Crafting Epic Landscapes with Aurora HDR and Luminar
I you love landscape photos as much as I do, this video might help give you some ideas for editing them successfully in Macphun products. Enjoy!
Here's my latest video - and it's all about editing epic landscapes!
I love to shoot landscapes as much as everyone else does, but sadly I don't get to them very often. However on this epic family roadtrip we are doing, we stopped for a week in Banff, Canada and I was able to capture a LOT of landscape photos.
My favorite destination there was Moraine Lake. It's a glacially-fed alpine lake surrounded by amazing mountain peaks. the water is an incredible blue color and you just can't argue with the scenery. It's pretty amazing.
So I take a 3 exposure bracket set shot at sunset, and merge them to HDR in Aurora HDR before taking that blended image over to Luminar for some stylizing. It's about 10 minutes of video, but I cover a lot of ground and offer up a bunch of tips, too. Enjoy!
Aurora HDR Workflow video: New Mexico sunset
Finally, a new video! In this one I edit a sunset HDR from New Mexico in Aurora HDR and add a few filters to get it looking just right!
Finally I had time to make another tutorial video! The benefit of being home for a change!
Due to all my recent travels, it's been about 2 months since I last created a video. Two months! And to think I was doing about 1 every week. Well, I am home at least for a little while, and I had some time to make a new video.
Truthfully, I have really missed doing this. It's a lot of fun for me, and I sure hope that yo enjoy seeing them. I have a long list of videos I still want to make, so I hope to get busy doing some of that here pretty soon!
In this one, I take a 3 exposure bracket set and merge it to HDR in Aurora HDR, and then make further adjustments to achieve my vision for the shot. If you want to see my comprehensive HDR tutorial for Aurora, you can find that right here.
Take a look and let me know if you have any questions!
Sunset at Lime Kiln Point
Today I share some sunset pics from a trip to Friday Harbor, Washington that we took last summer. It ended up being a pretty nice sunset, and the dramatic setting of a lighthouse on the shore just made it that much more special!
Sometimes a sunset just turns out awesome!
Last summer we spent nearly a week on San Juan Island, off the coast of Seattle in Washington State. It's a gorgeous island, and the little town of Friday Harbor is quaint and beautiful. We love it there.
We were up there as part of our crazy big traveling summer, and thus had our own car with us. (Yes, that's a long drive from Texas.) So we did what we weren't able to do on our last visit to Friday Harbor (when we did NOT have a car) - that is, we drove all over the island and explored it in much more depth than ever before. It was awesome!
It's interesting how many places you can find to explore when you are on an island. You would think it's not much, but it really is - at least here it is, I should say.
One place we enjoyed quite a bit is Lime Kiln Point State Park. It's on the west side of the island, which is great for sunset, and with the dramatic setting on the water and that lighthouse too, you could say I was enjoying it quite a bit.
We spent two sunsets here, but this one was by far superior to the other one. As you can see, the sky put on quite a show for us, and I was snapping away happily with a huge grin on my face. It's not often you get light like this, is it?
All three of these images are 3 exposure HDRs processed in Aurora HDR Pro from Macphun. It's a lovely product that gives me fabulous results, and frankly I have a lot of fun processing my images in it. That last photo I really pushed quite a bit. It was a nice sunset, but it wasn't quite that colorful. But I was having fun, and experimenting with a lot of layers and effects in Aurora, and just decided to go for it. Call it an artistic interpretation, if you will. I do like my colors. :-)
The thing is that when you shoot RAW, the before photos always look a bit flatter and less saturated than they really were. The same is true of this one. The left version below isn't really a good representation of the colors at the moment. So as I was bringing them back, I added some artistic flair, just for the sake of the art. It was fun.
Here's a screenshot showing the photo before and after:
As you can see, I added 4 layers on top of the original image. In the first one, I added a Dreamy preset, then I did a little split toning, then ran some denoise across the sky, and finally had to reduce the reddish/orange saturation a bit. Altogether this was just a few minutes of work, and I wouldn't even call it work since it's so much fun!
If you would like to learn more about Aurora HDR, just click on the banner below and you will be directed to their site. Or, feel free to leave a comment with any questions - thanks!
The altar of Iglesia Catedral
You never know what you might find when you wander!
