March 23, Spring Rain

It rained yesterday…

The textures are from Shadow House Creations. I don’t know the man but he’s a genius. These textures were applied to a gorgeous photo and I ran outside to find a subject that would work with them. I think it works just fine.

Here’s the SOOC. I know…I know…I have to clean my sensor again.

My Take On HDR

As I peruse other photographer’s work, a type of image using high dynamic range imaging or HDR (or HDRI) would make me stop and think…

“That’s cool.” – with a cock of my head. And…

“How do they do that?”

And then I would think,

“That’s gotta be a lot of work.” 

“In image processing, computer graphics, and photography, high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight.^“The two main sources of HDR imagery are computer renderings and merging of multiple photographs, which in turn are known as low dynamic range (LDR) (also called standard dynamic range (SDR)) photographs.”

So says Wikipedia. Upon reading the definition, I came away with not much more understanding than before. However, my eye can now spot an HDR photo very readily even if I don’t know what the blazes Wikipedia is talking about.

For a few months now, my buddy Bob over at Dream Tomorrow, Live Today… has posted several photos in HDR which I like very much. Then Damien Franco over at Your Photo Tips posted an article about photographers around the internet and this artist’s (sterk1) HDR rendering caught my eye.

However, the master of HDR to me is John Maslowski at Sirius2 Photography. You should go over there. He’s the granddaddy of HDR photography and does beautiful work. His work falls into the takes-your-breath-away category. And he’s from Pennsylvania from my old stompin’ grounds.

Though I don’t know what that has to do with anything.

These above artists are all men and that made me think that perhaps this type of photography appeals to men more than it does to women, but then of course that would be stereotypical.

Though I like HDR photography I feel that sometimes it can be “overdone” and take on a cartoonish factor. I was also intimidated by what I thought would be an incredible amount of work and I frankly don’t have that much time. So after some thought, a little bit of free time and gentle nudging by Bob, I decided to check out Topaz Adjust. Lo and behold, they have a 30-day free trial so it really was painless.

You can create HDR photos using Photoshop. You will need Filter>Automate>Merge to HDR. I experimented with this because I have this horrible habit of trying to take apart things to see how they work. However, I found that it really was work just to figure out how to use it. I think you have to have several similar photos shot in different lighting in order to really edit this way. And they have to be the same size. I didn’t explore further but don’t let my laziness stop you!

Instead of doing it the “hard” way, I just fell in love in with Topaz Adjust.

Topaz Adjust is a photoshop filter, not a photoshop action. The difference is…

Filters go here.

Actions go here.

You can thank me later for the technical explanation.

Here’s a “before” SOOC.

And I don’t yet have a subtle touch but I love how it transforms a photo.

The photo above uses the High HDR setting(?) of the filter. It’s too much but oh it’s so cool.

Here’s another version I like better.

I brought this one into photoshop then smoothed the graining using TRA’s Smooth-O-Matic action to get rid of some of the graining. I wish I had used a different camera setting so that I didn’t blow out the Starbucks sign written in Chinese. This is a good lesson on how editing will never replace a good photographer. I’ll get there one day.

Hint: This is just my personal preference but though I’ve seen some really pretty landscapes that use HDR, I like HDR as applied to architecture (buildings, etc) the best. 

So there you go…a not-so-short HDR explanation.

Check out Bob’s site tomorrow…I think he’s going to post an HDR photo right Bob?

And I’ll tell you another thing. When my 30-day Topaz Adjust trial runs out, I’m going to buy it:)

March 22, Ebb & Flow

Still Or Already?

It’s a beautiful day today.

A beautiful warm spring day just makes you want to take down your Christmas decorations.

We knew they were up a trifle bit too long when Neighbor Ted came by and said, “Are your decorations still up or are they already up?”

And that was in February.

Christmas is only nine months away. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone through all the trouble…

March 21, Purple & Green In HDR Sketch

Serious Help

For some reason this horse really liked me. He wouldn’t leave me alone. It was a little creepy, I decided I didn’t like being liked by a horse.

Anyway…on with  my story.

The girl’s finale is tomorrow and she is scheduled to ride in an event that she has never before ridden in a competition and on a horse that she has never ridden before the last couple of weeks.

The horse’s name is Ella and apparently Ella is a good horse but with quite a few idiosyncrasies. People are that way too and the girl is a good equestrian so I wasn’t too worried.

Until last week that is.

I took the girl to the farm and she said she needed help getting Ella from the back field.

I said, “I’ll help you girlie.”

She answered, “No mom, I need serious help.” I wasn’t offended because I know whereof she speaks.

But I said, “I’ll help anyway. Do you have your leash?”

“Mom, it’s not a leash it’s a lead.”

See? I told you I’m not serious help.

She said, “Ella’s in the back field with all the crazy horses and I don’t want to get killed.”

At this point…I’m getting a little nervous. So she got some serious help from a 16 year old girl. I followed them to the back field and I realized that after all these years, I had never been way back there before.

And now I know why…it was filled with stinking rotting piles of manure. I said to the girl, “So is this where you bring your poop?”

“Yes mom.”

Hmmm, okay now.

So the two girls couldn’t get Ella to come. I’m thinking, this is the horse she’s riding in the finale? Yikes.

So Miss Danielle has to come and help convince Ella to leave the field and come to work. It only took 45 minutes and an entire bag of carrots.

I don’t know why Ella does what she does. I just know now that I’m a nervous wreck. Yesterday I took the girl to the tack store and we purchased a bunch of horse treats for Ella to bribe her to be good…

I know it’s going to be okay. I know it’s going to be okay. I know it’s going to be okay…

March 20, Hawk Nelson Is My Friend

This is a technically awful photo, one that a professional would never post. It’s a good thing I’m not a professional.

The look on the girl’s face…the wild hair on Neighbor Mary Ann’s daughter…the flash! Oh those red eyes are just awful. You can tell this is SOOC can’t you? And photographers all over are shakin’ their heads.

You know what? Two years ago, I would have thought this was a technically good photo. Today, I think it’s a great photo. I love that I caught Neighbor Mary Ann’s daughter in a wild head swing as her friend looks on in horror.

I’m telling you…teenage girls are crazy when it come to rock bands. Crazy.

It’s a wild and wonderful world.

Posted on SOOC Saturday over at Melody’s place. I love her place…so calming and what an incredible story she has.

Ummm, I’m Not Looking Mom

When I agreed to go to this church event as a chaperone, I knew that the night would be filled with wholesome entertainment.

It would be a night where the temptations of the world be far far away.

So far away and one wouldn’t give it a second thought. I mean, there are so many distractions for teenage boys nows-a-days don’t you think?

I said to Pastor Mark, “Nice seats Mark.”

He said, “They are! Look! The stage is right there!”

I said, “Look! My son is right there!” as I’m doing a little pointing thing with my finger.

All I have to say is this.

Holy cow look at that girl’s abs. I’m sure the boy didn’t notice at all.

Pastor Mark said, “It’s a little awkward.”

Ya think?

I said a little prayer and poof! the cheerleaders were gone and were replaced by this man.

Thank you God.

Hosted by Cecily

March 19, The Finale

For my family…the girl’s finale is this weekend.

For you horse lovers…I’ll have lots of horse photos next week.

For you foodies…I have nothing. Sorry.

For you photogs I only have one thing to say…SkeletalMess textures…check it out.

March 18, Rock Star

Judging by the reaction of the teenage girls around me, I guess he is a rock star. My ears hurt from all the screaming.

I’m over at Vision and Verb today…thanks for clicking over.

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