Help in Postprocessing

This morning I read a fascinating article, written by Jason P Odell, on expanding dynamic range on a single raw file in Adobe Lightroom.  The article comes with a video in which station shows you how to do it.  I tried this out on fireworks taken on the Esplanade the Fourth of July in Boston and liked the results.

Before and After

Now I have taken online courses would Jason and been with him in a workshop in Florida and am going to join him in the black hills of South Dakota in September.  Here is the URL for the article http://www.luminescentphoto.com/blog/2016/03/18/expanding-dynamic-range-on-single-raw-files-in-adobe-lightroom/

Using the coupon code mborn you will receive a 15% discount on any or all of the Topaz plug-ins.



Help Support my blog by purchasing from Amazon. Clicking on this link and utilizing the link does not cost you anything.

Topaz denoise 6 is available for $30 off through March 20.  This new version is excellent for noise reduction.  You need to use the coupon code "NOISEFREE"
http://www.topazlabs.com/aff/idevaffiliate.php?id=850&url=http://www.topazlabs.com/denoise



 

Postprocessing and NIK Software

This morning, I decided to work on some pictures that I took this summer of the boats that were moored at MacMillan's Pier in Provincetown Harbor.  I captured a five image bracket of a boat and exported to NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and had the software create an HDR image and then I did some adjustments to the picture utilizing one of the NIK presets as a starting point and then adjusted it to my taste.

I then selected one of the photographs from the bracketed series and first adjusted it in light room, then exported it also into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and utilized one of +Jason Odell's presets, that I obtained by purchasing his guide to HDR Efex Pro 2.  I then adjusted the picture by utilizing all the sliders and control points to produce the image that I visualized.

For me, NIK software is a valuable tool in helping me to post process my photographs

The Photographer's Guide to HDR Efex Pro 2 by Jason Odell is available from http://luminescentphoto.com/webstore/index.html

Original file

Five image bracket, combined into HDR by NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and then with my adjustments

Post processing first with Light Room, then with a Jason Odell preset in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2, then with my adjustments

 

 

Again to my readers, which one of the three to you like the best.  I do believe photography is a art and that post processing on a computer is the same.  What I used to do working in a dark room without all the chemicals.

So again, happy holidays to everybody.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Site -The Woods

On my trip to Vermont.  I visited the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Site in Vermont.  This site is dedicated to stewardship and the preservation of the natural world.  A full blog about the visit will be forthcoming.
As I was reviewing my photographs from the visit, I was intrigued by one photograph  taken in the woods, showing the road and the woods surrounding it.  However, it was a bland photograph.
I decided to use NIK HDR Pro 2 and process the single photograph as a tone map.  I just purchased The Photographer's Guide to HDR Efex Pro 2.0.  By Jason Odell of Luminescence of Nature Photography.  Part of the package was a number of presets by Jason Odell.  I utilized a black and white grunge preset and just added a touch of saturation, which gave a very light green tint to the vegetation.









The e-book is on sale with a discount until September 2 and can be found at http://www.luminescentphoto.com/blog/2012/08/25/the-complete-guide-to-nik-software-hdr-efex-pro-2-0/
This is an excellent book for helping you get the most out of NIK HDR Efex Pro 2.