#HDR at Twilight, extending our HDR workshop at Naturescapes...

The quaint town of Socorro, New Mexico is a wonderful place to visit, and it's very close to the most beautiful Bosque del Apache where Naturescapes was held. Greg Downing, Tim Grey and myself led several workshops and presentations in this picturesque part of the country.

My creative photographer students started out our HDR workshop with an interesting caboose and railway, and we ended up extending our time into twilight with a few HDR photos of the historic area, much fun! One of the students had a tilt shift lens and was able to make very cool photos during the workshop. Several used fisheyes, one of my favorite lenses! Twilight is a wonderful time to make expressive photographs. The magic light of the "blue hour" lasts only for a short time. For HDR and/or twilight photography, use a remote release, tripod and low ISO. HDR allows the photographer to capture the entire dynamic range of the scene, and twilight provides the the vivid blue sky. A small aperture provides the starburst effect. This is affectionately called the "Tim Grey" effect by everyone at Naturescapes after Tim's informative and fun presentation!  Have fun shooting! ~ Deb

HDR in Socorro, NM - Maximize your opportunities with a great subject!

I just finished up teaching at Naturescapes with Greg Downing and Tim Grey in beautiful Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. We stayed in a cool little city called Socorro that has a couple of interesting places to photograph -- especially in HDR!  This ended up to be one of the locations that I took my HDR workshop photographers to. We had a lot of fun exploring this colorfully painted and aged-to-perfection caboose. We photographed from the wide view, to the details and came away with a lot of interesting and creative interpretations of this location, including really fun fisheye views. One of the participants had a tilt shift lens which worked beautifully with the uneven terrain around the caboose. It was great to see what everyone came up with! Our HDR workshop segued into a twilight workshop with a vivid blue sky and twinkling lights of of the downtown historic area. We finished the evening with a wonderful dinner among friends!

This HDR image was processed using Nik HDR Efex Pro, the new kid on the block for HDR that is a hit with the Naturescapes group!  You can use code DSANDIDGE for everything Nik! Put Naturescapes on your workshop must attend list and have fun shooting! ~ Deb

HDR in Times Square – Creating Dynamic Images

HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is exciting, creative and technically amazing!

The art and technique of HDR allows the photographer to create extraordinary and dramatic story-telling images.

With #HDR, a new image is created by combining a variety of exposures to reveal incredible detail, color, and definition throughout the highlight, mid-tone, and shadow areas.

HDR images can be magical and compelling through subtle beauty or exquisite detail.

You are very much the artist when it comes to how you wish your HDR image to look; illustrative, photorealistic or somewhere in between.

The process of shooting a scene and merging the images through software is easily accomplished, allowing the digital photographer to create high impact images with phenomenal dynamic range. There are several options to merge and process HDR images including the new and very intuitive HDR Efex Pro from Nik Software.  Most photographers are familiar with the interface of Nik Software, and U Point technology, which makes HDR Pro very attractive and easy to work with. 

December 3, 4, & 5th - Join Greg Downing, Tim Grey and myself for three days of in Soccoro, NM next month for the Naturescape Photography Series - a wonderful photographic and learning opportunity in a most beautiful place, Bosque del Apache. I'll be giving talks, tips and techniques about creating inspirational images through the process of HDR, infrared, and creativity with your camera. Plus I will cover artistic enhancements with plug-ins and filters such as Topaz Adjust, Lucis Pro and Nik Software. Check this schedule for more information...

More Graffiti Fun...

Just for fun, I took a few photos of this car that was reflecting all the urban art surrounding it. The image was a three shot HDR and was processed through Photomatix. To add a little more drama, I used two filter's from Topaz Labs Adjust to enhance the texture, color and shine of the car,  namely Spicify and Portrait Smooth. The resultant image has a lot more depth and color, and interest. Photomatix and Topaz Adjust are a complementary combination of filters. It's good to vary the effects and opacities to come away with your own creative interpretation of the scene.

Interested in HDR? I'll be giving answering your questions at the Orlando Camera Club on August 23, and also doing a presentation/workshop with Naturescapes in early December, along with infrared and creative photography at the stunning location of Bosque del Apache, NM. In the meantime, please join me online with one of my courses - we'll have a lot of fun, and we'll work with many creative ideas during this month. Hope to see you there!