Moon Rise with Poplars

It is great to have the time to grab a few shots again.  This a view from our bedroom, March 27, 2013.  This picture is the result of three hand held 1-stop bracketed shots processed in Nik HDR Efex 2, with minor touch up and cropping in Photoshop CS6.

New to OnOne Perfect Suite 7 is Perfect B&W.  This picture was made the Albumen Print preset, after which I applied a sepia/blue split tone in Photoshop CS6.  I'm fascinated by the look of early photographic processes and it is nice to have tools that support exploring them easily.

Technical
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: AF Nikkor 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Exposure: Three 1-stop brackets around f/2.8 @ 1/15s @ ISO 1600
Support: Handheld
Software: DxO Optics Pro, Lightroom 4, Photoshop CS6, Nik HDR Efex, Perfect B&W

Lotus Seed Pod #2

Drying in the sun causes the lotus flower stalks to bend and curl as they slowly collapse.

The monochrome here is from my "Grainy Nude" preset in Lightroom 3.

And I had to try a solarization version in Nik Color Efex Pro 3.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 D
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/22 @ 1/30s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Hazy daylight, back lighted
Support:	Gitzo Basalt Tripod and Acratech GP-2 ball head and leveling base
Location:	Missouri Botanical Gardens
Dates:	Capture - July 16, 2011, Processed - June 16, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Color Efex Pro

Lunar Corona #1, HDR Variations

Even though the subject is a Lunar Corona, the story here are the surrounding clouds.  Here I used the color "Dark City" processing in Nik HDR Efex combining two exposures.  The second moon is lens flare.

The monochrome from Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 uses my "Toned Platinum" custom preset.

Finally, solarization in Nik Color Efex Pro creates a bas relief effect for the clouds.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED "Leni Lens"
Exposure:	ISO 400, 2 brackets around f/2.8 @ 1s, Daylight WB, RAW
Lighting:	Moonlight
Support:	Gitzo Basalt Tripod, Acratech GP-2, RRS L-Bracket
Location:	Ballwin, MO
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 2011, Processed May 18, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, OnOne PhotoFrame Free

Lunar Corona, HDR Variations

A Lunar corona is seen when the clouds are thin enough that each single corona light ray reaching the eye (or camera) is scattered or diffracted by only one droplet or ice crystal.  When I composed the moon off center, the corona vanished.  This first variation was processed in Nik HDR Efex for tone contour mapping, Photoshop for levels adjustment, Nik Color Efex Pro to create a Fresson print and finally Nik Dfine to reduce noise.

I wanted to see how well the image would hold up as a monochrome, so this is the result of processing in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 with a strong blue filter and Cyanotype toner.

I'm really on the fence with regard to purchasing OnOne PhotoFrame.  I love a number of the effects, but do I really need this one?  It is kind of creepy, so maybe I do...

Finally, a acid wash variation from OneOne PhotoFrame Free.  Nice grunge feel, I think.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED "Leni Lens"
Exposure:	ISO 400, 5x brackets around f/2.8 @ 1s, Daylight WB, RAW
Lighting:	Moonlight
Support:	Gitzo Basalt Tripod, Acratech GP-2, RRS L-Bracket
Location:	Ballwin, MO
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 2011, Processed May 16, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, OnOne PhotoFrame Free

Blue Moon, HDR Test

This picture is the result of five brackets stacked in Nik HDR Efex using the "Foggy Night" preset as the starting point.  The long exposures smeared the trees and clouds somewhat.  I'll be working on it further, but thought I'd share this first test.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED "Leni Lens"
Exposure:	ISO 400, 5x brackets around f/2.8 @ 1s, Daylight WB, RAW
Lighting:	Moonlight
Support:	Gitzo Basalt Tripod, Acratech GP-2, RRS L-Bracket
Location:	Ballwin, MO
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 2011, Processed April 17, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2

Full Moon, April 17, 2011

View from our back yard this evening.  The image was processed in Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Photoshop CS5 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED "Leni Lens"
Exposure:	ISO 400, f/4.0 @ 1,3s, Daylight WB, RAW
Lighting:	Moonlight
Support:	Gitzo Basalt Tripod, Acratech GP-2, RRS L-Bracket
Location:	Ballwin, MO
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 2011, Processed April 17, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2

Sand Beach on the Meramec River, HDR Variations

For a project I'm tentatively calling "Dark City", I established a processing workflow.  So far I've been using it only on cityscapes, but I thought the muted jewel tone color transformation might work on some natural landscape.  This series is my first experiment.  The processing steps: single image tone mapping in Nik HDR Efex, levels adjustment in Photoshop CS5, tweak in Nik Vivenza, crop in Lightroom 3 and apply a small amount of glow in Nik Color Efex Pro.      

