I am glad we will be spending the coldest part of the Colorado winter in Seattle. Saturday was very cold, very windy, and very brown. We deposited Eva at the grandparents house, and headed north. After a brief lunch stop in Ft. Collins, we continued north on HWY 287 towards Wyoming. Aside from a few good shots in Laramie, Wyoming, and a very lucky find in Brush, Colorado, I did not have a good day shooting. Jen had a great day shooting, and would have had an even been better if I stopped at the places she wanted to. But we were both fine just cruising and talking.
In Laramie, we eventually found a few old cars sitting around a bright blue building. We headed east from Laramie, hoping that the amount of snow would diminish as we moved away from the mountains. Thankfully it did, but the wind was much stronger. But that could have been our fault since we drove to a wind farm. The huge turbines whooshed over our heads, it was a very cool experience. After a drive through the Pawnee Grasslands, past a dozen or so nuclear missile silos, and a helluva good laugh, we ended up in Brush, Colorado.
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The sun was already down when we drove past the abandoned school, but there was still enough light to get decent shots. I jumped out of the car and took advantage of the 10 minutes of usable light remaining. It turns out that we were lucky to find the old school when we did. If we had discovered it when the sun was still up, it would have been impossible to get the shots I wanted, even with a broad HDR. I want to shoot the inside of this building, I bet the corridors, classrooms, cafeteria are amazing.
It was a very cold night to be out. But with the full moon and the snow on the ground, it was the perfect chance do try some night time HDR shots. City Park is near downtown Denver, very close the Natural History Museum. When I started shooting, it was 13 degrees. I shot for about an hour, walking quickly to keep the blood flowing. On the technical aspect, I was able to get great results by adjusting my bracket towards an underexposure. My lightest frame was only as bright as I wanted the final photo to be. The result is deep detail in the shadows, a very cool effect.
Here is the slide show of all the shots from tonight:
High dynamic range (HDR) photography is a process used to widen the boundaries of traditional digital photography. With traditional photography, the tonal range of a given photograph is limited by the light available and the physical characteristics of the lens and camera. In other words, if the foreground in a given scene was bright and the background was dark (see figure below), you would need to choose which element you want to be rendered in the final photo, since the limitations of the camera will not let you capture dark and light areas simultaneously. By making a composite image of several high resolution photographs, we are able to utilize the tonal ranges from all five photos into just one. This tutorial is geared towards people that are comfortable with the manual mode on their camera. You can learn more about manual mode here.
There are two parts to HDR photography: capturing the series of shots, and processing the separate shots into a single HDR. This figure explains the concept behind capturing the shots.
As you can see, the combination of the five images makes for an impressive photograph even before bringing it into your editor for additional processing.
In order to get results like this, you need to know how to shoot five (or more) shots with different exposures quickly, without changing composition. This is where bracketing comes in.
Bracketing
Read your camera manual for instructions on how to engage bracketing mode on your camera. On the Nikon D300, the bracketing is set by holding down the function button (near the lens barrel) and simultaneously rotating the index finger wheel near the shutter release button. I have my camera set for five shots that cover two stops over and under the meter setting. On a bright day, I am able to shoot at ISO200 without a tripod. You do not want to increase your ISO any higher than 400, noise becomes a serious issue with HDR images, so carry a tripod if its cloudy or a dark location.
Just a few tips:
Shoot everything as HDR from now on. I bracket everything except shots of people. Even if the dynamic range of the scene is within normal limits, sometimes you can get a different tone if you process it as an HDR.
Be efficient and consistent. If you start bracketing, bracket all the way through the day. The last thing you want to do is spend your time fishing for single shots in a sea of bracketed images. Plus, the photos will be easy to identify when it comes time for HDR processing if they are all in groups of five.
You will have to deal with at least five times more data than you are used to, and it can get away from you very quickly. The next part of the tutorial will cover handling a lot of new data, but being smart while shooting is key. In order to keep things easy for myself, I do not delete photos while shooting. No matter how ghastly the shot is, it remains on the card until I get home. I can then deal with it in my regular work flow. Not only will you stay more organized, you will be more careful about composition since you have limited card space.