I'm a fan of wandering. Although I like to plan where I want to shoot in any particular city, I still leave wandering time for myself. It's a key part of getting things done, in my opinion. You never really know what you might find when you are milling about somewhat aimlessly. I have captured many a fine photo doing just that.
This is a great example. I was in Panama City, Panama and wandering in their Casco Viejo area, which is their historic old city center. It's a beautiful area full of buildings adorned in the old Spanish Colonial style. I really like it there.
I had this church on my list, because I had seen photos of the exterior, but was not at all familiar with what the inside would have to offer. There was some construction around the entrance that day, and a cleaning crew was taking care of business inside, but I stepped in anyways and just started making my way to the altar. I could see if was pretty interesting, and it was definitely worth the stop!
Here's a "behind the keyboard" view of the shot while I was processing it:
That's part of the awesomeness of Color Efex Pro. You can easily brighten areas that need it, increase the detail of specific areas, and make color saturation adjustments too. Powerful stuff!
Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh
I only had half a day in Edinburgh, but I made the most of it!
Edinburgh, Scotland is a beautiful town. I wish I had more time there on my visit last year, but sadly I did not. That happens. I was in Glasgow on business and, having arrived on a Saturday, decided to take the train up to Edinburgh on Sunday. So after sleeping in that morning, I headed on up to Edinburgh.
Why didn't I get up early and spend more time there? Good question. Here's the answer: I cannot sleep on planes. I try and try, and never succeed. So on all my Europe trips, I am awake all night. Hence, I tend to leave a day early, knowing full well that I will crash hard the first night and sleep in a bit the following morning. Ok, enough about that.
So when I was Googling all things Edinburgh, I saw this pub mentioned several times, so I made sure to stop by and get some shots. No, not those kind of shots. I'm talking about photos here. ;-) Anyways, it's rather cool looking and though it started to rain on me as I stood there, I'm glad I got the shot. Maybe on a future visit to Scotland I can spend a little more time here and really get to know the city, because it's quite lovely!
Here's a "behind the keyboard" screenshot from Color Efex Pro, for the fun of it:
Sunset in Corpus Christi
This is a really old photo - and I just brought it to life!
Ahhh, the power of software. I am not secretive or ashamed that I use software to make my photos better. I love doing it, and I love sharing what I do. It's just fun. Some people don't like that photos are adjusted, but I don't care. It's ok if they don't like the idea of adjusting photos by using various software products - everyone can make up their own minds about these things, of course - but I just disagree.
I believe that photos NEED to be adjusted. They just look better...much better. Plus, the camera doesn't actually capture it the way it was anyways. Cameras just make some decisions here and other decisions there, depending on what you tell it to do...and then it still isn't the same as what you saw. Anyways, I am somewhat off topic here.
I took this photo several years ago while in Corpus Christi, TX on a little vacation with the family. I still remember this clearly. We had an early dinner, and when we were departing the restaurant, this was the scene I saw. It was beautiful, so I took a quick single exposure.
But, when I started processing it the other day, I decided to give it a bit more punch than the scene actually had. I gave it more of a golden hour touch and just generally ended up with something that wasn't exactly what I saw, but I like it. So, here it is. It's art, and it's my art, so I did what I wanted here. That's cool right? Here's a screenshot, in case you are curious.
Four Courts, Dublin
I finally got a good shot of this thing!
I have been to Dublin several times now, and each time I have seen this wonderful building, standing so tall and interesting next to the River Liffey. But, each time I have not really loved the photo that I have ended up with. It's different reasons each time, but nonetheless I wasn't totally thrilled with any of them.
And by the way, this is the Four Courts Building in Dublin, which is the seat of their Supreme Court, among other things. I just like the architecture, and the fact that it sits next to the river (and it's close to the oldest pub in Ireland, which is the subject of a post I hope to get to soon).
But, this time was different. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I just returned from a trip to Dublin (and then on to Glasgow) and was able to get in quite a few shots in both towns. And despite the rain threatening in Dublin, I kept getting my shots in without too much incident, rain-wise. It just worked out. The great thing about rain (yes, I just said that!) is that rain comes via clouds, and clouds can add a lot of interest and drama to a shot.
Take this photo, for instance. Although I like the shot a lot, I admit the sky adds a different (and more interesting) element to the shot. If there were no clouds in the sky and it was a clear blue, I would be pretty bored with it.