Monochrome with blue/sepia split tone created in Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Back in Nik Color Efex Pro to make a Polaroid Transfer, just for fun.  I like how it looks more painterly, sort of like a water color.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED "Leni Lens"
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/8.0 @ 1/500s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Morning daylight
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Castlewood State Park GPS
Dates:	Capture - April 11, 2010, Processed - January 23, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Nik Color Efex Pro

Reflections in HDR #2 - Three Variations

For processing this shot of clouds reflections in the high rise glass, I took a slightly different HDR single image HDR approach, using Nik HDR Efex and the "Old Vanilla" preset that can be downloaded from the Nik Software site as a starting point.  Then I adjusted levels in Photoshop CS5 and added by "CSI Miami" glow in Nik Color Efex Pro.  The overall effect is like shooting the old Agfa 400 sheet film.

This "straight" monochrome was made in Nik Silver Efex Pro using a red filter with a blue/sepia split tone applied in Lightroom 3.

Finally, I used the color shot to make a solarized version in Nik Color Efex Pro.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/8.0 @ 1/320s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Morning daylight and shade
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Kiener Plaza, St. Louis GPS
Dates:	Capture - April 11, 2010, Processed - January 12, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Nik Color Efex Pro

Reflections in HDR Redux - Fourth Image in the Trilogy

I'd like to give a big thank you to my pals who took the time to critique my post from yesterday.  Here is, I think, my final version of this shot,  influenced primarily by Ben, Ray and Susan.  Though not unanimous, the solarized version go eight nods, and it was my favorite.  I started over from the base color HDR shot.  It took several extra steps get rid of the white framing, an artifact of the solarization process, that Ray and others found distracting.  Further darkening the sky was a suggestion from Susan.  I worked harder than usual on the blue/sepia split tone.      

Here is the unvarnished RAW file.  So long, and thank you for all the fish!

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/8.0 @ 1/320s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Morning daylight and shade
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Kiener Plaza, St. Louis GPS
Dates:	Capture - April 11, 2010, Processed - January 10, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Nik Color Efex Pro

Reflections in HDR - Three Variations

When was looking in the viewfinder at this scene, I was worried about bringing together the deep blue sky in the reflection and the balded sky behind the building.  Then I decided not to worry and just take the picture.  A light touch on the tone mapping with the single image in Nik HDR Efex pulled out some texture in the reflected buildings and pulled out some clouds on the left.  The black spec on the lower left cloud is a bird.

The monochrome conversion is courtesy Nik Silver Efex Pro, using a green filter and sepia/blue split toner.

The solarized version is also from Nik Silver Efex Pro, using a custom preset I created originally for statues.  This might be my favorite because it looks so ghostly.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/8.0 @ 1/320s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Morning daylight and shade
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Kiener Plaza, St. Louis GPS
Dates:	Capture - April 11, 2010, Processed - January 10, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Nik Color Efex Pro

Waterfall, Japanese Garden

The sudden cold snap put me in the mood for Spring and I found this shot taken in the Japanese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens last April that I had not processed.  Nik HDR Efex provided single image tone mapping and Photoshop CS5 improved the levels and curves.  

The monochrome was generated in Nik Silver Efex Pro using the N-1 Processing preset and strong coffee toner.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF
Exposure:	ISO 200, 48mm @ f/8.0 @ 1/640s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Bright Sunlight
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Japanese Garden in Missouri Botanical Gardens
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 2010, Processed - January 1, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro

End Of The Path, Valley Park Trail

Piled at the end of a path along the Meramec River sits this precarious stack of large concrete blocks.  The scale isn't evident here, but they are large enough to require a crane to move them.  Curiously, they don't seem to match any structures nearby.  This monochrome was created in Nik Silver Efex pro, applying a sharp blue filter.

The color picture upon which the comes from five one stop brackets merged in Nik HDR Efex Pro, followed by levels adjustments in Photoshop CS5 and finally cropped in Lightroom 3.3.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/16 @ 1/80s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Late afternoon daylight and shade
Support:	Gitzo Basalt Tripod, Acratech GP head, Really Right Stuff L-bracket
Location:	Valley Park River Trail GPS
Dates:	Capture - October 10, 2010, Processed - December 29, 2010
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Nik Color Efex Pro

Bilge Pump Control Panel

This pump is on a tug dock along the Missouri River near Frontier Park in St. Charles, Missouri.  As I shot, I had the monochrome below in mind.  However, the fortuitous distribution of red, ocher and cyan makes it work in color.  Processing included the crop in Lightroom, lens and levels adjustment in Photoshop and noise reduction in Nik Define.

Monochrome is courtesy of Nik Silver Efex Pro, using the equivalent of a K2 yellow filter and blue/sepia split tone.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED ("Leni Lens")
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/4.0 @ 1/2000s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Bright Sunlight
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Frontier Park, St. Charles, Missouri GPS
Dates:	Capture - June 28, 2009, Processed - December 23, 2010
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro

Pipe #2

This is a second posting of the large, rusting pipe that juts out of the Missouri River near St. Charles, Missouri.  The first time around, I used Mike Lao's "300" Lightroom develop preset.  I liked the result, but it squeezed out the silver paint's reflection of the sky on the  shadow side, which makes the structure look transparent in spot at first glance. Processing in Nik HDR Efex to bring out texture, Photoshop CS5 to apply lens correction and levels adjustment, Nik Define to reduce noise and Nik Vivenza to brighten.

