Road Trip!

[chupathingie]

It’s okay to toe the line and cross the edge every once in a while. Trey Ratcliff steps into “mildly unrealistic” all the time, but his photos are absolutely beautiful, if not Fark legal.

/Edited to add disclaimer.

I love looking at well-done HDR, some scenes lend themselves to being somewhat surreal. I’ve just gotten to the point now where even mild tone mapping is obvious to me. So far I’ve yet to play with an algorithm that doesn’t present its results as having tone mapping applied. It’s either too much (and obvious) or so little that the benefits of the added dynamic range are overwhelmed by the lack of contrast. I used Qtpfsgui for a long while and liked 2 of the tone mapping routines, but I just can’t seem to tweak them into being realistic anymore. This is due more to my own perception being attuned to what the tone mapper is doing than a deficiency in the tone mappers themselves…once you play with something enough it becomes easily spotted when someone else is doing it. I look back on what I once thought was subtle tone mapping, and it looks anything but subtle anymore.

“FARK legal” is kind of a mish-mash… it seems like the general rule is if there’s an analog darkroom equivalent, then it’s allowed. However, curve adjustments (I may just be ignorant, but I can’t think of a film analogy) are allowed, while things like darks and flats are frowned upon (which have direct film equivalents).

[Yoyo]

Well, I’m now done with Grand Teton and on the way to Rocky Mountain N.P. Now when interviewers ask me what I’ve been doing since February, I can say visiting National Parks. (Might not go over so well.)

Regarding the chart above, on the time axis, I’m past “first tripod,” even though that’s the one I brought on this trip. Yes, the 055XB(?) with geared head would have been better, but my first one was purchased with travel in mind, and it’s highly portable. I’ve still got my 35mm film camera from 19 years ago, and I understand most of the technical bits of photography, so on the red line, I’m about 78%. Quality is subjective, and I’m certainly not an artist regarding photography, but I think I’ve got more than one keeper SOOC from this trip.

Anyway, my desire for HDR skillz is the fact that glaciers are really bright in direct sun and get blown out very easily. The sky and clouds also over-expose when you’re at 10,000 feet where the air is thin. Furthermore, compared to Grand Staircase and the Painted Desert, these mountains might as well be made of grayscale with some olive drab thrown in for the trees and sagebrush. Then I’ll print some 3D slides of my travels. Think of it as HDDDR?

Any comments?

[chupathingie]

I’ve always had good luck using Enfuse for combining bracketed exposures, and I use it for the exact reasons you said… snow and clouds are just impossible to deal with sometimes.

[Kestrana]

I like that 2nd waterfall shot you have. The first one feels like it’s missing vibrancy to me.

[Author]

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