Night shooting

As I added a few night shots in a row, I thought about sharing also few tips about taking HDR’s at night.

• use a tripod (of course :) )
• get a faster lens, if you are shooting subjects that are further away from you, you will get a sharp image even on F2.8
• if you are using AEB, your first image (0EV) should be equal or under 8s, so the +2EV is equal or under 30s (most cameras don’t allow exposures longer than 30s)
• if your first shot is too long, use a higher iso or use a bigger aperture (smaller F number)
• use manual focus, using live view (available on most new cameras) you can zoom in into your scene, and manually focus to the specific point you want to have sharp
• disable image stabilization on your lens (if you have it), it causes vibrations if you are using a tripod
• always use a self timer or a remote

Night fishing

I know, I know.. .another reflection :) I just really like to have reflections in my photos. I think, if I ever start a new blog, I will have “reflection” directly in the name :).

This is one of those night shots, I sometimes do, where I’m absolutely not sure how they will turn out. I had to push my iso up to 400, just to fit into the 30 seconds for my +2EV photo, and I had to focus manually on one of the lights in the background, since that was the only thing I saw on the cameras screen. But it worked quite nicely :)

Taken at Strkovec lake in Bratislava

HDR from three shots, taken with Canon 450D with Sigma 18-200mm lens, from a tripod.

Layers, layers and more layers

How about a little more info on the daily photo. A lot of people like to see more on the post-processing, so here are the steps I did on this one (can be seen in the layer photo on the right – going from bottom to the top):

• I loaded the 4 original shots together with the tonemapped image into separate layers
• corrected the blurring of the clouds, by using the sky from the 0EV photo
• corrected different problems in the darkest areas from the +2EV photo
• corrected the white poster in the middle from the -4EV photo
• removed noise, but not on the building (so it remains sharp)
• darkened the poster in the middle a little more
• used topaz adjust (photo pop) on the boats and the buildings
• desaturated yellows on the trees
• used Color Effects Tonal Contrast on the boats and the trees to give more detail
• added contrast to the whole image
• used unsharp mask to sharpen it
• that’s all :)

Sometimes I do less, sometimes I do more. It really depends on the photo.

Boats and the City

There was such a lovely sunset this Friday. I went to the Strkovec lake in Bratislava as it’s not really far from my flat. This great clouds first gave me great photos and then a nice walk in the rain, as I was returning home :). But as it was a warm summer day, I didn’t mind at all :)

HDR from 4 shots (-4 to +2), taken with Canon 450D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, from a tripod.

Retro

Every time I look outside the window in my flat I see the RETRO sign on the top of this building on the horizon. So I went an took a few photos of it :)

HDR from 4 shots (from -4 to +2), taken with Canon 450D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, from a tripod.

Friday evening clouds

This is one of my favorite compositions. I know it’s centered, but I like to have the focus on the symmetry of the reflection, and that works the best this way. I really don’t like, when you are able to see only a part of the reflection, if it’s possible to have it whole.

Photo taken at the Strkovecke jazero (Strkovec Lake) in Bratislava.

HDR from three shots, taken with Canon 450D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, from a tripod.

Take more than a single shot

Something more about the swan photo. The creation of this HDR was not as straightforward as it should be. I had no problems with the swan, which was standing perfectly still, but with the wind, which moved the foliage quite heavily. So when I combined the three shots, there was so much ghosting, that I abandoned any attempts to repair them right away. So what I ended up doing was:

• split a single raw (0EV) into three separate files in Lightroom (at 0EV, -2EV, +2EV)
• create a HDR from these files
• loaded the created file, together with the original three shot (not the created ones) into layers in Photoshop
• repaired all overexposed areas (and other problems) from the original shots

Doing it this way, I had my HDR details, had no overexposed areas (the swan was totally white :) ) and no ghosting in my final photo.

So my advice is, even when you don’t think that the shots will ever align, take more than one, it can help you with the final HDR.

Check out the original 0EV shot on the right :)

Posing Swan

You wouldn’t believe that this was taken with a wide angle lens, from a tripod :). I was standing so close, but the swan didn’t moved at all for a minute, and when I took the shot it went into the water. It really looked, like it was just posing for the shot :)

I went a little stronger on the HDR processing than usually, but as I was editing the photo I saw a certain painterly look to it, so I went with it.

HDR from a single RAW (few parts from a second) taken with Canon 450D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, from a tripod.