# Old West - Antlers Hotel Lobby - Walden Co.



## cgipson1 (Jun 7, 2012)

This is one of my first shots with my new 14-24 lens. I love it.  Comments welcome! (again.. larger version on my Flickr.. link at bottom of photo)

The Antlers Hotel in Walden Co. Very much an old west type of architecture with heavy log walls, old leather furniture and huge fireplaces. Nice place to stay, and the food is good too!






Antlers Hotel Lobby - Walden Co by CGipson Photography, on Flickr


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## invisible (Jun 7, 2012)

Very nice, Charlie. You're going to love that lens. One thing to keep in mind is that the protruding front element can be a magnet for dust when shooting outdoors &#8211; just make sure to check it every now and then.


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## Trever1t (Jun 7, 2012)

Nice job, the room is lit well. I have 14-24 envy.


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## Robin Usagani (Jun 7, 2012)

if you have LR4, I would use WB brush and make the rear of the room warmer.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 7, 2012)

It is actually a nine frame HDR... and I worked on it a bit in PS. The original had some really bright sunlit areas that were killing it! Here is the "Normal Exposure" Shot before PS and HDR...


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## cgipson1 (Jun 7, 2012)

invisible said:


> Very nice, Charlie. You're going to love that lens. One thing to keep in mind is that the protruding front element can be a magnet for dust when shooting outdoors &#8211; just make sure to check it every now and then.



I do like the lens.. and yes, I noticed that it tends to attract everything from dust, to insects and small birds!  lol! Thanks!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 7, 2012)

Trever1t said:


> Nice job, the room is lit well. I have 14-24 envy.



It is a very nice lens... very sharp!  Thank you.. it was a cool place!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 7, 2012)

Schwettylens said:


> if you have LR4, I would use WB brush and make the rear of the room warmer.



That is probably a good idea, Robin.. but will have to do tomorrow! I am beat! Thanks!


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## Aloicious (Jun 7, 2012)

great shot, +1 on schwettylens' suggestion. 

was this for a client or just for fun?


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## Majeed Badizadegan (Jun 7, 2012)

That lens and camera is DROOL WORTHY!



Nice shot too.


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## charlie76 (Jun 8, 2012)

Schwettylens said:
			
		

> if you have LR4, I would use WB brush and make the rear of the room warmer.



What he said


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## Jaemie (Jun 8, 2012)

I rather like the original version with its sun and shadows. It spurs the imagination of cowboys and cautious hoteliers and constant dusting of wood and glass.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

Aloicious said:


> great shot, +1 on schwettylens' suggestion.
> 
> was this for a client or just for fun?



Thanks! I don't do clients anymore, except in very rare cir***stances! This was just for fun! I got several other angles in the room also... including some shot just of the fireplace. Would love to visit in the winter when that is loaded and fired up.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

Rotanimod said:


> That lens and camera is DROOL WORTHY!
> 
> 
> 
> Nice shot too.



It is the best equipment I have ever used... and it does a wonderful job! I am glad I got the body.. got very lucky to get it so soon too!  Thanks!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

charlie76 said:


> Schwettylens said:
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I will see what I can do later when I get home from work!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

Jaemie said:


> I rather like the original version with its sun and shadows. It spurs the imagination of cowboys and cautious hoteliers and constant dusting of wood and glass.



It is a bit dark, but more traditional! Might play with it some more... Thanks!


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## 12sndsgood (Jun 8, 2012)

Very nice shot. the place looks very comfortable.


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## JoshuaSimPhotography (Jun 8, 2012)

if you want the room to fell warmer just shoot it in the golden hours! You can also use a tilt shift lens for some architectural photography. If you intended this shot as a commercial shot, its great!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

12sndsgood said:


> Very nice shot. the place looks very comfortable.



Thanks! Yep.... there was one old boy in boots, stetson and jeans snoozing on the couch last week... boots up on the table, hat over his face. I wanted to get a shot of him, but he was gone when I returned with camera.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

JoshuaSimPhotography said:


> if you want the room to fell warmer just shoot it in the golden hours! You can also use a tilt shift lens for some architectural photography. If you intended this shot as a commercial shot, its great!



I will keep that in mind! There are no windows on the west side, so it would be VERY dark in the "golden hours"... lol! No.. just for fun, not commercial!


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## Aloicious (Jun 8, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> Thanks! I don't do clients anymore, except in very rare cir***stances! This was just for fun! I got several other angles in the room also... including some shot just of the fireplace. Would love to visit in the winter when that is loaded and fired up.



nice, I've liked the architectural HDR's you've posted recently, the HDR work is nice and clean. what software are you using to combine them?

that 14-24 + D800 is a great combo, I do some architectural work too and love that combo too, along with the D800 and 24mm PCE.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

Aloicious said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks! I don't do clients anymore, except in very rare cir***stances! This was just for fun! I got several other angles in the room also... including some shot just of the fireplace. Would love to visit in the winter when that is loaded and fired up.
> ...



Thanks! I use Photomatix Pro 4.1.1.. it does a decent job of exposure fusion.. and I finish them up in PS!


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## groan (Jun 8, 2012)

Beautifully shot and layered! So warm and cozy. I love using HDR this way.
ONly one cc 
Watch the verticals. Lightroom has an awesome lens correction tool for barrel and vertical correction. I use it a lot with my Sigma 10-20 when shooting interiors.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 8, 2012)

groan said:


> Beautifully shot and layered! So warm and cozy. I love using HDR this way.
> ONly one cc
> Watch the verticals. Lightroom has an awesome lens correction tool for barrel and vertical correction. I use it a lot with my Sigma 10-20 when shooting interiors.



Thanks... will check that out! I don't usually shoot anything but macro and landscape... so have some stuff to learn!


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## Markw (Jun 9, 2012)

Very well done HDR!  Looks great.  Nice processing, and you can certainly gloat about that combo of equipment you've got there. :thumbsup:

Mark


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## cgipson1 (Jun 9, 2012)

Markw said:


> Very well done HDR!  Looks great.  Nice processing, and you can certainly gloat about that combo of equipment you've got there. :thumbsup:
> 
> Mark



Thanks, Mark! I enjoyed shooting that, and working with it in PP. I do love the gear!


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## cgipson1 (Jun 12, 2012)

As requested.. I warmed up the wood in the back of the image. It does indeed make it a nicer image. I also ordered a 8x12 print of it to send to the hotel as a thank you for an excellent stay.






Antlers Lobby HDR by CGipson Photography, on Flickr


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## vipgraphx (Aug 10, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> As requested.. I warmed up the wood in the back of the image. It does indeed make it a nicer image. I also ordered a 8x12 print of it to send to the hotel as a thank you for an excellent stay.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Funny you talk so much crap about hdr and then here you go....If I or someone else would have posted this you would have nothing but negative comments.

Your colors don't look natural. the floor is orange and whats up with that neon electric plant on the left? My eyes burn.....


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## cgipson1 (Aug 10, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > As requested.. I warmed up the wood in the back of the image. It does indeed make it a nicer image. I also ordered a 8x12 print of it to send to the hotel as a thank you for an excellent stay.
> ...



hahaha.. just straight exposure fusion... none of that ugly A$$ tone mapping! That floor IS that color... a very warm honey gold... and that is one of those ugly plastic/silk fake plants! I didn't get any comments from any of the Overly TONE MAPPED HDR haters on here, and they would blast me just like anyone else if I made HDR cartoons!


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## vipgraphx (Aug 10, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> vipgraphx said:
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> > cgipson1 said:
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Thats not even an HDR, get your story straight.

Exposure Fusion is  the process of creating a low dynamic range (LDR) image from a series of bracketed exposures. Its not HDR (High Dynamic Range). HDR process produces an image that tries to capture the true nature of light in an environment, while Exposure Fusion simply tries to produce a single well exposed LDR using multiple LDR's.


Just thought if you were going to post this you should at least know what you are talking about.

And silk fake plant or real...they are not that glow in the dark in real life...thats just an excuse.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 10, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> cgipson1 said:
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Then call it LDR... I could care less! All I know is it looks like the real thing... not a CARTOON!    So you are saying that stuff you call HDR actually "captures the true nature of light in an environment"???... it might look like that if you on LSD! 

Oh.. that little bit of green on the fake plant.. that is daylight coming through a curtain! pretty obvious if you LOOK at it!


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## vipgraphx (Aug 11, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> All I know is it looks like the real thing... not a CARTOON!



What you see from me is top quality processing that you can not even touch ..I know you wish you could but you don't have the skills in photoshop just yet. Give yourself some time and then come see me!



cgipson1 said:


> So you are saying that stuff you call HDR actually "captures the true nature of light in an environment"???... it might look like that if you on LSD!



Oh kinda like your flowers that are super saturated, that looks like some posters for :hippie: (hippie) on LSD... Yeah your right..and you did that without even doing HDR or tone mapping...congradts!



cgipson1 said:


> Oh.. that little bit of green on the fake plant.. that is daylight coming through a curtain! pretty obvious if you LOOK at it!



WOW I never knew the sun daylight turned plants into hydroponic green...Where do you live that the sun has that effect? Excuses because you have an error in your processing....come see me when your ready to really learn how to 
process using photoshop.:hugs:


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## Robin Usagani (Aug 11, 2012)

This is what I think of this argument.  Vipgraphx, I really do not know who is wrong who is right on this HDR argument and I really dont care.  All I know is, I avoid your HDR posts because it is really not my cup of tea.  I think that is what a photograph would look like if I smoke meth.  I have seen some really nice HDRs but none coming from you.  When you do post non HDR stuff, I haven't really seen anything that good.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 11, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > All I know is it looks like the real thing... not a CARTOON!
> ...


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## vipgraphx (Aug 11, 2012)

See now we are getting somewhere. Your flower pictures you call art I call crap, your right its not my thing. Even if it was painted or screened its not my thing. There is many art that I do not like and then there some that I really like. This is more your thing. I think I can remember back when you argued and others about how HDR photography is not art..I argued that it could be when it is pushed to look like a painting, airbrushed or cartoony. There are many people out there that love HDR and pictures like I post and its my thing and not yours. People appreciate the processing techniques and all the little things that go into the processing that make the photos pop. I will use flickr as an example. Do you see how many HDR photos of similar style are out there. YOU may not like them or appreciate them but, just like your flower picture you call art or pop art people look at those as an expressive art or photo processed art or what ever else they want to call it. Trey Ratcliff is famous for his HDR work and a lot of his work is vibrant and somewhat non realistic while other is more realistic and that guy has done very well for himself. 

You can not say your flower is art and then say my work is not. Even if you hate my work which I can accept its not fair to be hypocritical about it. Thats my point! You say you get it out of the camera right and no need for photoshop, great then why even do this LDR almost HDR shot? because you can not get all that info in one single exposure. This is where you need something like HDR of fusion to kick in and make it happen. This to me is fascinating and rather than bash other people for their over the top work perhaps you could be more open minded and look for the good not always the bad or just do not post such negative comments. Were people have liked my work you have come in and bashed it. Thats not cool there is no respect there. When I joined this forum I was never disrespectful to you and others. All I was trying to do is come and learn and try to become a better photographer which is not my profession. People like you try to rob people like me out of the joy of doing things and thats not cool! 

I will say hands down you have more experience than me in photography and are more experienced with understanding lighting for photo shoots. I will never argue that I am better than you. My profession is graphic design and printing as you know. Photography is something on the side and I think way tooooo many people here take this to serious.

Point is through out all this is this, You bashed HDR but then attempt it, you bash non natural looking photos and colors but then you apply it to yours (flowers) and call it art but, argue when people push their HDRs doing the same thing you are doing. Perhaps you can be a little more open to the fact art is in the eye of the beholder and their is not just only one way of looking at things. Just because you don't like it does not mean its crap!


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## sm4him (Aug 11, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> See now we are getting somewhere. Your flower pictures you call art I call crap...
> ...
> ...yadda yadda....
> ...
> ...Just because you don't like it does not mean its crap!



:scratch:




vipgraphx said:


> ... This to me is fascinating and rather than bash other people for their over the top work perhaps you could be more open minded and look for the good not always the bad or just do not post such negative comments.



Uh-huh. 
This is what I tell the youth I know who posts things on FB about how sick they are of all the drama: If you are constantly posting about how sick you are of the drama, you might just want to stop for a few minutes and consider what the SOURCE of the drama might be.
Same thing goes on TPF.  Just sayin'. 