Anyways, it worked out great for me last week, and I am trying to find a little time to process more shots from the trip - so much to work on! (and that's a good problem)
Here's a Before and After in case you want to see the processing steps that I took while working on this one in Color Efex Pro:
Just another alley in Bratislava
Do you ever wander down alleys?
I love wandering down alleys in search of images. Back streets, alleys...they are often overlooked but I think they are rich in photographic opportunities. Don't you?
find life experiences and swallow them whole. travel. meet many people. go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. try everything. exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life. - lawrence k. fish
That is definitely one of my all-time favorite quotes. It's just so awesome and inspirational, and I happen to think that it's also great advice. Do I do all that stuff? Maybe yes sometimes, and other times no. I'm not going to lie and say I am some total "carpe diem" maniac living life to its fullest. I do my part, I think, and have a good time, but it's not all fun and games, as the old saying goes. It just can't be.
Anyways, I didn't really mean to get into all that, just rambling here at the keyboard. :-)
I was in Bratislava about 2 years ago, and still think about it often. It's a beautiful town and I found quite a bit to shoot there. I also wandered a lot of the old back streets and came home with a lot of images like this one that I just happen to really like. They're not going to get published, and likely will never sell, but I just don't really care. They're meaningful to me despite their relative insignificance. Does that make any sense?
Plus, I just happen to like all the detail, texture, and all the lines that your eye follows here.
Oh and before I ramble on too much and forget, here is a screen shot from Color Efex Pro that I grabbed while I was editing this one. I actually went a little dark on the HDR in Photomatix but after a few filters it's looking good!
Sunrise at Trinity College
Sometimes you get up early and Mother Nature rewards you!
I say here often that sunrise is one of the best times to shoot, and I really think that. Yes it's hard to get up but I find that it is nearly always worth it. Sure, some mornings just turn out crappy but usually I end up with plenty of keepers.
The thing is that it is impossible to predict. You never know what you might get. With sunset, you have the benefit of checking out the weather report, looking outside at the sky and then making a decision. Plus let's face it - you're already awake.
But with sunrise, it's a total gamble.
When I travel to Europe, I prefer sunrise though since I can wander the streets of whatever town I am in without all the tourists in the way. I just prefer my shots that way, plus I actually enjoy being able to walk around by myself, undisturbed, while doing some creative work. It's fun.
This image was taken on the campus of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland one beautiful morning. See? Sometimes you do get rewarded.
And here's a "behind the keyboard" showing the HDR before I added filters in Color Efex Pro (left side) and the image after the filters were applied (right side). I hope you don't mind these little Before/After comparisons because I sure enjoy sharing them.
New Sweden Lutheran Church
Who knew the Swedes had a big presence in Central Texas? Not me.
But they do. You can read all about it on the interwebz if you want to. I had heard a couple of things over the years about the Swedish immigrants who settled in Austin back in the 1800's, but really didn't know anything about them (and honestly, still don't).
But I just find that really interesting, mostly because Austin and Sweden have got to be so completely different. It's amazing that back then, families would just pick up and move halfway around the world to someplace like Texas, sight unseen. It's not like they could look it up on the web and get a sense of it. Many people today wouldn't even pick up and move halfway around the world for something, despite everything they could learn from Googling it.
Anyways, outside of Austin is a little town called Manor, and outside of that sits this lovely church on a small road in the middle of a bunch of fields. It's clearly an agricultural area, and this church dominates the landscape. That 104 foot tall steeple is hard to miss!
I was there on a cloudy, overcast day and while editing the shot, I just felt like pushing it a little and going for a moody version, so that's what I got for ya today friends.
And since I am in the sharing mood, here's a "behind the keyboard" look at Color Efex Pro while I was editing the shot:
Copenhagen is just beautiful
Have you ever visited Copenhagen? If so, what did you think?
As I have stated here many times (and likely will again...like now), I loved Copenhagen. I had never been to what I would consider northern Europe or Scandinavia, and I haven't been back since. I hope that will change in 2014...we will find out.
Anyways, it was beautiful and just as culturally rich as the other parts of Europe that I have been to. Not that I expected anything otherwise. I didn't really know what to expect, come to think of it.
And there were castles - you know I love those!
Lastly, there is Nyhavn. This is their historic waterfront canal district which is now populated with bars, shops and restaurants. There are also these great old wooden ships, and many of the townhouses lining the canal are brightly colored. It's just beautiful.
