Since there is currently a contest running, where you can win a copy of Oloneo Photoengine (more here), I though in this process post I show a photo where I used Oloneo Photoengine. This is one of the photos I took in Dubai, from the top of the Burj Khalifa.

So we look at how I got this result:

I took 4 exposures, from -2EV to +1EV (usually one does not need the +2EV, and it just takes too long, so I sometimes skip it). I loaded them all into Lightroom, where I corrected the white balance, applied lens corrections and chromatic abberation removal, and corrected the horizon line. Then I export all in full size as 16-bit tiff files. I usually don’t compress them at all, as I will delete them when I don’t need them anymore, and I use the ProPhoto RGB for color space.

Here you can see the original 0EV exposure:

From there I loaded all these brackets into Oloneo Photoengine. I actually changed only two things. The strength and the HDR contrast. That actually all I change most of the time there :)

And here you can see the Oloneo Photoengine result (also saved as a 16-bit tiff)

From there I loaded everything into Photoshop. The Photoengine result and also all the original brackets. There I did the following edits (layers numbered from bottom up)
1. the Photoengine result
2+3+4+5. the original exposures. What I did was select the light parts and blend in the moving cars into the HDR, so I remove ghosting. In few ares I also hand painted small parts that I found too strange in the HDR
6+7. added glow to the photo (check out the glow tutorial here)
8. high pass sharpening
9. added more contrast to the whole photo using curves
10. changed the color balance for highlights (made them warmer)

And that’s all I did with this image. To find out more on how I edit, check out the guides and before after categories on this blog, or check out my video tutorial series here:

While taking photos of the Burj Al Arab was quite interesting. The light on top and on the nearby hotel changed quite often, and as many lights in Dubai, were very bright neon color. If you ever took a photo of something neon, you know how big a problem is to catch a nice color there. It just oversaturates everything a burns out any detail. But as I captured everything shining with a purple light in this photo, I decided to tone the whole photo in purple.

I was also thinking what to do with the very saturated top. In the end I only recovered it from one of the exposures, doing no desaturation on it. I think you can have one saturated color in a photo, as long as its not covering the whole photo. It creates a point that draws your eyes, but one also has to have less saturated part, for the eyes to rest. And I think it worked on this one (at least on my screen :) )

This is a HDR from 4 shots, created in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop.

This is a little teaser for those who still haven’t gotten my eBook on how to take fireworks shots. This are the first 4 pages of the book (it’s 26 in total) an it free for everyone. To get it, you just have to sign up for my newsletter, and in the confirmation email you get a link for download. And you don’t even have to be scared that you get a huge number of emails, as I usually post one only every 1-2 months :)

So check out these pages, and if you would like to read further, head over to the newsletter page to subscribe :) (or it can be done in the right sidebar).

And don’t forget about the contest, still 8 days to join :)

What a start

What a start indeed. Only yesterday I announced my photo editing contest and already there are over 50 entries. It’s so stunning to see what different people can create with the same photos. And for you all who still haven’t joined, you still have 9 more days to do so. All the rules in yesterdays post, and all the already submitted photos can be seen here.

Long exposure reflections

One thin one always sad to do before shooting long exposures, is to clean the ND filter. I always do so, but it does not really help with my Hoya ND400. The problem is that while I was in Paris last year, it got loose from my camera and fell onto some stones. So now there are small spots all over the filter, that can not be cleaned. But luckily, the filter is still usable, I just need to spend a little longer with cleaning up the photos :)

This is a HDR from 5 shots, created in Oloneo Photoengine (yes, the software you can win in my contest :)) and finished in Photoshop. Taken in the middle of the Dubai Marina.

The time to submit a version has ended, and the voting is in progress in this Facebook gallery. For those who missed the deadline to post your entry, please keep an eye on the blog, there will be another round sooner or later :) 

Thanks to Oloneo software I have for you another round of my editing contest. Again you get a chance to win a copy of their great HDR editing program Oloneo PhotoEngine. If you don’t know PhotoEngine, I really suggest you try it out, as it’s one of the simplest and best HDR editing programs available. You can also see in a lot of my recent photos, that I used it to create the initial blended images, as it creates a very natural look.

You can find all the information on Oloneo and their products here: http://www.oloneo.com/en/page/home.html
and you can find a trial version you can try right away here: http://www.oloneo.com/en/page/download_form.html?product_id=pe1&type=trial
(there is no Mac version available, but you can run it in a virtual machine)

I will also provide two copies of my Master Exposure Blending tutorial as prizes.

So when you are done playing with it, here is how you can enter the contest. For those who joined already one of my other contests, the rules will be very familiar, as they are the same.

How to join the contest

1. read the complete rules first :)
2. download the provided series of brackets showing a nice sunset at the Neusiedler see in Austria here from Dropbox
3. edit them into a final HDR photo (you can use any software and any technique, tone-mapping, blending, exposure fusion, black&white version)
4. join the contest event here https://www.facebook.com/events/1447780392128154/ and post your photo into the event or send the final edit to me, under miroslav.petrasko@gmail.com with the subject “HDRshooter contest”

Only one entry per person is permitted. Please don’t use parts of any other than the provided photos. If you post your photo to the event page, you can delete your submission and upload a new one. If there is more than one from a person, the last one is entered, all other will be deleted. If you are one of the winners from the last rounds, you are not eligible to win.

Winners

The winners of Oloneo PhotoEngnine will be choosen by:

1st one by a jury of great HDR photographers, Elia Locardi from BlameTheMonkey, Beboy from BeboyPhotography and Dave Morrow from DaveMorrowPhotography

2nd will be selected by fans on Facebook, where everyone can vote for their favorites, once all the entries have been submitted. This voting is not in the event.  Sharing of your entries further to promote them is permitted, but entries with fake likes will be disqualified.

In both cases the person who places 2nd will receive a copy of the Master Exposure Blending video tutorial.

The latest time to submit you entry is 18th May 2014 at midnight. The voting on the winner will be held during the week from 19th to 25th May 2014 on the HDRshooter facebook page. The winners will be announced on the Monday 26th

I hope you will all have fun editing and good luck to you all :)

I reserve the right to change or amend the competition rules at any time without prior notice. By entering the competition, entrants agree to be bound by these rules. All participants can’t use the final photo for any commercial use and have to give credit to me as the original author, also I will not use their versions for any purposes other than promotion of this competition. Participants can share the photo on their FB, blog, flickr or other accounts, but still have to give me credit as the author and link back to the contest.