The monochrome version comes from Nik Silver Efex Pro, using a strong orange filter, followed by a sepia/blue split tone in Lightroom 3.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	AF NIKKOR 180mm f/2.8D IF-ED ("Leni Lens")
Exposure:	ISO 200, f/4.0 @ 1/2000s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Bright Sunlight
Support:	Handheld
Location:	St. Charles, Missouri
Dates:	Capture - June 28, 2009, Processed - December 20, 2010
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro

Fan Plant in the Climatron

It is hard to tell in this shot, but these back lighted leaves in the MOBOT Climatron are enormous.  The treatment here was levels and lens correction in Photoshop CS5, added contrast in Nik Vivenza and 11x14 crop in Lightroom 3.

The monochrome conversion was in Nik Silver Efex Pro, followed by a sepia/blue split tone applied in Lightroom 3.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF
Exposure:	ISO 200, EV -1, 70mm @ f/8.0 @ 1/400s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Window daylight
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Missouri Botanical Gardens Climatron GPS
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 2010, Processed - December 18, 2010
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro

RW 607, Single Image HDR

I have no idea what this structure labeled RW 607 is, but the rust turned a bright red in the late afternoon and enhanced slightly with Nik HDR Efex using the default realistic preset.

This monochrome conversion comes from Nik Silver Efex Pro using a green filter and sepia/blue split tone.

Technical
Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF
Exposure:	ISO 200, 70mm @ f/11 @ 1/500s, Auto WB, RAW
Lighting:	Daylight
Support:	Handheld
Location:	Missouri Riverfront, Pioneer Park, St. Charles
Dates:	Capture - June 28, 2009, Procesed - December 4, 2010
Processing:	Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Photoshop CS5

Bilge Pump, Missouri River

This single image HDR tone mapping of a bilge pump that sits on a tug dock on the Missouri River.

The monochrome comes from Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Lens: Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, 30mm @ f/11 @ 1/500s, Auto WB, RAW

Lighting: Daylight

Location: Missouri Riverfront, Pioneer Park, St. Charles

Dates: Capture - June 28, 2009, Procesed - December 4, 2010

Processing: Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Photoshop CS5

Clouds #29, HDR Test

I've been working through various workflows for processing clouds, but keep coming back to the look that underexposed Kodachrome gave us.  I wonder how long it will be before the shorthand meaning of Kodachrome drops from the visual literacy lexicon.  After I got the Kodachrome color and contrast, I took it one step further and simulated Pete Turner's Kodachrome copy look by processing a single image in Nik HDR Efex, RAW Sharpener and Dfine.

This monochrome based on the HDR color, converted in Nik Silver Efex Pro simulating a Wratten #61 filter.  The blue/sepia split tone was applied in Lightroom 3.

The starter shot made to look like Kodachrome using Photoshop CS5 levels and curves adjustments.  

Lens: Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF 

Camera: Nikon D100

Exposure: ISO 200, 28mm @ f/5.6 @ 1/160s, Auto WB, RAW, handheld

Lighting: Daylight

Location: My backyard

Dates: Capture - April 10, 2008, Processed - November 23, 2010

Processing: Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro, Photoshop CS5

Cypress Trunks, Heron Pond, HDR

This is a good example, I think, of a shot saved by HDR processing.  It was taken near dusk and the light was very flat and kind of sickly.  I liked the composition, but the tonality was just too deadly to make a picture with any punch.  Luckily, I had bracketed the exposures and was able to pull out some detail by processing the shots in Nik HDR Efex using my custom landscape preset.  The colors version of this shot is not very attractive, but the detail was punched up with enough tonal separation to give me a wide range of options for the monochrome conversion in Nik Silver Efex Pro.  The final touch here is a sepia/blue split tone applied in Lightroom 3.  The print looks a bit like charcoal on mylar.

Lens: Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF 

Camera: Nikon D100

Exposure: ISO 200, 50mm @ f/8 @ 1/6s, Auto WB, tripod, RAW

Lighting: Daylight at dusk

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - April 15, 2006, Processing - November 18, 2010

Processing: RAW file in Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro

Cypress Knees, Heron Pond, HDR Test

The cypress knees are curious structures that are part of the root system.  This version started with the color picture below, made from three half-stop brackets processed in Nik HDR Efex, then applied a "Color Isolate Red" develop preset in Lightroom 3.  The knees got lost is the straight monochrome conversion.

This HDR color version captures fairly well the minor chord dusk light and mood of the swamp.  

In Nik Silver Efex Pro, I was able to get good separation between the knees and water without loosing detail using a split tone preset I made for landscapes.

Lens: Nikkor AF 24-85mm f2.8-4 IF 

Camera: Nikon D100

Exposure: ISO 200, 50mm @ f/8 @ 1/6s, Auto WB, tripod, RAW

Lighting: Daylight at dusk

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - April 15, 2006, Processing - November 18, 2010

Processing: RAW file in Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Nik Silver Efex Pro