By the end of your HDR shoot you should have a ton of images. The next step is to organize them. The we process and edit them. The next tutorial will cover these steps in detail, and by the end you will be shooting in a whole new way.
The image above is a full, five-frame HDR image, processed via PhotomatixPro. My goal was to capture subtle detail from inside the room. It is important to only grab as much tonal depth as you need when creating an HDR. The non HDR version of the above photograph was not able to show any detail inside the room. But a full, 4stop blast around the meter setting will provide too much data on the light end making the texture on the foreground wall look very unnatural. I prefer that the photo not look like an HDR, but more like a natural expression of the subtleties of a scene. It is very easy to over do it with an HDR (take it from me), I have discovered that a light touch yields much better results.
So, set your bracket carefully, don’t get more detail than you need.
There were days this summer where a 12 hour day of driving would yield zero great locations. Yesterday was a different story. The section of Hwy 59 between US 36 and HWY 34 in eastern Colorado was rich with photographic opportunities. The first location was one of the best I have ever seen, a large crumbling home separated from the road by large trees. It was colorful and cluttered. There were textures and contrasts everywhere, and lots of old, funky objects were strewn about. It is as dangerous as it was fascinating, barbed wire is hiding in the grass, and large sinkholes are just waiting to gobble up a careless person. I spent 30 minutes shooting and trying not to fall in the holes.
The next location was only a few miles north on HWY 59, a small house in a dense stand of trees. This location is of the type that needs a dramatic sky to get a good wide shot. The cloudless sky meant no pop from far away. The true beauty was discovered when I moved close in. The cows that roam this ranch clearly use this house for shelter (or maybe parties, Gary Larson comes to mind). Anyway, the floor of the home was covered in manure, making the human touches of the room strangely out of place. The coat hooks were at child height, and the colorful walls give the sense of cheeriness that simply felt creepy in the late afternoon light. I would like to visit this location again during the storm season.
There is a third location that I arrived at a little bit too late to get any good shots. The shots I did get from there will be part of a later post on creating HDR photos. The opportunities for me to get out on the Colorado plains before the move to Seattle will be few, but I hope to make the most of them. Jen and I are planning to hit the road on Saturday, to cover the area north of Ft. Collins to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
All photos captured as HDR, five shots over two stops. Processed by PhotomatixPro. Nikon D300, 12-18mm and 18-70mm lenses.
It’s the time of year again where the question I get asked the most is “What type of (insert gadget name here) should I get for my (insert loved one here)? “
Here is a quick guide to products that I recommend this holiday season.
Camera: Nikon D90
I have used Nikon camera bodies exclusively for my entire career. This camera provides unmatched image quality at a very reasonable price. The camera body I use is the D300, probably costs more than a advanced amateur is looking to spend. I recommend the D90 for advanced amateur or semipro users.
Camera Bag: Tamarac Explorer
I have tried many camera bags over the years, Tamarac is easily my favorite. I have used my Tamarac bags all over the world without any problems.
Lenses: Sigma AF 18-200mm
This is a terrific all purpose lens. It has a useful focal range, wide enough for landscapes and enough zoom to get close to the action at sporting events. Sigma is a high quality product usually priced lower than many similar lenses.
Hand Held GPS: Garmin eTrex Vista
Having a dependable hand held GPS is not only a good for geotagging images with your new camera, it’s also a great way to explore new areas safely without the worry of getting lost. My Garmin eTrex GPS unit is an indispensable part of my rig.
Data Management Software: Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture
Managing the huge amount of data generated by your new DSLR is a very important. These two programs are great for keeping track of all your images. Both programs use a library based management system, keeping track of your original RAW files as well as your edits.
If you have any questions or would like recommendations on products not listed here, please feel free to comment. I will respond in a timely manner. Happy shopping!
The process used to give this scene the tilt shift look is a series of Photoshop filter and masking functions. The overall effect is to give the illusion of ‘miniaturization’ of the objects in the scene.
