And another process for a shot for you. This time it’s a blue hour photo from Prague. So to get to this result:

I did the following steps in Photoshop (numbered from bottom up)
1. 0EV exposure used as base
2+3. -1EV and -2EV exposures used to darken the lights and castle
4+5. +1ev and +2EV exposures used to brighten the foreground and to merge the lights from the passing ship
6. added detail using a high-pass layer
7. added contrast to the basic mid-tones
8. used Color Efex Pro contrast to give more local contrast to the image
9. used Color Efex Detail extractor to add more details to the buildings
10+11. blurred layer used to add glow to the image
12. brightened the dark areas of the photo
13. darkened the mid-tones using levels a little, to recover contrast

Continue to the full post to see the original 0EV image.

Today another process post. These look to be quite popular, so I’m thinking of making Monday the process post day. What do you think? :)

Today it’s another shot from London. This was created using manual blending in photoshop and I used Color efex pro and Tony Keuper actions here.

So to get to this image:

I did the following. First I corrected the white balance in Lightroom and also toned down the highlights on the darkest exposure. Then I loaded all the files in Photoshop and continued as follows (layers numbered from bottom up):

1. 0EV exposure
2+3. +1EV exposure darkened by one stop and used to remove people from the stairs
4+5. +2EV exposure darkened by two stops and used to remove people standing by the railing
6+7. -1EV and -2EV exposures used to darken the lights
8. +1EV once again to brighten the dark areas
9. on this layer I retouched out the crane in the background
10. added contrast to the basic mid-tones
11. Color effex pro contrast to give more pop to the image
12+13. added glow using a blurred layer and brightened it using curves
14. added more saturation to the sky
15. TK actions vibrance mask to add more saturation to some parts of the image
16. brightened the image by changing the exposure

Continue to the full post to see the original RAW image.

Today I have for you another photo process post. This photo of the Bojnice castle is one of the most popular photos I ever posted, so I think the way I edited it would be interesting to you. So to get to this final image:

I used luminance mask to combine the shots. To be exact I did the following steps (layers numbered from bottom up)
1. original 0EV exposure
2-3. -1EV and -2EV exposure to darken the sky and other bright spots
4-5. +1EV and +2EV exposure to brighten the foreground
6. -1EV exposure once more to recovel some lost contrast from the blending
7. added contrast to basic midtones
8. added detail using high pass layer
9. darkened and added contrast to the brighterst parts of the image
10. added more local contrast using the Color efex Tonal contrst preset
11. added more contrst using the Color Efex Pro contrast preset
12. removed noise in the foreground elements
13-14. added glow using a blured layer
15. additional brightening for dark areas

To see the original 0EV exposure, please continue to the full post

Ok, maybe not the top 5, as I will have to revisit Paris few times to find the very best spots. But as I got question about some good spots, here are my favorite ones from my last visit. You can think of these, as the must visit spots :).

To see all my photos from Paris, check out the Paris category on this blog

Don’t forget to check out other available lists:

Tour Montparnasse

One of the must visit spots in Paris. The view is wonderfull, the place is photographer friendly and you can stay there as long as you want. Just go there early, if you want to have a nice spot to view the sunset :)

Top of the Eiffel tower

Another spot you have to visit. Go there early, find the best spot and don’t move until you get a great photo :). The view is just stunning. They also allow for tripods, but be ready that you will be checked almost like on an airport.

La Defense Business district

Another spot with a great view, even if it does not give you so many different compositions. Looks to be very popular by Paris photographers, but not so know by others. If you go ther, just look for the stairs, and you will see it. Also the surrounding area give so many great photo opportunities, just look around.

Notre Damme

Inside and on top of Notre Damme are both great spots, but as did not go inside during my stay, I suggest the spot I been to, the bridge behind the cathedral, and also the spot beneath the bridge.

Arc de Triomphe

And spot number 5, Arc de Triomphe. If you can, don’t forget to go up. I was not able to, due to weather, but also from ground it looks great. Don’t forget to get yourself a nice ND filter, so you can blur all the traffic, and be careful when standing in the middle of the road, so you don’t get hit by a car. I suggest going to the opposing side, where the amount of people is smaller, with less traffic (shown on the map).

There are of course many more great spots in Paris. The Louvre, area around the Eiffel tower, Trocadero, Pont des Arts, Alexander bridge and many many more. But I was not able to visit all, so that’s something to be added next time :)

Other available lists:

Today I have for you another photo process post. Today it’s a nice panorama from Paris

The luminescence masks can looks quite interesting sometimes. So I inluded a Photoshop screenshot of a luminance mask, that also shows what editing steps I made after combining the shots into panorama (you can see how I combine shots here: https://www.hdrshooter.com/guides/combining-photos-for-hdr-panoramas/). As you can see, I used only few layers and no plugins. All done in Photoshop. Recently I tend to go the route of fewer modifications as possible

But to the screenshots. The layers are (from bottom up):
1: 0EV exposure as start
2: -2EV exposure for the sky
3 and 4: 0EV exposure from a second series where I held my hand in front of the sun, so I get no flares and I can blend that photo with the normal one + brightness modification for that layer
5 to 8: other exposures, to darken the sun and brighten the foreground, mostly manually painted masks
9 and 10: glow layer
11: added contrast to basic mid-tones
12: little bit of exposure to the dark’s
13: little bit of added saturation
14: high pass layer for more detail in the shot
15: a little bit of overall contrast

Not much sharpening here, as I do that after I re-size the photo.

Continue to the full post to see the original photos I used.