# Ranch Motel



## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

Went chasing a storm yesterday afternoon. I pass this place on the highway all the time. The mood yesterday just suited it...finally 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





  This is another HDR, so that did most of the post work for me. After that, I just brought out the whites, clipped the blacks a bit and and bumped the contrast.

I'm pretty sure I could tweak this and turn it into the 'Bates Motel'


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## LaFoto (Jan 30, 2007)

ALL good.
ALL very impressive.
I do want to know how to do HDRs!
And I want more lenses.
Like a very wide wide angle lens - like this one. 
For example. 
And then I want your "eye" for things and ... no!
I DON'T want this kind of weather any longer! [ tantrum] No! No! No! [/tantrum ]


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## BoblyBill (Jan 30, 2007)

woodsac said:


> Went chasing a storm yesterday afternoon.


 
I'm so jealous... what type of storm was the forcast? From my recolection of some of your previous posts, I would guess you live in the western part a America... I have never heard of a supercell or tornado in the winter time... 


I love this shot by the way... Great mood to it... Those clouds have great constrast... I have found it hard to get a lot of detail in the clouds, but you do it very well...


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## Olympus8MP (Jan 30, 2007)

Wow, I love this shot. A good HDR does wonders for a picture. Thumbs Up!


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## ozzono (Jan 30, 2007)

I like the tonality of the photo, also the effect generated by the lens.  In general you have obtained a very attractive scene. Good work friend.
Spectacular sky.  
Greetings from Spain.


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## Sebastian (Jan 30, 2007)

Really good!!!
How much Pictures did you use for that HDR?


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## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

Thank you all very much!

LaFoto, this one was shot at 10mm.

You're right Chris, I'm in California. A 'storm' here, is usually nothing more that rain, wind and lightning. With the occasional snow storm where I was at. I was just hoping for some good cloud cover and maybe some low snow on the mountains.

Sebastian, this image was only done with 3 photos. For me, it's easier to do an HDR in darker environments, than it is in lighter environments. You can always use longer exposures and noise reduction, but it's very hard to eliminate the bright sun.


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## Arch (Jan 30, 2007)

very nice, the HDR works great here.... looks like a very moody place to stay! good capture woods :thumbup:


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## kiwiluke (Jan 30, 2007)

Nice shot, i really need to learn up on HDR
Luke


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## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

Thanks guys.

This place is kinda creepy at night time too Arch


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## MrMatthieu (Jan 30, 2007)

Waaouuh  I love this shot, great atmosphere enhanced by HDR ... never desapointed with your pictures

Do you know any tutorial for HDR beguinner?

Mat


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## seemoo (Jan 30, 2007)

Love this image. Everything supports the mood ur going for...

What r u using to put the HDR together? Photoshop or Photomatix?

thanks for posting this image..


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## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

Thanks Mat.
Start with this link

Hey seemoo...I just got done replying to your hdr thread...love it 
I'm using Photomatix. I've only done a couple with PS, and I should probably give it a few more times. I like the control of Photomatix.


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## MrMatthieu (Jan 30, 2007)

Woodsac thanks for the link. I already tried Lensbaby thanks to this forum, I definitly want to try HDR, it looks so attractive and exciting.

Mat


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## seemoo (Jan 30, 2007)

thanks for ur comments on my thread. Glad u like the pics.

I use Photomatix as well, but wish it would give even more control. So that you can control only parts of the image and not the whole image at the same time... Maybe in the next version...


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## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

seemoo said:


> thanks for ur comments on my thread. Glad u like the pics.
> 
> I use Photomatix as well, but *wish it would give even more control. So that you can control only parts of the image and not the whole image at the same time.*.. Maybe in the next version...


I agree 100%. Aside from just "black/white clip", I would like seperate shadow highlight adjustments. I would also like to see a "mask" option for very precise adjustments.

One thing I'm trying right now, is actually combining 2 or more tone mapped photos created by photomatix  It's really hard to control the noise!!! But, you layer the two together in PS, and then erase the unwanted parts. So, essentially, you can create an LDR and an HDR, and then combine them. I don't have anything worth sharing yet...yet


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## seemoo (Jan 30, 2007)

haha... I tried the same thing.
Sometimes Photomatix blows out my shadows too much. So that I overlay the most overexposed image again in Photoshop, in order to get them back down...

It's not the cleanest of solutions, I'm sure, but kinda, sorta works for now...  I guess every method is ok, as long as it gets it closer to what you want it to be.

