Lily Pad HDR #1

The lily pads at Missouri Botanical Gardens turn red in October, and back lit by the late afternoon, this pad really jumped out at me.  I used a Cokin circular polarizer and graduated neutral density filter to darken the foreground.  This picture consists of three, 1/3-stop brackets processed in Nik HDR Efex using a custom preset I call "Dark Vivid Landscape".  

This monochrome was processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro using a custom preset I've been using to get a consistent look to landscapes.

Lens: AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 D 

Camera: Nikon D100

Exposure: ISO 200, 3 brackets around f/11.0 @ 1/60s, Polarizer, ND, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight, very late afternoon

Location: Missouri Botanical Gardens GPS

Dates: Capture - October 9, 2008, Processing - November 10, 2010

Processing: RAW file in Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Photoshop CS5 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 

Nik software and the Arch

Just exploring NIK Software's toolset. Here is an old image of the arch that I drug through countless control points and sliders in Veveza, HDR Efex and Sivler Efex.

I'll skip all the exif info since just about everything in this photo has been changed using NIK Software's toolset.

Heron Pond, Vertical HDR Panorama Test

 This is my first attempt at a vertical HDR stitched panorama, made from 25 separate exposures.  I used the Acratech leveling base, Acratech GP ball head in the gimbal position, Acratech nodal rail and Really Right Stuff L-bracket holding a Nikon D700 in landscape position on a Gitzo Series 2 Basalt tripod.  The five pan positions started at the bottom.  Each pan position is five, one stop brackets processed in Nik HDR Efex with a custom preset I made for Heron Pond. The resulting five pan positions were assembled in Photoshop CS5.  I also used Photoshop to adjust the levels.  Then the stitched panorama was cropped in Lightroom 3.

This monochrome was made in Nik Silver Efex Pro using a custom split tone preset I created for landscapes.

Lens: Nikkor AF-S 50mm f1.4 G 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, five brackets each pan position around f/11.0 @ 1/20s, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - October 29, 2010, Processing - November 7, 2010

Processing: RAW file in Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Photoshop CS5 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 

Tree Roots, Cache River, HDR Test

On our hike back to the car from the Heron Pond swamp, Susan pointed out these tree roots on the bank of the Cache River.  This HDR image was processed from five, one stop brackets in Nik HDR Efex using a custom preset I made for landscapes.

Starting with the color shot, this monochrome was processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Lens: Nikkor AF-S 180mm f2.8 ED-IF (Leni Lens) 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, five brackets around f/11.0 @ 1/15s, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight at dusk

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - October 29, 2010, Processing - November 6, 2010

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

Heron Pond, HDR Stitched Panorama Test

This late afternoon view of Heron Pond is a four HDR shots stitched as a panorama.  For each position I processed five one stop brackets processed in Nik HDR Efex using a custom preset I developed for Fall Landscapes.  Then I stitched the HDR pictures in Photoshop CS5 and tweaked the levels.  Next, I adjusted brightness, contrast and structure in Nik Vivenza, the applied my "CSI: Miami" preset in Nik Color Efex Pro. So it took 20 shots and 11 processing steps to make the picture.  The resolution is equivalent to approximately 140 mega pixels.

This is a bit off subject, I've been working for a couple of months to get the look of an albumen print made from a wet plate negative.  I think output from Nik Silver Efex Pro using a custom preset I call "Wet Plate" comes pretty close.

This is my more usual split tone from Nik Silver Efex Pro from a custom preset I made for landscapes.

This posting fell a little shot because this is the full panorama I made at Heron Pond, stitching six, five one stop bracket HDR shots together, or 30 shots total.  I was able to process the 210 mega-byte panorama file in Nik Vivenza, but Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro both threw errors trying to write out updated files.  I plan to reboot and try again.  If the applications still throw errors, I'll contact Nik Support.

Lens: Nikkor AF-S 50mm f1.4 G 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, five brackets around f/11.0 @ 1/20s, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - October 29, 2010, Processing - November 5, 2010

Processing: RAW file in Lightroom 3, Nik HDR Efex, Photoshop CS5 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 

Red Sunset, HDR Stitched Panorama Test #1

The fall colors were very dull this year due to record dry weather.  However, we've had some blazing red sunsets.  This is a view from my back yard at dusk and is my first attempt at a stitching a panorama from HDR images, made from five brackets at three positions, for a total of 15 shots.  The brackets were processed in Nik HDR Efex with a preset I made for this purpose.  I used Photoshop CS5 to stitch the three HDR pictures.  I reckon this picture has the resolution equivalent of 100 mega pixels.

The monochrome was processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro, with the split tone applied in Lightroom 3.

Lens: AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 D 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, five brackets around f/13.0 @ 1/20s, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight, dusk

Location: My house

Dates: Capture - October 29, 2010, Processing - November 1, 2010

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

Cypress Trees #4, Heron Pond, HDR Test

Once you see it, you can't un-see it - the outline of a sort-of Superman shield on the swamp floor.  This picture is five brackets made in extreme back light conditions (I shot directly into the sun) processed in Nik HDR Efex using a preset I made for the Heron Pond landscapes.  I've settled on this workflow for now:

• Import pictures into Lightroom 3
• Export to Nik HDR Efex and process
• Do easy spotting, light remove sensor dust, and apply lens adjustments in Lightroom 3
• Sharpen in Nik Dfine
• Edit in Nik Vivenza, usually to only adjust brightness, structure and contrast no more than 10%
• Edit in Photoshop CS5 for pixel retouching if needed, tweak levels
• Edit in Nik Color Efex Pro to add the "CSI Miami" preset
• If needed, crop and straighten in Lightroom 3

The monochrome is made in Nik Silver Efex Pro using one of my custom blue/sepia split blue tone presets.
This was the first time I used quite a few pieces of new gear in the field that I'd like to mention...

• The Think Tank Streetwalker Pro camera backpack is pretty nearly perfect.
• The Really Right Stuff L-bracket fits the D700 perfectly.  It is solid and will not shift.
• The Acratech GP ballhead is a joy and very flexible.  I used it in gimbal mode more that I though I would.
• The Acratech Leveling Base is easy to use and very fast to adjust.  The large rubber adjustment knob and level can get in the way of the camera when using the GP in gimbal mode.  I had to rotate the head a couple of times to clear the level.  
• The Acratech Nodal Rail  is very sturdy.  I found it was long enough to use the Nikon 180mm f/2.8.
• The Gitzo Basalt Series 2 tripod is light and sturdy.  With the legs fully extended but column down, the camera viewfinder is at my eye level.  I'm 5'11" on the rare occasions that I stand up straight.  

Lens: Nikkor AF-S 50mm f1.4 G 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, five brackets around f/11.0 @ 1/20s, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - October 29, 2010, Processing - November 1, 2010

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

Cypress Trees #3, Heron Pond, HDR Test

This is really a picture of the grid shadow on the swamp surface, not the trees that frame it.  This extreme back-lit scene comes from five one stop brackets processed in Nik HDR Efex using a custom preset I made for these dark landscapes.    

The monochrome is made directly from the top color picture using Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Lens: Nikkor AF-S 50mm f1.4 G 

Camera: Nikon D700

Exposure: ISO 200, five brackets around f/11.0 @ 1/20s, Auto WB, tripod

Lighting: Daylight

Location: Cache River Natural Area, Heron Pond GPS

Dates: Capture - October 29, 2010, Processing - November 1, 2010

Processing: RAW file in Lightroom 3 and Nik HDR Efex