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Ron Bernstein
01-01-2011, 06:41 PM
My wife and I are visiting and touring with our daughter, an English teacher here, on a first-time visit to Japan, an amazing and wonderful country. This image is from the Hoji Temple in Kyoto, and was made with a Nikon D3 and 15 mm Nikkor fisheye lens. This five-shot HDR image, using Nik's HDR Efex Pro and CS5, was made by using the step in the foreground as my tripod. Sometimes you have to use tripods where you find them!! Snow monkeys are on the itinerary!

Sayonara and Happy New Year to all in this wonderful BP.net community!

Dave Mills
01-01-2011, 08:45 PM
Hi Ron, and a happy,healthy new year to you and your family.
If you can add the additional shooting specs so we can better analyze.
I like the low angle taken using the door as a leading line with the HDR really popping the detail and not looking very unnatural. The offset placement of the pagoda is handled nicely along with detail in the sky.
I realize shooting this at a very wide angle you will get some distortion. The door doesn't bother me but I would have preferred the pagoda to be straight.(it is leaning a bit left)
All in all an interesting perspective that works for me...

Andrew McLachlan
01-02-2011, 09:26 AM
Hi Ron, a nice perspective here. Agree with Dave's comments on pagoda. If it were mine I would clone out the rope on the right side. Happy New Year to you !

Ron Bernstein
01-02-2011, 07:23 PM
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Here is the repost without the cable, which is clearly stronger: great tip there! The five images were shot two over, two under, from 1/15-1/60, at f14, ISO 400. No noise reduction. I like the pagoda leaning a bit; it counters the sweep of the door for me and helps create a more kinetic comp, I think. I'm not sure what I could have done, or could do at this point on that issue, had I wanted it differently. Thoughts? Thanks again. Sayonara!

Robert Amoruso
01-03-2011, 08:42 AM
Ron,

Dave Mills comments are right on target and I like that you came back with the exposure settings. That helps me make the following analysis. The foot of the door is within the near focus limit of the lens (around 1-1/2 feet assuming some variables; go to www.dofmaster.com for means to figure this out). For me, that OOF area is a distraction and immediately caught my eye when I viewed the image. Even going to f/22 only gets you down to 1 foot near focus limit.

In this instance, backing up some from the doorway could have gotten that part of the door sharp and the immediate FG could then have been cropped away.

IN the OP, I would recommend cropping just above the two lowest bolt heads on the pedestal's ground support.

Ron Bernstein
01-03-2011, 10:58 AM
Thanks for the tip, Robert. Here is the crop you suggested. Do you like it better?
I miss the front of that footing, but that's because that was the shot I'd planned for.
I just didn't execute it, so now it's a struggle between comp and sharpness. THX!

Robert Amoruso
01-03-2011, 03:10 PM
Ron,

I know what you are saying. Having the foot is better than not having it. Thanks for posting the recrop. I do find my eye moves into the rest of the image easily now.

Roman Kurywczak
01-03-2011, 04:06 PM
Hey Ron,
Comp issues covered....do feel the repost is stronger because of the OOF stuff.....just remember the MFD or even try to focus stack.......but I do like your choice of comp.....very strong so hope you get another shot at this! All the best to you and your family in 2011 and best of luck on the snow monkeys!!!

Ron Bernstein
01-11-2011, 10:48 PM
On returning home, I found I had a series taken from further back from the hinge, with the hinge in focus (Oh rapture!), so I was able to incorporate all the suggestions about keeping the hinge in focus to lead the eye into the image, and removing the wire, to produce what I hope you will find to be the best of the three. I removed what I felt was a blue color cast and went for more of a pano feel here to accentuate the unusual point of view. Hope you like it!

Comments always welcomed, and thanks for all the input!

Ron Bernstein
02-21-2011, 10:22 PM
Ever since I posted this picture, I have been thinking about Dave's comment that he wished the pagoda was straight. I saw his point, and was captivated by trying to make that happen. Today, thanks to my friend Pedro, I discovered Fisheye-Hemi, a plug-in from Image Trends, that allowed me to do that, and more, in one click!! After that, I cropped from the bottom to make it more pano.

Here's what the manufacturer claims:

"Fisheye-Hemi offers an aesthetically pleasing and natural view of the image using a unique mapping technology! Fisheye-Hemi provides a more normal view of people by not distorting their faces and bodies, and straightens vertical lines. It has improved resolution of the image plus it displays the intended composition and framing better than other un-warping programs."

Here is their web site. http://www.imagetrendsinc.com/ITIASP/download/download.aspx?
The software costs $30, but if you search for their coupon, you can get $3 off.

Comments appreciated!

Dave Mills
02-22-2011, 12:03 AM
Good job Ron........