Walking to the Edge
Anther image from Mission Bay, I took this at the very end of my walk as the wind began to pick up and the temperature drop. What caught my attention besides the hues created by the sunset was the dead patches of grass that created a path that lead you to the edge of the bay, hence the title 🙂
Coming to an end
Diptych: Canon EOS 5D MkII, EF 16-35 f/2.8L II @ (L: 35 mm, f/2.8, 1/ sec, ISO 200) (R: 24mm, f/11, ISO 200)
I believe the winter (if there is such a thing) in San Diego is over. Pretty soon this tree will be full of green & life.
This diptych is also a good example of when to use HDR & when not to use it. The image on the left didn’t really have such a wide dynamic range (the variance from brightest to darkest spot wasn’t drastic) so a single exposure did it for me. Compare that to the image on the right where the camera sensor couldn’t capture the full dynamic range with one exposure, I took 3 brackets [-2, 0, +2 EV] and produced an image that looks much closer to what our eye would’ve seen. Here is the single 0 EV exposure, look at all the details in the shadows that was lost but the HDR process was able to bring back, the trick is obviously not to overdo it to the point that it looks like a painting that has no highlights and shadows.
0 EV Exposure
Seperated
Canon EOS 5D Mk II, EF 16-35 f/2.8LII @ 27mm , f/9.0 , ISO 200
This was taken at the Laguna Beach lawn bowling club. Even though I don’t understand the game I really appreciate how well maintained the grass is, its just so pretty! I’m really focusing more on composition these days and I thought this was really neet:
– You have the electric box in the bottom right as anchor for the image
– You eyes will guide you through the benches all the way to the Palm tree the splits the two courts, its actually not right down the middle but I tried to move around a few millimeters to help create that effect
– Finally the Palm tree off center to the left balances the electric box in the right.
I really didn’t like the cropped tree on the left but it is what it is… does this work? you like it? feedback is always welcome.
Technical:
– 3 Raw Images [-2,0,+2 EV] handheld and merged into Photomatix
– Adjustments in LR3 to bring more contrast into the pictures… the HDR process produced quite a flat image for me!
– Noise reduction in PS3 with Topaz Adjust filter set at 40% opacity <– This is a trick that I just picked up recently and its done wonders for me… just never thought of it!!
– One last adjustment in LR3 to bring back some of the shadows.
2 Rivers Photos 