I took this shot on my very first night there, during sunset. It had been a rainy mess when I arrived after a long, long day of travel. I thought about calling it a day, but curiosity always wins that battle, so off I went. I'm sure glad I did!
And for fun, here is a screenshot I took during processing in Color Efex Pro, showing the "Before" on the Left and the "After" on the Right. As you can see, I used 5 different filters here, all providing a specific effect on the final image. In particular, I wanted to bring up the contrast and the color, which this is great for.
The suspension bridge in Waco
This is one heck of an awesome bridge!
Do you love bridges? I sure do. They are one of my favorite photographic subjects (and I feel like I say that a lot here on the blog....but there are a lot of things I love to shoot!). There's something about them that just draws me in. You know what I mean?
It is probably a combination of the architecture, the water that they are usually over, and the symbolism they represent to me - a connecting of disparate parts, bringing together separate lands...that sort of thing. I don't know...but they're cool.
Anyways...I was driving to Dallas one day and had the urge to stop in Waco and explore for a few minutes. Waco is not exactly high on anyone's list of places to go shoot (sorry, Waco) but I had seen some pics of this bridge online and knew it was pretty close to the highway, so I figured it would make a quick stop. It did.
It was super easy to get to and I had it entirely to myself, which is how I like things. It was also an incredibly windy day with major clouds and stuff blowing through, as you can see in the pic. Anyways, I shot all around, under and on top of this bridge until I felt like I got everything I wanted.
I love shots like this because there is such a color and texture difference between the bridge and the sky - I just like contrasts like that. I also thought I would share a Before & After sort of thing, which is a screenshot of this photo from when I was working on it in Color Efex Pro. That's the Before on the left, and the After on the right. I haven't shared one of those here in a while - let me know if you want to see these more often, k?
Using Color Efex Pro to finish an HDR
I am a huge fan of Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro, and use it on almost every image, especially my HDR work (which is most of what I do). It is an incredibly capable piece of software, and one that I find both effective and easy to use.
I get a lot of questions on my Facebook page about this product, because I often post Before/After screenshots while I am processing a photo. I thought I would make it easy for everyone and put this little tutorial together to show how I use the product and which filters specifically I like to use to adjust my images. And while every image is different and therefore requires a custom approach, you can use this as a baseline for exploring your own creativity with Color Efex Pro.
Note that I have an older review of Color Efex Pro which you can find here.
Let me know if you have any questions, or feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section - thanks!
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To give you a sense of how far this process will take us (although it is quick and easy), below is the -1 EV image as shot in camera. This was actually the brightest one I got, oddly. Anyways, the final result is the combination of HDR and Color Efex Pro. It really takes things a long way!
Ok, I started the Color Efex Pro processing with this image below, which is a 7 frame HDR that was created in Photomatix. As you can see, it is already a vast improvement over the previous single-frame shot, especially in light distribution. Since I am not covering all the Photomatix stuff in this tutorial, I am going to just present the image as it came out of Photomatix. I spent only about 10 minutes on it in Photomatix, which is about normal for me. You can see my full HDR tutorial with Photomatix here.
Usually, the first filter I use is Detail Extractor. As the name implies, it pulls a lot of detail out of the scene, but all filters are global in nature. What I mean is that the changes or enhancements they make are applied to the entire image.
In this case (and in most cases), I do not want to bring out details in the sky, so I use their Control Points to remove the filter selectively from the sky. That cleans things up a bit, in my opinion. See the white dots in the sky? Those are the Control Points, and I have placed 3 in the sky to remove the detail. Do you see the section on the right panel that says Control Points? The one with the circle and the minus sign is used to remove the effect of the filter from the section of the photo where you place it. And yes, you can adjust the size of the section once you place the Control Point there.
Notice the panel on the right side of the frame? Under where it says Color Efex Pro?
That is the filter adjustment panel, and the various sliders are what allow you to adjust the photo (Detail Extractor, Contrast, Saturation).
Once you finish with that filter, it’s time to add another one, which you do by clicking on the “+Add Filter” button below the adjustment panel. The ability to stack filters is where a lot of the magic of this product comes into play.
Next, I go for Pro Contrast. This is a powerful filter and is always on my list to use on an image.
There is Correct Contrast and Dynamic Contrast. I like both, but be careful with Dynamic Contrast as it tends to darken the sky at times. Again I used their Control Points at 4 different spots in the sky, allowing me to maintain the original look of the sky without having the contrast adjustments overly darken the sky or the clouds.
