Protea #4, HDR

This is may be the last protea picture I'm going to process from last weekend's marathon HDR shoot.  The leathery texture and gold leaf patina of the dead leaves is well conveyed by HDR processing.  As with other shots in this series, three 1 stop bracket exposures are combined in Photoshop HDR Pro using my custom settings and s-curve as a point of departure, then processed further in Nik tools.  

I think I almost like this monochrome version, processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro, even better.

Camera: Nikon D700 

Lens: AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8 D

Exposure: ISO 200, f/22 @ 2.5s, tripod, RAW

Lighting: Calumet Quattro Dish and Flashpoint small bank fluorescent lights  

Location: Grand Center Artist Loft Studios GPS

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

Protea #4, HDR

The series of HDR tests continues with another protea specimen.  I'm starting to get the hang of the HDR workflow, but the number of steps and something I can only explain as the "butterfly effect" make it a challenge to have consistent colors and tone maps.  

This is a slightly different sepia/blue split tone generated in Nik Silver Efex Pro.  It saves a couple of workflow steps, but it doesn't have as much depth as the Lightroom 3.

Camera: Nikon D700 

Lens: AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8 D

Exposure: ISO 200, f/22 @ 3s, tripod, RAW

Lighting: Calumet Quattro Dish and Flashpoint small bank fluorescent lights  

Location: Grand Center Artist Loft Studios GPS

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

Protea #3, HDR

Many thanks to Chris Krull who identified this plant as a Protea.  Susan purchased a bunch because she thought they looked primitive.  As it turns out, the Protea grew on Gondwanaland 300 million years ago.  Good call, Susan!

I almost for got the monochrome, split tone version.

Camera: Nikon D700 

Lens: AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f2.8 D

Exposure: ISO 200, f/22 @ 3s, tripod, RAW

Lighting: Calumet Quattro Dish and Flashpoint small bank fluorescent lights  

Location: Grand Center Artist Loft Studios GPS

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