Exploring the Grounds Around the Office

Today was one of those days with a typical dutch sky; blue with clouds (and the occasional raindrop). Perfect conditions for doing some (HDR) photography. Location: Papendorp, Utrecht.

This location has lots of really great buildings, and the funny part is that I go there (almost) every week on my way to work for the last three years......

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HDR Processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5

The new CS5 edition of Adobe Photoshop has refined the HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing. Now, you won't need the Photomatix plugin (in theory).

After selecting the 'Merge To HDR in Photoshop' option in Lightroom, the images get exported to Photoshop and it starts doing its magic. Normally (in the earlier versions) you would end up with a 32-bit image, but now you have the option of manipulating the 8 or 16-bit version of the image. Just like in Photomatix.

Photoshop CS5 HDR interfaceInitial experiences are not really positive, but that can be related to my experiences with Photomatix. A quick glance at the controls available, it should be able to produce similar results.
Talking of Photomatix; The plugin used in CS4 won't work in CS5. You need to download the CS5 version of the plugin at the HDRSoft.com website (Mac / Windows). The new version is universal (32 and 64-bit), free of charge to registered users, and works only in CS5.

One thing I didn't expect was that Photoshop started downloading a lens database from the Adobe website during the creation of the HDR. No idea if this is used in the HDR creation, or that this is done only once and used in other Photoshop CS5 plugins / filters

Nik Color Efex Pro versus Topaz Adjust

For those who follow the photo's on my flickr account may notice that I do like HDR(like) post-processing on my images. I use Photomatix's Tonemapping functionality to create the basic HDR. After that I add (a lot of) drama to the picture by using Nik Color Efex Pro.

Nik Color Efex Pro has a plugin called Tonal Contrast. This plugin adds the detail/drama in the picture. Last weekend I ran into Topaz Adjust from Topaz Labs. This plugin is able to create the exact same drama in the picture. The difference is that Topaz costs only $49,99, while Color Efex Pro (with the Tonal Contrast filter option) costs $299,95 (but you also get a lot more filters for that price).

The following pictures are the result of either Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast filter or Topaz adjust. The differences are minimal if you ask me.

Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast Post HDR Processing Topaz Adjust Post HDR ProcessingSo if your looking for HDR-like drama in your photo's you might wanna consider Topaz Adjust. It's relatively cheap compared to Color Efex Pro, but you get 52 filters for that price (instead of one filter with several presets).

Discovering Doel, Belgium

Last Sunday we went (a couple of guys from the camera club) to the (almost) abandoned town of Doel in Belgium. The town is located near a nuclear power plant, and due to planned harbor expansions, the government started buying (or bought) houses in the small town.

The people who left, left a lot of stuff behind in their houses. Stuff that nobody bothered to clean up. This makes it an excellent environment for a little urban-exploration.

Smelly FridgeMy photo's from Doel can be viewed on my flickr page.

Experimenting with HDR

The HDR consists of a 5 image series (-2EV -> +2EV) taken last Saturday in Goedereede.

More photos from the Goedereede shoot are available on my flickr page.

Dark clouds over Papendorp

A HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo taken from the office.

The HDR looks relatively normal. Not that bad if you think that I shot the 9 images with the bare hands.

More HDR on my flickr page

HDR Test

I got my wire remote (MC-30) for the Nikon D300 recently. Finally able to start shooting in the dark (on a tripod) without the fear of movement unsharpness.

More photos on my flickr page