Ford Racing... HDR fun...

Classic cars can be a lot of fun to photograph, even under the hood like this cool Ford racer! The engine detail has highly reflective chrome parts, and wonderful vintage colors. This is an HDR image merged with Photomatix, with just the needed exposures merged to bring out the detail and color in the image. The gas station and classic cars in the background are actually painted on the inside of the hood, which makes for a playful composition. The finishing touch is a edge treatment modified from one of the presets in OnOne Photoframe, made to resemble engine lube or grease. I admit I'm not an expert on that end of an engine, I only know the gas pedal part! You can use coupon code debsandidge for anything OnOne. Enjoy taking pictures! ~ Deb

HDR - Working with Photomatix to create dynamic images...

HDR (High Dynamic Range) offers the photographer unlimited possibilities when working with scenes that would be impossible for the camera to record in a single image. I liked this alley in Lucerne,  Switzerland, with the repeating windows and bicycles that were parked along each doorway. The bicycles seemed to speak about how people get around in this area, and I felt it would make an interesting travel photograph.

The dynamic range in this scene was too great for my camera to record in a single image. If I exposed for brightness in the alley, the rest of the image fell in darkness. If I exposed walls and windows, the alley detail was overexposed. Taking a series of different exposures allowed me to merge the images to HDR. This created a single well balanced photograph that shows all the wonderful detail in the highlight, mid-tone and shadow areas.

Shooting for HDR is easy, the more challenging, but fun part is deciding how to portray the image. As a photographer, you are much the artist here and have sway over creating an image that is more illustrative/artistic, photo realistic, or somewhere in between. I used Photomatix to merge the images to HDR, and used the Photomatix Tone Mapping filter to define how I wanted the image to look. My goal was to emphasize the texture, color and detail on the interesting stucco walls, and cobblestone road and enhance the many colorful bicycles in the scene.

In Photoshop, the image can be fine-tuned even more. Plug-ins and filters can give your HDR image the perfect finishing touch. I used a touch of Topaz Adjust Spicify, and added a slight vignette. Have fun shooting!

Autumn Trees....

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
~Emily Bronte

Aspen trees provide Rocky Mountain National Park with beautiful fall colors of orange and gold. I've never seen so much color in the Rockies before. I couldn't stop taking pictures in this one location, a short hike from Bear Lake. For this image, I used a wide angle lens to make several exposures, merging to HDR later in Photomatix. Find some fall color this October, don't let this month slip away! 

Explorations in HDR...

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it” ~ Confucius 

The interior of this building provides a wonderful opportunity for the HDR photographer. It's almost completely black inside this structure, and etched with urban art declarations.  I liked the interesting textures, shapes and colors within the building. Many of these locations are almost hidden from view and people may not know they even exist. I think that's what makes it very attractive to the photographer. I like exploring old buildings, you never know what photographic treasure you might find. Go with a friend. I used Photomatix 4.0, the latest version, to process and tone-map the image. I have a coupon code available for my students and workshop attendees for 20% off, email me.

Make great pictures!

 

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!

Secret Garden...

This HDR image was photographed at the Mission in San Juan Capistrano, California. The Mission is a photographically rich location, and an overall beautiful place to experience. This archway leading to a fountain created a perfect opportunity to shoot in HDR during the bright sun of mid afternoon. The image was processed with Photomatix and a texture layer was added for a painterly touch. (Email me for a great Photomatix discount).

We work with textures in my online courses that starts tomorrow at BetterPhoto.com. Textures are a wonderful way to enhance your imagery.  I also use texture layers with my infrared photography, which adds richness and depth. Classes are filling up quickly, and there's one more day left for the $20 off course coupon! Enter Summer20 in the gift card code field.

I hope to see you in class tomorrow...

Digital Infrared Photography

Photoshop - Enhancing Images & Creating Works of Art

Join the fun!