There is also the option to Correct Color Cast. I used that one rarely, but it is effective.
After getting those sliders where you want them, once again click on “+Add Filter” and this time I use "Brilliance/Warmth”. The sliders for Saturation and Warmth are pretty straightforward. The last one is Perceptual Saturation and it is very powerful so be careful or things may get out of hand. :-)
One more click on “+Add Filter” and this time it’s the Skylight Filter. I love this one and it’s a great way to warm up a scene. When I was there, the setting sun cast an intense and warm glow on me and I wanted to recreate that, as some of the feeling has not come through in the photo yet...at least to me.
So with the Skylight Filter, it’s just the one slider, labeled Strength. I bump that up a bit to amp up the warmth and bring this back to the way I remember it.
Now, here is where I start double-checking my settings on each filter and decide whether that individual filter has helped the final result, or if it needs to be adjusted one way or another.
Here’s the easy way to do this. See the box in the upper right where all the filters are listed? See the box to the left of each filter name with a check box in it? All you have to do is uncheck that box, and it turns off the filter. I start at the top and work my way down, unchecking one at a time and examining the photo after each un-checking.
I ask myself whether the filter has helped or hindered the feeling I am trying to convey, and to what degree. Usually I find that I go back into each filter and make slight adjustments during this process. I always end up making a few changes, at least.
In the image below I have unchecked the first one, Detail Extractor. As you can see, much of the detail has been removed. I like having the detail in the arch and the ground, so I add the check back to the box, and the filter settings I used are returned to the photo. But since I had inserted Control Points in the sky, the details are not added there.
Next, I uncheck Pro Contrast (and the photo gets a little flatter to my eye)...so I decide to check the box again so that the contrast adjustments remain.
Then I uncheck Brilliance/Warmth (and the photo loses its punch, so I add it back)...
...and then I uncheck Skylight ( and it loses significant warmth so I add this one back too).
So I have decided overall that I am happy with the results thus far, so I click Save and the photo is returned to my library in Aperture.
Once there I make a few more adjustments (Skin Smoothing in the sky to give it a cleaner look; Sharpen to bring up the ground a bit). I also reduced the saturation in a few spots, especially the greens.
Here’s the final result:
As you can see, using Color Efex Pro is a very effective way to bring your HDR photos to life!
I hope this little tutorial was helpful and do let me know if you have any questions!
Sunrise on the 16th Street Mall
Do you ever find yourself in absolutely the WRONG place when the light gets all awesome? It happens, and it never stops sucking when it does happen. You don’t really get over it, or used to it. It always sucks. But what can you do about it?
I know what I do. I fire away at anything I can so at least I feel like I am being photographically productive. The pictures don’t end up being remarkable, or special in any way, but at least I made an effort. You have to capture some light.
That very thing happened on this cold, wet, and otherwise miserable morning in Denver. Don’t get me wrong - I love Denver - but I was cold, wet and miserable. I had fired some nice shots prior to this, such as this one of Union Station. So the morning wasn’t a total bust.
But a while later I found myself on this street corner at the bottom of the 16th Street Mall, and the sunrise light was getting all fabulous, and I literally had no where I could go to get a great subject for this shot. So I just fired away from the street corner, and had to deal with it. It happens.
I also went ahead and did a quick Before & After comparison on this shot. Normally my comparisons are a bit more dramatic...cause you know, I like moving sliders around LOL...but in this case I feel like the changes that the HDR brought out (and of course, my processing choices) were a bit more subtle. Just thought I would share.
The ceiling of the Natural History Museum
Dang this place is incredible - and big!! This is the ceiling of the main room at the Natural History Museum in London, and it is most certainly worth a visit. You will not be disappointed, especially if you came with a camera! There’s a photo opp at every turn!
I have been here twice now and each time I keep thinking about Harry Potter and Hogwarts. It just has that look. I took this photo on my visit to London last September, but while I was in London last week I popped in there again. To get a sense of scale, that little red speck along the bottom to the right is a person.
It’s the sort of place I imagine visiting each time I get there, if my schedule permits. It’s just cool. Maybe on one of these trips I will take some time and explore the exhibits too. I get so caught up firing brackets that I forget about those sorts of things. :-)
And here is an HDR Before and After for comparison purposes, if you enjoy that sort of thing:
