HDR - On That Other Pond

Leaving town tomorrow morning, so wanted to get an HDR in before I leave. Hopefully I'll still be able to tune in between meetings and see all the creations while I'm gone.

The set up: It was last month on May 30th. The sun was rising (sunrise 5:20) on camera left and the moon was setting (moonset 7:34) in the position shown on the photo. I took the single moon photo at 400mm at 6:15, switched lenses and took the 5 HDR photos at around 6:30. It was still very dark in the trees across the pond, but the sky was very bright behind them with just a touch of pink left low in the sky.

Taking the photos: I used my 50D for all. First, the 400mm lens at f5.6, 1/500 and ISO 400 for the moon shot. It was a bit higher in the sky when I shot it than the placement in the photo. Then, I switched to a superwide angle 11 to 18mm lens and shot all the HDR photos. They were all at 13mm, f18 and ISO 100. The shutter speeds varied through 1.6 sec, 0.8 sec, 0.5 sec, 0.25 sec and 1/8 sec.

Putting them together: I tried Photomatix and CS5. Photomatix won, but I still had to do a bit of hand-blending in the water and sky. After I got them blended, I sandwiched in the 400mm shot of the moon. Had to shrink it down a bit, but it is still about 50x larger than the “real” moon that is behind it.

Additional Post Processing: Fotosketcher on oil painting and blended back to minimize the effect some. A bit of cloning to remove the rain gauge from the pier. Intentionally left it a bit dark...because it was. I really wanted to add a moon reflection in the water, but it would have been on the pier, so no go.

I struggle with level horizons and suspect that this one is not, but no matter which way I tilted it, it never looked right, so I stuck with "as shot".

Patti, I think the painterly effect adds a lot of interest and texture to the image. It's a lovely scene that seems to draw you straight in. I like the two trees framing the edge. Lovely mood created here.

Really nice way to start this week, well done..boy I wish this was my backyard...

A lot of work, well worth it Patti. Love the sun and the moon together and the painted effect adds a great feel. Well done.

Nice composition, Patti. I like the idea of HDR and then using painting effect on it. Love the colors and the effect.

Hey Patti,
Very effective here with the moon placement and other applied techniques....looks like a painting!

Wow, this is just beautiful!
Peaceful and very serene. Reminds me of the lake where I grew up in the Midwest.
I don't understand some of what you did in the processing, but the results are wonderful.
Hope to learn more here..

Very enchanting scene, Patti! Everything works together so well, the moon, the trees on each side framing the image, the pier leading you in, and the lovely painted look. Well done.

This was a lovely surprise when I opened up the image, not at all what I was expecting. Really love the effect you've produced and you put so much effort into it. I like the way the tree trunks frame the pond and the dark somnolent feel you've given the image. Moody and evocative, love it.

Thanks to all for the nice comments. I can't wait to see all of the images I've missed out on this week.

Patti

Patti, don't know how I missed this one - it is truly beautiful! Excellent planning and PP work to get the effect you were looking for. Lovely painting!