Via Flickr:
The Pot from Harry Potter at Lacock Abbey, England
Sunday 30 December 2012
The Pot from Harry Potter at Lacock Abbey, England
Saturday 29 December 2012
Wednesday 26 December 2012
Face in the rain, Little Ben, Cardiff Bay, Wales
Via Flickr:
Face in the rain, Little Ben, Cardiff Bay, Wales
I'm amazed I got this much detail (I couldn't read the clock face when shooting), it was that kind of rain which doesn't drop, but hangs like a mist soaking you to the bone, the visibility was terrible. But these are the best conditions for city shots :D
Ornate Gold Ceiling at the Red Castle (Coch Castell) Cardiff, Wales
Via Flickr:
Ornate Gold Ceiling at the Red Castle (Coch Castell) Cardiff, Wales
Sunday 23 December 2012
Saturday 22 December 2012
Senedd, Cardiff Bay, Wales
Via Flickr:
The Senedd, Cardiff Bay, Wales. Absolutely pouring down taking this shot, normally I drop my fstop low when its raining but I wanted to make sure the rocks in the foreground were focused correctly.
Friday 21 December 2012
Sunday 16 December 2012
Wednesday 12 December 2012
Tuesday 11 December 2012
Monday 10 December 2012
Sunset Pond, Snowdonia, North Wales
Via Flickr:
if you check a few pictures back you can see the RAW file for this that I convert into 32bit HDR, I've basically done nothing else to this
Thursday 6 December 2012
We're gonna need a bigger boat, Monserrate Palace, Sintra, Portugal
Via Flickr:
We're gonna need a bigger boat
Monserrate Palace, Sintra, Portugal
Rooftops of Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Via Flickr:
Rooftops of Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
From Wikipedia
Tavira's origins date back to the late Bronze Age (1.000-800 BC). In the 8th century BC it became one of the first Phoenician settlements in the Iberian West. The Phoenicians created a colonial urban centre here with massive walls, at least two temples, two harbours and a regular urban structure. Phoenician Tavira existed until the end of 6th Century BC, when it was destroyed by conflict. The city has since been rebuilt with many fine 18th century buildings along with its 37 churches. A 'Roman' (actually Moorish) bridge links the two parts of the town across the River Gilão. The church of Santa Maria do Castelo, built on the site of a Moorish mosque, holds the tombs of Dom Paio Peres Correia and his knights. The church dates from the 13th century and the clock tower has been remodelled from the original Muslim minaret.
Wednesday 5 December 2012
Comparing 32bit HDR vs Standard Enhancer
Via Flickr:
Picture taken inside a working windmill
Top left: Standard Photomatix Enhancer HDR
Top right: 32bit HDR created by Photomatix
Bottom left: zero exposure RAW
Bottom right: Split between 32bit HDR and the Standard Enhancer
No pictures have been edited in any serious way. The white balance is the same on all.
The standard enhancer method shows the dirty look long associated with HDR. The algorithm tries to equal out the picture and so doing makes the image look quite flat, lacking contrast. It gains more details in the deep shadows, but that is what's causing the overall flat look. At the pixel level the standard HDR lacks sharpness and the colours are not true to the scene. The colours of the 32bit HDR are what I saw with my eyes, albeit slightly on the warm side, but I think my canon always creates warm pictures.
Having said that I think the standard HDR creates a certain style which can look quite effective for some images. With the standard HDR you would take that "base" image you've created then bring into Photoshop the 3 component images and using a soft brush blend back some of the bits you like better from the originals. For example, the white walls on the standard HDR are dirty, the image underneath (the zero source file) has better walls. Trey Ratcliff (stuckincustoms) works in this fashion and produces wonderful images.
It could be said one method creates a more stylized finish and one a more realistic finish, but either method still requires further editing.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Praia Monte Clerigo Beach, Algarve, Portugal
Via Flickr:
Praia Monte Clerigo Beach, Algarve, Portugal
The Future of HDR - 32bit HDR images
Via Flickr:
These aren't edited, just the results from combining exposures.
This method solves all the annoying bits of the old method, like halos, unnatural dark clouds, noise, fuzzy pixels, dirty blues, that weird grey dirty look on EVERYTHING, which you had to correct by bringing in the original RAWs - you don't need to do this now, unless there's moving things, but Photomatix ghost correction does OK sometimes.
Take your 3 different exposures, drag all three (or however many you took) into Photomatix Pro (I use version 4.2.4) combine as usual (I uncheck everything but chromatic aberrations) then when the 32bit preview image comes up save that as a floating TIFF - this is your 32bit HDR. This will open in Lightroom 4, edit as you would any normal TIFF.
The most important sliders are the Temp - Tint - Highlights - Shadows - Contrast - Whites. I don't ever use Saturation, but I will use Vibrance and Clarity a little. Don't add noise reduction at this stage, it goes weird - leave this and sharpening till last.
As far as I'm concerned I'll never use my grad filters again unless I'm trying to slow the shutter down for water or whatever.
Remember, you don't want your Histogram to be bunched in the middle, make sure you add plenty of shadows back and pull the whites up, it's OK to have some clipped blacks and even some blown whites - better that than a dull image.
Monday 3 December 2012
Pink, Green, Orange, Rustic House, Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal
Via Flickr:
Pink, Green, Orange, Rustic House, Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal
Sunday 2 December 2012
Saturday 1 December 2012
The most beautiful train station in the world, Berwyn, Railyway Station, Llangollen, Wales
The most beautiful train station in the world, Berwyn, Railyway Station, Llangollen, Wales, a photo by Fragga on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
The most beautiful train station in the world, Berwyn, Railyway Station, Llangollen, Wales
The Round House, Elan Valley, Rhayader, Dams, Wales
Via Flickr:
The Round House, Elan Valley, Rhayader, Dams, Wales
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