The Ominous Storm

The Ominous Storm
NCAR11D-321_pan

November 27, 2011

This was the scene while hiking with my girlfriend (now fiancée) Sarah last November.  We were at Morrow Mountain State Park, and had summited the main peak of the area, when we stopped to look around and survey the land.  Fall was dying off, the trees were losing leaves, and a late autumn storm was coming in from the south.  The mood, the ominous feeling of the clouds behind the silhouetted trees made it a great photograph, despite being slightly warped from the wide-angle aspect of the lens.   This is an HDR composite of 3 images, blended first in Photomatix and then finished in CS4.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6

Focal length:  20 mm

Exposure: 1/30 @ f/8   ISO 400

Post-processing: Minor tone adjusted with PS 4 and LR 1.4.

Frozen Pond

Frozen Pond

NCAR10D-44_HDR

January 31, 2010

Continuing on the theme of winter this week, as I get more excited about the trip to Colorado which will hopefully yield some snow and some winter pictures, this image comes from my former backyard.  My first winter, Raleigh got an appreciable amount of snow, which precipitated two things: 1) everyone freaked out over the 2-4" of snow that was blanketing the ground, even though it wasn't that much snow to begin with, and 2) some lovely shots from around Lake Johnson.  I spent a delightful day wandering around, finding little places to visualize the rare winter wonderland of Raleigh.  This image was a small pond, with water trickling down but still having a frozen sheet over the top, as well as a smattering of late-fall leaves that stuck around.  Constructed from 3 images in Photomatix, I feel it shows off some of the benefits of the HDR world... I got decent shadow detail in the left side and right hill, while keeping the color in the tree leaves and detail in the snow.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6

Focal length:  11 mm

Exposure: n/a @ f/25, ISO 100

Post-processing: HDR image created from 3 images using Photomatix, final image cropped down with contrast and tone adjustment, sharpening in PS4 & LR1.4

Smoky Autumn Waterfall

Smoky Autumn Waterfall

GRSM11D-16_HDR

October 7, 2011

We came across this scene while driving into the park actually; from the road you could see higher up into this little creek, and the trees were alive with the colors of autumn.  So I pulled a fast turn into the pull-out, rattling my passengers, but that is the risk you take when a photographer is driving through the mountains.  We scouted around, and ended up looking down in the creek a little, looking up past this small cascade and into the fiery brilliance of the forest.  This is an HDR, a little blurry in the trees due to the wind, but still helping pick out some of the tones in the rock and river that otherwise could have been lost.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Sigma 10-20 f/3.5-5.6

Focal length:  10 mm

Exposure: var @ f/13 ISO 400

Post-processing: HDR image compiled from 3 images (0, +1, -1 EV) in PS4, tone adjusted with PS 4 and LR 1.4.

The Limits of Post-Processing

One of the debates that rages, at least in certain circles, is what constitutes a great (or even an above-average) photographer, given the technology that predominates in our society.  There are so many ways of doctoring, re-touching, and enhancing your images post-shooting that were not available to photographers of former years.  Some of these techniques are able to faithfully represent the image before the photographer's eye and convey that to the viewer, and those, in my humble opinion, are the procedures worth keeping and using.  Something like high dynamic range (HDR) composites.  They have the potential to produce additional detail and help create a scene more like our eyes would see it (unless you go for the bad-acid-trip-HDR sort of images), and I have no doubt that Ansel or Galen, were they alive today, would be lining up to put HDR to use to create even more eye-dropping, envy-inspiring photographs.

However, there are a number of techniques that are no more than gimmicks, and this recent post on gizmodo (thanks to Deva at Perhaps Picture Perfect for the link) highlights those very well.  The black-and-white-with-a-spot-of-color, the fades in the corners, the bad cropping and collage-ing/merging, all are on display to show what you should not do.  Prepare to grimmace, and maybe even run away in horror.  One of my favorites?

 I almost cringe to post this shot on this blog, but it is too hilarious to let go unmentioned.  The color spotting on the dress, makes it look like she wet herself red, or was shot in the belly.  It adds absolutely nothing, in fact only detracting from the otherwise pleasant (though bland) black and white portrait.

The parent site that prompted the gizmodo post is entitled You Are Not a Photographer, and is a pretty funny site with snarky comments.  I think the title "fauxtog" should be more widely circulated.  Wow.

Yates' Mill HDR

Yates' Mill HDR

NCAR10D-4_HDR

January 23, 2010

Moving to North Carolina was a new adventure.  I had left Illinois behind, and with it the flatlands and fields.  There was a lot to like about IL, but nature and wilderness were not among them.  Suddenly, I was among trees again, real forests and topography.  It was great.  And a large city like Raleigh had a fair share of parks and greenery for such an urban area.  This shot was taken within the first couple weeks of living in the city, at Yates Mill Historic County Park.  Just a few minutes south of downtown, this old mill has a large spillway, and the angle and the contrast made me interested in trying an HDR shot.  This was really my first HDR shot ever attempted.  It is not perfect, and I realize that, but it was a first stab at this new form of media.  And the rest is history.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6

Focal length:  11.5 mm

Exposure: variable @ f/25, ISO 200

Post-processing: Merge of 5 images (+/- 2EV) in Photomatix.  Tone and shadow adjustment, sharpening in PS4 & LR1.4

Blue Ridge in Infrared

Blue Ridge in Infrared

NCAR11D-156_HDR

May 29, 2011

After taking the Ph.D. preliminary exam, I felt the need for a little relaxation and unwinding.  Four straight months of studying will do that to you.  As my reward, I spent Memorial Day weekend hiking through the Nantahala National Forest, making a loop around the headwaters of the Nantahala river, part of which was along the Appalachian Trail.  This forest was beautiful, rhododendron groves that hugged the trail,making you hike through a tunnel at times.  The second night I spend up on Standing Indian, which had views out to the west over the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Sitting up there, with this view straight from my tent, was incredible.


However, the weather wasn't quite cooperating.  The color version of the photo did not do the landscape justice, and didn't reveal the stark contrasts that I could see through my eyes.  So I resorted to a great medium, the infrared.  Highlighting the foliage of the near trees, which dance in the wind, I feel this is a much more powerful statement of this particular point in time. 

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135 f/3.5-5.6

Focal length: 44 mm

Exposure: var @ f/11, ISO 400

Post-processing: HDR image stitched from 5 exposures in Photomatix, colors desaturated and infrared instituted, minor curves adjustment in PS4

Heo Suwat's Rainbow

Heo Suwat's Rainbow

THAI10D-104_HDR

November 24, 2010

Another image from Thailand today, this time from Heo Suwat Falls.  This beautiful secluded waterfall is found in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, and is reached through a steep staircase cut into the rockwall surrounding this little grotto.  The water spills about 20 m from the cliff into a small pool, then runs through large boulders before resuming its journey downstream.  There is no swimming, and the afternoon sun catches the spray and throws up small rainbows (seen just to the left of the main cascade). 

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135 f/3.5-5.6

Focal length: 22 mm

Exposure: var @ f/16, ISO 100

Post-processing: HDR image stitched from 5 exposures in Photomatix, colors naturalized and minor curves adjustment in PS4