The Huron River....

Not too long ago, I took a hike along (and in) the Huron River.

It was a beautiful day with the sun peeking out in various places along the hike.  It was a little hot, so getting my feet wet felt good.  And in my area, the bugs are not really in full force...so the evening hike was perfect.

These were shot in multiple exposures for HDR (high dynamic range).  I've always had trouble with dense forests and HDR.  Real dense foliage just is not enhanced at all with Photomatix.  Photomatix hurts more than it helps dense forests.  My solution has always been to either (1) compose the photo so that a dense forest is not real prominent, (2) convert it to black and white, or many times the solution is to (3) simply not process the photo with Photomatix.

In the case with the photos below, I did something between solution #1 and solution #3.  I chose compositions where the dense forest portions are not prominent.  I did, however, process these photos with Photomatix.  This hurt the look of the forests, but it really enhanced the look of the sunsets, rivers, and riverbeds.  So afterwards, I went into Photoshop and brought back non-tonemapped versions of the forest with layers, but kept the effect on the sun, river, and riverbeds.

Enjoy!

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 26mm)

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 33mm) 

Thanks!

Brian

Old Tree

Not far from the Ohio Turnpike, I saw this tree out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing else at all around it.

I thought that it looked pretty interesting, and the clouds certainly helped the scene as well!

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 17mm)

Thanks!


Brian

Storm Over Cedar Point....

Before going out to dinner in Sandusky (my favorite pizza place!), we decided to stop over at the Sandusky Sailing Club to see if there might be a good view of Cedar Point.

Well, a neat storm was passing over Lake Erie, which made for a pretty dramatic scene.  I really like how the stormy clouds are contrasted by the bright clouds underneath and to the left.

(5 Exposures at F11, ISO 100, 40mm)

Thanks!

Brian