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View Full Version : Fish River Canyon - REWORK HDR



Morkel Erasmus
07-13-2009, 01:46 PM
I hope it's okay that I started another thread with this - but my previous one is quite old now and this is an entire rework. Mods - rap me on the fingers if it was bad of me :)

This time I worked the image over in Photomatix instead of using gradient masks in Photoshop. It helped me achieve that brooding and darker sky that was missing in the previous post. This is basically created from the same 3 photos.
(see here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=40719)

Own crit here is the slight halo on the horizon which I tried to minimize using light smoothing. I like the impact of this - all these colours are naturally present in the rock faces and this method (using Trey's tutorial at Stuckincustoms.com) has helped me get that overall exposure I wanted. I know this kind of 'surreal' HDR isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I believe both natural blending and HDR have their place, and I'm just on a mission to learn both techniques with the shots I have already taken for that purpose.

What I like about this shot is the detail extracted from the rocky crevasses and the overall tone. It was actually drizzling far across the Canyon on the day so the clouds are nice and moody. I had to save it at IQ of 60 due to file size (still only 800px wide).

All you landscape gurus' input will be MOST appreciated here!

This is a 3 exposure HDR (-3, -1.5, 0 - it was very hazy on the day).

Roman Kurywczak
07-13-2009, 02:29 PM
Hi Morkel,
I prefer your original post better! The blending in the FG just looked better to me and you had quite a bit more depth to the image in the FG textures. Let's see what others chime in.

Morkel Erasmus
07-13-2009, 02:38 PM
Hi Roman, thanks for your input!

I respect your opinion immensely - I like the first for its more 'natural' look. Both are great in different categories for me, and I'm very subjective so that's why throwing it out here on the forum helps me understand what works for different people.

Jackie Schuknecht
07-13-2009, 06:44 PM
Hi Morkel,
I was looking at your original post and the HDR, and I think I prefer Roman's repost the best. Just a little darker than the original. Beautiful vista and I like your framing.

Paul Marcellini
07-14-2009, 08:24 AM
I like the original, this just doesn't look real to me.

Morkel Erasmus
07-14-2009, 11:25 AM
thanks so much for the comments Paul & Jackie.

Here is the latest version of my 'manual exposure blend' effort (using PS, not Photomatix)...

I wanted to keep the brooding sky to show the contrast of a rainstorm in the desert, and also not lose some of the punchy contrasts while obtaining a more natural look.

I toned down the magenta cast at the back considerably, but you can see it is already noticeable on the original photo (out-of-camera) -
http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss230/Lekrom777/canyonoriginalsmall.jpg
that's just the way the light sometimes falls on Namibian rocks/soil. In the Namib desert at dusk you can see the sanddunes turn from bright orange to purple.

Rene Quenneville
07-14-2009, 11:43 AM
The PS version looks much better. It is a very fine photograph with beautiful details and contrast.

Robert Amoruso
07-20-2009, 09:57 AM
Morkel,

If you want that HDR look, then the original post here is AOK and I do like it as an Out of the Box type image.

For a more realistic approach, the traditional PS worked image is the way to go.

Morkel Erasmus
07-20-2009, 11:39 AM
thanks Rene and Robert for your thoughts.

Robert - I agree, as I still like both and think they have their merits.