Bel Air Glamor

One of the effects of HDR photography is also to bring out textures and color in a very realistic way.

I took this photo and had some fun with it in HDR Efex Pro 2, then ran it through Color Efex 4.  Sharpened to taste and called it a day.

RC Conception pointed out to us on the second night that the purpose of HDR is to get a good product to finish in post processing.  He found many people shot, process and don't finish.

It would be like writing the first acts of a play, and then walking away from the final act.

I called this Bel Air Glamor because the Glamor Glow filter seems to be all the rage in many a circle today, and I wanted to try it out for myself.

If you want to see some really extraordinary HDR check out both RC Conception's website and Jim Begley's.  Both are true master artists with this technique.

Check them out at www.aboutrc.com and www.wowphotoshdr.com.

-ehw

-ehw

Old Car City

I arrived and met the gang of His Light Photographers...

This weekend will primarily be an HDR photograph weekend.  That means multiple exposures with the same aperture which over and under expose the image.  This batch of photos becomes data for combination into a single image.  A program will merge the images, taking the best exposed parts of each exposure and make them one photo.

Why do this?  Well a camera, even the best camera built, still cannot see what your eye sees in one frame.  So to replicate what your eye sees you need merge a few frames and make and HDR to capture the dynamic range of light that is actually right in front of you...if you look hard enough.

If you want to know what is going on, and the program...I'll fill you in a bit over the next few days.  Until then check out

www.billfortney.com  and see what it is all about.

-ehw

On Freedom's Wings Pt 1

Driving to work today I swung by the airfield to see Memphis Belle on her annual visit to Atlanta.

She will fly over my office a few times during her visit, and the roar is tremendous.  I cannot image the site of a 1,000 plane raid, with hundreds of fighters darting around guarding the flock.

This aircraft was also the first plastic model I ever built, with my Dad after my first communion.  It hung over my bed for years with doors open  suspended by fishing line.

I'll post a few variations of the photo to show the effects of creating a black and white from this image...but today I just wanted to imagine walking out to the flight line on a cold English morning and getting ready to risk my life fighting for freedom in the skies  of Europe.

-ehw