HDR
These images were shot Saturday April 20th, 2013 at sunset in Union WA at Twanoh State Park, on the south bend of Hood Canal. HDR is a Photoshop feature where you merge multiple Camera Raw photos to get the best aspects of each image into a single image. CS5 and CS6 also allow you to get rid of ghosting. Because the wind was really blowing last night, I'm very grateful for this feature!
More HDR - playing with multiple settings and images
Playing with settings - RAW HDR
I was really playing around with settings. Just for fun I posted an inverted color image and a black and white here, just because I like the looks of them. Note that the inverted and b/w images in the middle and at right were put together using RAW and HDR elements. I only did it this way on this one; the other examples show the HDR image above with the 3 photos used to create it underneath.
Underexposed RAW to HDR
I was delighted with the photos I took, and I bracketed everything so carefully for this assignment. Later when I was uploading and processing them, I was horrified because about half of these, including some of what I thought were the best I had driven out there to take, were so underexposed - on all 3 images - they showed up as completely black. In fact the final four large images shown here were recovered using Camera RAW settings. So I bumped the exposure way up and then took the red way down. Ultimately I still like the composition of these and they have a nice artistic effect. But from now on I plan to take one safety photo on Auto regardless of what other camera settings I'm playing with. Lesson learned.
Vertical
Extra image I felt like including here (shot later from Hillcrest area of Shelton)
Photo Analysis
Feelings/Mood - This week, I was trying to use my camera to communicate an appreciation for beauty, for getting outside. I know it's not really quite the season for most people to get out for hiking and camping but let's just say I pretty much had the parking lot to myself.
Subject placement - The first photo features a sunset with a plant framing from the left, and the horizon line right at the bottom third. The sky was interesting enough on this one that it deserved the 2/3 lion's share of the image. I followed similar techniques on the second photo, but I wanted to allow the foliage to have a more open feel. The third one has unique placement of me, in that I was practically laying on the ground, shooting nearly straight up to get the perspective I wanted.
Multilayered - My fourth and fifth photo include Hood Canal in the shot, but it's in the background and the trees in the foreground dominate. The horizontal limb covered with moss in the fourth image here really divides everything up both above and below it as well as in front of it and behind it for a feeling of depth. The HDR image accentuated this division even more; when you look at the background, it has a kind of mystery to it, like a mist. It's like that tree limb is the arm of a security guy at a night club, holding you back from what's on the other side.
Depth of field - Images six to nine are more about the composition and silhouette than focus. It's kind of a happy accident because I like what happened with shape and color from an artistic point of view. That being said, HDR allows everything to be in focus so that you can get the best of both worlds when it comes to depth of field, as demonstrated best in the first photo.
Improvement - I need to continue to bracket and play with settings. But as I mentioned earlier I need to include one Auto (flash off) photo of every photo I set up to safely get it recorded regardless. Also, at some point I'll need a remote trigger because the tripod alone is good but not 100% steady.
Subject placement - The first photo features a sunset with a plant framing from the left, and the horizon line right at the bottom third. The sky was interesting enough on this one that it deserved the 2/3 lion's share of the image. I followed similar techniques on the second photo, but I wanted to allow the foliage to have a more open feel. The third one has unique placement of me, in that I was practically laying on the ground, shooting nearly straight up to get the perspective I wanted.
Multilayered - My fourth and fifth photo include Hood Canal in the shot, but it's in the background and the trees in the foreground dominate. The horizontal limb covered with moss in the fourth image here really divides everything up both above and below it as well as in front of it and behind it for a feeling of depth. The HDR image accentuated this division even more; when you look at the background, it has a kind of mystery to it, like a mist. It's like that tree limb is the arm of a security guy at a night club, holding you back from what's on the other side.
Depth of field - Images six to nine are more about the composition and silhouette than focus. It's kind of a happy accident because I like what happened with shape and color from an artistic point of view. That being said, HDR allows everything to be in focus so that you can get the best of both worlds when it comes to depth of field, as demonstrated best in the first photo.
Improvement - I need to continue to bracket and play with settings. But as I mentioned earlier I need to include one Auto (flash off) photo of every photo I set up to safely get it recorded regardless. Also, at some point I'll need a remote trigger because the tripod alone is good but not 100% steady.