic cloud formations really need it boosted to 80% or 100%. I think it has a lot to do with the speed that the clouds are moving, which is usually pretty fast, when they are part of a storm front such as this one.

I then started trying the various NIK HDR EFex Pro 2 realistic presets but did not find one that matched my intent for the final image. As I sorted through the many presets I discovered one named “Sinister” which was very close to what I wanted for the final effect. The only difficulty I encountered when applying the preset was that the foreground and foliage went way too blue and gray to suit me. I then placed a control point in the foliage and increased the exposure slightly. This served to lift the greens in the trees out of the shadows. Using that same control point I then raised the saturation very slightly and adjusted the vibrancy. What I was trying for was to get the scene to appear in the photo as it had appeared to me when I was capturing the bracket set.

The more I use NIK HDR EFex Pro 2 the more ways I find to create images that reflect the image I have in my mind when I trip the shutter. As I have said here in the past, my intent with many of my images is to create something that evokes my feelings for the subject and not necessarily a documentary photograph. I know that some photographers take issue with that line of thinking but as the quote in the masthead of this blog says “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” by Edgar Degas. I hope that my images evoke similar feelings in those who view my art.