I worked this shot for hours in the computer. Started out doing an HDR. I wasn’t quite happy with the results. Seemed to introduce too much noise in the photo. I tried using Dfine and DxO to remove the noise and it was still there. I thought that if a sharpened everything but the noise it would make it less visible. Finally gave up and just took the dark & light raw files into Photoshop as layers. Added a mask & used the gradient tool to show some of each layer. Oh, I did use Viveza 2 to brighten the tower.
Looking out to Sea
Another shot taken at Wind and Sea Beach. It is possible to take multi shot HDR’s with people in them. You can either layer a single file to the HDR and mask in the person without movement. Or you can yell “hold still for a minute.” That’s what I did this time.
Back to Wind and Sea
I had two really good beach days last weekend. I’ve been showing photos from Sunday in Ocean Beach, but I also loved Wind and Sea Beach in Bird Rock.
Sea Foam Again
I know I’ve done a lot of beach photos recently, but there is something magical about the weather this time of year. I love dramatic clouds, sea foam doesn’t hurt either.
And What the Heck is this Foam?
The seas were being whipped up to a foamy mass it’s true. But when they came ashore like this I wasn’t sure… Is this normal or is something a miss?
Pinto Bryan at OB
So who is Pinto Bryan? And who is Marabel? And why are they forever in my scene at the sea in OB?
Another Beach Day
After Bird Rock on Saturday, we went to Ocean Bean on Sunday. Have to get out while those amazing clouds are still here. (I Love dramatic clouds & we don’t get enough of them in San Diego. I liked this skateboarder shot.
Bird Rock San Diego
I’ve been in San Diego for a long time now. How the heck did I never go to Bird Rock (Wind And Sea Beach)? Beautiful place, and the weather there was great. Right after a downpour.
Photo tip. Did a 3 shot HDR. To correct for the moving bird, I took the darkest shot and added it as a layer. Then Idid a mask to bring back the bird from that shot only.
Julian Sunset Panos
By the way, that wasn’t my favorite pano from that shoot. Here it is:
I had assumed that there wouldn’t be much difference in the Merge to Panorama options in Photoshop. But reading a recent Rick Sammon post I realized that it might make a big difference. On this Pano I took on “auto” a lot of the foreground was cut off. I redid the pano using “cylindrical” and a lot more foreground was saved.
Cabrillo Tide Pools IR BW
I’ve been showing off recent work with Plug Ins. Last weekend I took some IR photos at the Cabrillo Monument tide pools. One thing I’ve found with IR is that they are really good candidates for Black & White. I converted this photo to B&W using Nik Silver Effects Pro – a really amazing plug in.