Hopefully the new Photoshop version will have a more detailed HDR tool.


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## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

Ah...that's a thought?

I have PS CS3, but I haven't used it yet. I just didn't care for the layout  I'll check out the HDR in the new one when I get a chance and see if it's any better.


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## bnz506 (Jan 30, 2007)

Dude this shot is soooo cool, I love pictures like this.  I wish I could afford a fisheye or whatever type of lens that is.


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## scrutiny1 (Jan 30, 2007)

Man, I wish I could do HDR.  You truly do have an incredible eye, amazing shot!


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## cherrymoose (Jan 30, 2007)

As usual, amazing. I love every part of it.
Could I possibly see the original, raw version, if you still have it?


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## woodsac (Jan 30, 2007)

More thanks are in order...thanks 



cherrymoose said:


> As usual, amazing. I love every part of it.
> Could I possibly see the original, raw version, if you still have it?


Actually, there are 3 originals. I don't normally post originals, but maybe this will help some visualize what was done with the different exposures.


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## cherrymoose (Jan 31, 2007)

Thanks!
I'm amazed at what you can do with Photoshop. I might have to invest in it myself. Which version do you have?


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## Mohain (Jan 31, 2007)

Excellent as usual. As you said Bates Motel springs to mind! Cool


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## Antarctican (Jan 31, 2007)

Excellent image! Love the mood you created.  And thanks for posting the 3 shots that went into it...very instructive.


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## woodsac (Jan 31, 2007)

Mo and Anti, thanks.

Cherry, I'm using PS CS2.


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## Olympus8MP (Jan 31, 2007)

You've inspired me to experiment with HDR lately and I have a few questions. Maybe you could point me in the right direction. How many EV do you vary your sequences by? I've been using +/- 1 EV and it doesn't seem like a whole lot. But then again, I'm limited to indoor shots during these NE Ohio winter storms. And also do you prefer to vary aperture or shutter speed, or a combination of the two. I've read articles on both practices and was wondering what the advantages of each are.


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## woodsac (Jan 31, 2007)

Olympus8MP said:


> You've inspired me to experiment with HDR lately and I have a few questions. Maybe you could point me in the right direction. How many EV do you vary your sequences by? I've been using +/- 1 EV and it doesn't seem like a whole lot. But then again, I'm limited to indoor shots during these NE Ohio winter storms. And also do you prefer to vary aperture or shutter speed, or a combination of the two. I've read articles on both practices and was wondering what the advantages of each are.


I'm a "shoot from the hip" guy :lmao: 
I just do what feels right. For these types of shots, I almost always shoot in manual, but sometimes in aperture. The brighter it is (or of course darker), the more shots I take. I think +/- 1 EV is good. The closer together your exposures are, the less noise you'll get.

This HDR was done with 11 photos in 1/3 EV increments.


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## seemoo (Jan 31, 2007)

very nice.

I have never tried HDR with more then 3 pics. I have to try it now.
So are you manually changing the settings and not use the Auto Bracketing function of the camera?


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## woodsac (Jan 31, 2007)

seemoo said:


> very nice.
> 
> I have never tried HDR with more then 3 pics. I have to try it now.
> * So are you manually changing the settings and not use the Auto Bracketing function of the camera*?


Sorry, I misunderstood. I am using the auto bracket in manual. Then, I'm adjusting shutter speed to control the exposure. Basically the same in AV mode. If you adjust the aperture, you'll just wind up with a blurry looking photo 

There were originally 15 photos from this set, but a couple I wound up duplicating exposures. If you are in manual, start at one extreme end, bright or dark, then slowly bracket upwards, till you reach the other end. When doing more than 3 photos, you have to have your camera on a tripod.


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## GrfxGuru (Feb 1, 2007)

Excellent great choice of lens to really bring the image out.


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## outlier (Feb 1, 2007)

Wow what an inspiration!  When I get better with my camera I would like to try this. Woodsac, you have more than a good eye, you must have an exceptionally visual brain to 'see' the final image and know when to use this technique. Very impressive.


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## emo (Feb 2, 2007)

whoah!!! awesome awesome shot!!! :hail: how much EV stops on the motel shot?


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## fmw (Feb 2, 2007)

Nice.  Good to see you're using that full frame fisheys.


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## woodsac (Feb 2, 2007)

Thanks emo. +.33 EV to -1.67 EV

Thanks Fred. This is my first experience with a fisheye, and it has a learning curve   It's very easy to go overboard. It's definitely not for every shot.


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