Hello from me...and some recent HDR for c & c

[velvet]

Hi,<br><br>I've lurked on this forum for three or four months so thought it was time to descend and say hello and post some recent HDR photos.<br><br>I reside in Manchester, UK, and have been engaged on a HDR project around the city for the last six or seven months. I recently visited Mojacar on the Almeria coast in Spain and thought I would show you some recent HDR shots I took around the village.<br><br>Any comments are welcome, particularly around the style as I am still experimenting but prefer a subtle hyper-real effect rather than than the more surreal style.<br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9543071@N03/792795512/"><img height="368" width="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1260/792795512_1ed34a94a7.jpg" alt="View across Mojacar"></a><br><br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9543071@N03/792795254/"><img width="370" height="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1143/792795254_638516c389.jpg" alt="The big question"></a><br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9543071@N03/792795552/"><img width="500" height="371" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1227/792795552_1491b6b258.jpg" alt="The road to Mojacar"></a><br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9543071@N03/792795572/"><img width="500" height="335" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1319/792795572_7324417fdf.jpg" alt="Moja'car'"></a><br><br>Any comments welcomed otherwise enjoy...

[DrJalapeno]

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<DIV>My only complaint is that you didn't post them larger here!</DIV>
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<DIV>Beautiful renditions tastefully done, V.</DIV>
<DIV>I'm especially fond of the second one. Knowing your workflow would be most welcome.</DIV>
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<DIV>Real glad that you came in out of the shadows!</DIV>
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<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><br><br>Message Edited by DrJalapeno on <span class=date_text>07-12-2007</span> <span class=time_text>06:27 PM</span>

[halfpass]

<div>The second one is really cool but if I may be so ignorant, what is it? It confuses me. All photos are AWESOME!</div>

[canonist]

<div> I like all of them except the last one, wich is still good, where was the 1st and 3rd taken?</div>

[ZZZ]

Very cool! #2 is awesome. Thanks for sharing.<br><div></div>

[Jack]

Wow!<br><br>Welcome!<br><br>What programs, cameras, settings, are you using?<br><br><br><div></div>

[velvet]

Thank you for all your kind comments everybody. Its a real confidence booster to receive some positive feedback. I'm about to construct my first website and start showing off some of my work. To that end I will pull together some of my local work and post a few so you can see the direction that work has taken.<br><br>halfpass: the second photo is a marble spiral stairway which ran through the centre of the residential block I stayed in when I visited Mojacar.<br><br>I started with a Nikon D80 but am now using a D200 for the speed and added bells and whistles. I take from 5 to 9 bracketed shots dependent upon the DR of the shot. I like to work in the early morning or around sunset so DR is usually manageable with 5 shots.<br><br>My workflow changes dependent upon the shot and what I am looking to convey but the generic template goes:<br><br>Photomatix Pro (subtle render with strength at the 50-70% mark and saturation levels pulled down to 45-50%)<br><br>Export to Photoshop (cs3)<br><br>If Photomatix colouring too garish use Match Colour tool to neutralise (good for removing blue hues)<br><br>Then I use selections and curves/levels/saturation to build up the shot. For instance in the first shot above the main focus was the sky as this is the central feature.<br><br>Hope this is useful but happy to give more if I can. I will post some additional shots from my Manchester project

[Jack]

Thanks!<br><br>Can you explain your "Match Color" step? I'm not sure a lot of beginners would understand this--and casting and "garishness" is one of the newbie side effects I've seen a lot of...<br><br>Looking fwd to seeing more!<br><div></div>

[velvet]

<br><blockquote><hr>JackHoward wrote:<br>Thanks!<br><br>Can you explain your &quot;Match Color&quot; step? I'm not sure a lot of beginners would understand this--and casting and &quot;garishness&quot; is one of the newbie side effects I've seen a lot of...<br><br>Looking fwd to seeing more!<br><div></div><br><hr></blockquote><br><br><br>my early HDR attempts, coupled with the time of day I prefer to shoot at, led to excessively warm or overly blue colour cast shots coming out of photomatix. I struggled to sort this out without very subtle and frustrating playing with the Colour Balance or Selective Colour tool as adjustment layers (found under the layer tool/New Adjustment Layer).<br><br>By chance I read an article on the using the neutralise tool fouind in the match colour function under Image/Adjustments. This brings up a box in which the Neutralise tool is a tickable radio box and there are three sliders to control the neutralising effect, Luminance, Colour intensity and Fade. The tool is a very effective way of bringing more natural colouring to HDR, removing casts and allowing you to build up the colour/saturation of a shot through selections and layers.<br><br>Hope this is useful? I'll now look to post some recent shots I'm collating for my 'Manchester project'.