In My Back Pocket – Photography

Tag: HDR Efex

Query – HDR Halo Removal

November 16th, 2014

Grand Canyon – Arizona 1

Grand Canyon – Arizona 2

Grand Canyon – Arizona 3

Grand Canyon – Arizona 4

Grand Canyon – Arizona 5

The following images of the Grand Canyon are high dynamic range (HDR) images. In editing these HDR shots the challenge has been to try and eliminate the halo surrounding edges of highly contrasted colours within images. The method experimented with this week has been to open the Develop module in Adobe Lightroom and within the Lens Correction menu to utilize the ‘Remove Chromatic Aberration’ there instead of relying only on a similar feature in the HDR Efex plug-in, on the plug-in side of merging the three (or more images). Beyond this, NiK Software’s Viveza is used to sharpen and add contrast and adjust/decrease brightness; after that Topaz Labs’ Clarity and Adjust helps adjust sharpness and saturation. With Viveza I’m finding success in editing toward what I want. I still am learning about choosing the filter/preset in Topaz Adjust and then finding optimal saturation from there.

If you are an HDR image creator I would appreciate hearing from you and the method you use to create your non-halo HDR images; this week, a software product called HDR Expose 3 (by Unified Color) has been recommended for its de-ghosting (halo elimination) capacity … do you use this?

Listening to – 16 Horsepower from their ‘Folklore’ album, in their rendering of a Nina Simone song, ‘Sinnerman.’

Quote to Consider – “In the past, a discontent with reality expressed itself as a longing for another world. In modern society, a discontent with reality expresses itself forcefully and most hauntingly by the longing to reproduce this one.”
HDR Efex, Viveza, Color Efex, Silver Efex & Lightroom

October 6th, 2013

1a McLure, British Columbia – HDR 1

1b McLure, British Columbia – HDR 2

1c McLure, British Columbia – HDR 3

1d McLure, British Columbia – HDR Raw -1 Stop

2 McLure, British Columbia – HDR Raw Average

3 McLure, British Columbia – HDR Raw +1 Stop

The images above are examples of the high dynamic range (HDR) images that can be achieved in end state for comparison with the three original photos of -1 stop, average and +1 stop exposures, HDR being something allowing the photographer (image taker) to deal with landscapes/images of extreme contrast. For these photos Adobe Lightroom was the starting program into which Google’s NiK Software was used for handling HDR (HDR Efex), for sharpening and editing (Viveza) and for colour adjustment (Color Efex); Silver Efex was used to work with Black and White. I could have used Trey Ratcliff’s HDR presets in Lightroom to move more rapidly to end state; but, there would not have been control of sharpening, editing or colouration.

Question – How did everyone do with yesterday’s World-wide Photo Walk?

Quote to Inspire – “I only know how to approach a place by walking. For what does a street photographer do but walk and watch and wait and talk, and then watch and wait some more, trying to remain confident that the unexpected, the unknown, or the secret heat of the known awaits just around the corner.” – Alex Webb

Listening to – U2 & Paul McCartney perform ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ Richard Ashcroft & Coldplay perform ‘Bittersweet Symphony,’ the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s ‘Open Heart Surgery,’ the Devlin’s ‘Love is Blindness’ and the Fray’s ‘You Found Me.’