Lonaconing MD silk mill, #2

[Dennis Bishop]

I'd processed this before my attention was diverted to income tax and the trip to France, but I couldn't find the time, then, to post it. With all the other shots I took on the way to the silk mill and on the way back, in France, and at Greenfield Village with some others from the local photo group this past Saturday, silk mill image #3 is likely a long way into the future. This one is of the freight elevator shaft.

Nikon D3S, ISO 400, f/22, eight-exposure HDR at 1 EV intervals, zoom at 23mm

processing highlights

• Topaz Simplify -- saved preset, partially masked
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved preset, Color blend mode
• five black & white layers, Multiply blend mode -- three Fractalius (two masked); Snap Art Line Art, 36% opacity; Simplify edges, 54%
• gradient vignette

[Hazel Grant]

I just told my husband that I wanted to spend the summer working on learning HDR. This is a reminder and challenge to do so well. Still not sure if the bright light is too much of a distraction, but really like the effect otherwise. The frac helps with the image of the stonework.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Dennis, I really love the diagonal and horizontal lines throughout the image and your "technique" works really well here. The lights and shadows are just gorgeous. I'm not sure about the dark line at the upper top half (part of a beam?). I would prefer that it went all the way across. I'm sorry we're going to have to wait awhile for #3

[Dennis Bishop]

Thanks, Hazel and Cheryl. I appreciate your comments and input.

Hazel, I probably wavered about that highlight, but maybe not. I used a Curves adjustment layer to lighten the image in a layer below the Fractalius ones to compensate for some of the general darkening they do, and I didn't mask it from that highlight. On the two masked Fractalius layers, I did allow the darkening to occur, there, however.

Most of my images either start out as HDRs in-camera. Occasionally -- especially if I can't shoot bracketed exposures -- I'll generate them with the Exposure slider in Camera Raw. I've shot HDRs long enough to be able to make a reasonable guess on the number of exposures needed, but I always err on the high side. That way, I can just throw away the ones I don't need instead of hoping to be able to get them via Camera Raw. (I'm currently working on an image, the next one I'll post, and I ended up using only five of the nine exposures I took.) I used to use Photomatix for tone mapping. Although I liked it, I've switched to Nik HDR Efex. On occasion, I've tried using Photoshop's tone mapping but haven't adopted it. There are those who layer all the exposures in Photoshop and use masks to get what they want. I've thought about doing that but haven't, yet, succumbed. I hope you enjoy working on HDRs this summer.

Cheryl, when I pulled the image up last night before posting it, I cropped that dark line off. However, I wasn't happy with what it did to some of the elements above the door and how close it came to the arch, so I opted to leave it there. It was a compromise. I'm not sure why the line isn't straight, but I think it's a shadow from something above the door that isn't parallel to the floor. Maybe not. I didn't think of adding to it so it went straight across. Thanks for the suggestion; I might give it a try.

[Hazel Grant]

thanks for the guidelines, Dennis. I've tried PS raw adjustments but haven't been happy so far with the results. Guess I need to work on that more, too just in case. I got the D7000 this year so I could bracket. Excited about the possibilities.

[Dennis Bishop]

thanks for the guidelines, Dennis. I've tried PS raw adjustments but haven't been happy so far with the results. Guess I need to work on that more, too just in case. I got the D7000 this year so I could bracket. Excited about the possibilities.

I just looked at the D7000 capabilities. It's set up for bracketing in a way that requires a workaround, although not a difficult one, when you need to shoot beyond +/- 2 stops from the metered value. If that doesn't cover what you think you need for the series of shots, you can take those, then take more bracketed shots with exposure compensation set at +3 and/or -3. I had to do that, at times, with the camera I was using in France.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Sort of haunting to me Dennis. Like if these walls could talk..... I like the light coming from all different angles. Just might crop to the top of the darker line on the top. Nicely done.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Dennis, this is a very nice application of your signature techniques. The mood and feel are quite dramatic and I love the compositional elements of the shadows on the floor pulling the eye into that doorway and the stairs on the left hinting at other scenes above. I would also be tempted to crop that beam from the top, just to the top of the arch of bricks below it. Well done!

[Anita Bower]

A bit late to the discussion.
I really like the frames within frames, the rectangular shapes, the many strong lines, the stairs to the side. The composition is excellent. The processing and colors are pleasing to the eye. All the shapes make me look closer. The strong light source distracts me.