Tag Archives: HDR

05-02-13 Early

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2013 05-02 Early by Scott Shephard

This is the fifth in a series of HDR Black Hills photos taken in April, 2013. This was actually the first place I stopped the first time I went out hunting. This is not the first time I’ve taken a photo with weathered grass dominating the foreground, a distant horizon and an intriguing sky. (Lonesome Lake) But when you’ve found something you like, why not wear it out? (I will say that in the year since I did the Lonesome Lake HDR photo, I’ve gotten better – or at least I’ve found a formula I like better. In fact, I can think of a lot of things I can do better now than when I was younger. Except sit-ups.)

(PS: If you look closely, you’ll see Mt. Rushmore in this photo.)

Canon 5DIII 1/20s f/18.0 ISO100 16mm

There are still 6 spots left in the July “Black Hills Photo Adventure.” How about joining me?

Screen Shot 2013-04-30 at 4.59.01 AM

02-18-13 Angels In the Architecture (HDR)

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2013 02-18 Angels In the Architecture (HDR)

In his song “You Can Call me Al” Paul Simon sings

He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!

I’ve never understood the lyrics of this song, but I do like the line that refers to “angels in the architecture.” And if you look closely at any building like the Minnesota state capitol building, there are angels everywhere. But in this photo, it seems that there actually is an angel. And I hadn’t seen it until after I picked the title for the post.

If you look at all three of my HDR capitol photos over the last few days, you will see an attempt at achieving perfect symmetry in my composition. Frankly, I’m a bit obsessive about it and I spend considerable time in framing the photo trying to get the lines perfect and if they aren’t perfect, I fix them in the crop. Good or bad? I don’t know. But in capitol building architecture there seems to be plenty of balance and symmetry and my photos strive to capture that.

02-17-13 The Second Story

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2013 02-17 Second Story

I had mentioned yesterday that I didn’t get enough time in the Minnesota state capitol building the other day. I made up for that by going back late yesterday morning. I knew when I went that I was going to take several series of photos with my camera on a tripod so that I could later process them into high dynamic range photos (HDR).

This photo was taken on the second floor looking west. One of the things I like about the way the camera interprets this space is the way it sees color. The columns and the stairs are lit by a skylight but the space behind the columns is lit by incandescent lighting. The space behind the columns is warm and the columns are a cooler gray due to this lighting.

The other thing I like in this photo is the amount of texture that is present. I think that texture can be both something you feel (such as the tops of the Corinthian columns) and can be something you see (such as the variegated stone in the columns.) And there is plenty of both in this scene.

I will be posting at least two more from my “Minnesota State Capitol” series. I hope you like HDR architecture.

Canon 5DIII 1/5s f/6.3 ISO400 16mm

02-16-13 Capitol Dome (HDR)

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2013 02-15 Capitol Dome (DHR)

Some of my photo/media students and I made a short stop at the Minnesota state capitol building recently. This is the kind of place I’d spend a few hour photographing, not 15 minutes. But we were on a tight schedule.

But during my time I did capture a few photos of this beautiful structure, including this HDR photo of the dome from floor level.

01-26-13 CNN Center, Atlanta (HDR)

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2013 01-26 CNN Center, Atlanta (HDR)

I used the HDR mode on my Canon 5DIII for a series of shots in the CNN Center because there was a sizable difference between the very bright part of this interior (above and to the left of the CNN sign) and the relatively dark part (underneath the canopies a little to my right.)

I could have gone with a photo-realistic treatment of this scene when I processed the shots in Aperture/NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 but I picked one that gives this a bit of a cartoonish look. Do I like it? I’m not sure. What do you think? Be honest. . . .

(The people at the table in front of me are photographers who are/were attending the ImagingUSA conference. I didn’t get a model release because this is a public space and they had no expectation of privacy. I do believe I’m on the right side of the law.)

01-08-13 Nature’s Artistry (HDR)

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2012 01-08 Nature's Artistry (HDR)

Nature provides the canvas, the subject and the paint. The photographer furnishes the frame. And the technological medium applied by the photographer sometimes enhances what nature provides and often diminishes it.

You’ll make your own judgements about this particular photo. All I can say is that this place is one of my favorite places on earth and my feelings affect what I see and do here. Every time.