Yesterday, I worked on a recent desert landscape and came up with three renditions.
HDR – three exposures blended using Photomatix
Black and White – I used Photoshop’s B/W adjustment layer and Topaz Ajust for contrast
High Key (sort of) – I used various Topaz filters on this one
Also…a correction to what I said yesterday regarding our rain storms. The worst is yet to come! It’s starting tomorrow afternoon and continuing through Friday. I always get Tu and Thu mixed up 🙂
Another saguaro shot from my hike on Thursday. I nicknamed him “the gunslinger” 🙂
I positioned myself so the sun was behind one of the arms and then took 3 exposures. I combined them using Photomatix and then converted to black and white.
The next image was taken earlier in the day but again the sun was behind the subjects resulting in a glow coming from the yucca and grasses. In this case, I had to hold my hand above the lens to keep the sun from shining directly into it. I took 3 exposures in order to cover the extreme light differences and used Photomatix to combine them.
As we drove into a very small town in Utah, something in the building below caught my eye.
Luckily my driver is very accommodating! So he turned around and I found this inside.
Ansel Adams said that the key to good photography is visualization. It really does make a difference
if you have a definite goal in mind for a photograph. At the Flagstaff Arboretum, there’s a bench tucked
in a little Aspen grove. It’s a scene I can’t resist. The last time I shot it, it was surrounded by Columbine.
This time, the light was a real challenge so I shot it with three ideas in mind.
The first is an HDR which means I took 3 shots to capture the best in the highlights and shadows.
I then used Topaz Simpify 2 to knock down the edges and add a little more color.
The second shot is in Infrared which always works well in bright light.
The third image is an abstract. It’s the result of intentional camera movement and my favorite way to shoot.
I plan to go back the last weekend in September when I hope to find the Aspen in full fall color.
I’ve visited these petroglyphs several times but getting a good photo was tough because they were always in half sun/shade. This time I took several photos exposing for the different light values and then used Photomatix to come up with a photo I’m happy with.
The greatest thing about living here is the tremendous amount of diversity in terrain within a fairly short distance! This waterfall is only about half an hour from us in the Tonto National Forest. There is always water here although it’s just a trickle in later summer. We assume the water is the result of snow melt north of us. Whatever the source, it’s a great hike that’s just over 2 miles round trip. Easy going down but tough coming out! So…here are some photos from our hike yesterday. I posted more than I normally do as a make-up for not posting all last week 🙂
When you live in the Sonoran Desert, it’s easy to start assigning human characteristics to the giant Saguaro so it’s always sad to see one down. This specimen no doubt lost his footing when the wash he was growing next to grew wider over the years. Rest in peace big guy.
A more acceptable cause of death in Saguaros is an act of nature. In this case, it was probably a lightning strike.
Note: For those digital darkroom users out there, you can probably tell that I’ve been playing with High Dynamic Range (HDR) this week. It’s hard to resist when you have clouds. Forgive me for getting a little carried away sometimes 🙂
Another tone mapped image but this time only one shot and with a little grunge look.
An HDR image from yesterday’s hike in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.