Charlie--I love this! That's all. I don't know if it's HDR/LDR/DRI (DRama Inducing) or just plain ole' photography, I like looking at it.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 11, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> See now we are getting somewhere. Your flower pictures you call art I call crap, your right its not my thing. Even if it was painted or screened its not my thing. There is many art that I do not like and then there some that I really like. This is more your thing. I think I can remember back when you argued and others about how HDR photography is not art..I argued that it could be when it is pushed to look like a painting, airbrushed or cartoony. There are many people out there that love HDR and pictures like I post and its my thing and not yours. People appreciate the processing techniques and all the little things that go into the processing that make the photos pop. I will use flickr as an example. Do you see how many HDR photos of similar style are out there. YOU may not like them or appreciate them but, just like your flower picture you call art or pop art people look at those as an expressive art or photo processed art or what ever else they want to call it. Trey Ratcliff is famous for his HDR work and a lot of his work is vibrant and somewhat non realistic while other is more realistic and that guy has done very well for himself.
> 
> You can not say your flower is art and then say my work is not. Even if you hate my work which I can accept its not fair to be hypocritical about it. Thats my point! You say you get it out of the camera right and no need for photoshop, great then why even do this LDR almost HDR shot? because you can not get all that info in one single exposure. This is where you need something like HDR of fusion to kick in and make it happen. This to me is fascinating and rather than bash other people for their over the top work perhaps you could be more open minded and look for the good not always the bad or just do not post such negative comments. Were people have liked my work you have come in and bashed it. Thats not cool there is no respect there. When I joined this forum I was never disrespectful to you and others. All I was trying to do is come and learn and try to become a better photographer which is not my profession. People like you try to rob people like me out of the joy of doing things and thats not cool!
> 
> ...



We will have to agree to disagree! As stated in the past!  There is good HDR (IMO) and BAD HDR (IMO) as there is good and bad in everything. I was doing HDR (or LDR Exposure fusion, call it what you want!) by hand starting back in the mid 90's...  on photoshop v3, because of the lack of dynamic range in early digital cameras. I did Exposure fusion (sort of) in the darkroom(70s, 80s), burning and dodging to bring out details in prints like I wanted them. 

But I do prefer a natural looking photo.. not something fuzzy, or grungy... or heavily tone mapped. To me, there is a distinct difference in true HDR and Tonemapping, and apparently there are those that agree.. so they are now calling it LDR, even though you process multiple images with multiple exposures that same exact way, minus the Tone Mapping. And that link you posted.. the LDR looks much more realistic than the HDR example they posted.... To me, at least! I will call my stuff LDR from now on, although I consider it silly! HDR has sadly become synonymous with Tone Mapping, which is why they changed the name of this process to LDR.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 11, 2012)

sm4him said:


> vipgraphx said:
> 
> 
> > See now we are getting somewhere. Your flower pictures you call art I call crap...
> ...



Thank you Sharon! As always, you are gracious and kind (and I enjoy your sense of humor!).


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## vipgraphx (Aug 11, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> vipgraphx said:
> 
> 
> > See now we are getting somewhere. Your flower pictures you call art I call crap, your right its not my thing. Even if it was painted or screened its not my thing. There is many art that I do not like and then there some that I really like. This is more your thing. I think I can remember back when you argued and others about how HDR photography is not art..I argued that it could be when it is pushed to look like a painting, airbrushed or cartoony. There are many people out there that love HDR and pictures like I post and its my thing and not yours. People appreciate the processing techniques and all the little things that go into the processing that make the photos pop. I will use flickr as an example. Do you see how many HDR photos of similar style are out there. YOU may not like them or appreciate them but, just like your flower picture you call art or pop art people look at those as an expressive art or photo processed art or what ever else they want to call it. Trey Ratcliff is famous for his HDR work and a lot of his work is vibrant and somewhat non realistic while other is more realistic and that guy has done very well for himself.
> ...




I have no problem agreeing to disagree, but, I also ask that you stop posting rude or condescending comments and snide remarks at me...Just have a level of respect as I first gave you! Thats all I ever asked for.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 11, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> cgipson1 said:
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> 
> > vipgraphx said:
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You have improved your processing immensely in the past few months (several people have commented on it)... and the whale shot comment was not meant to be facetious. I was pulling your leg a little... but I meant it when I said that you had captured it well. I hope that will suffice.....


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## Photographiend (Aug 11, 2012)

Someone some day is going to have to explain to me how you edit just one section to remove strong shadows. Final product is AMAZING! Love the twinkle of lights on the floor. Gives it a Rustic Glamor vibe.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 11, 2012)

Photographiend said:


> Someone some day is going to have to explain to me how you edit just one section to remove strong shadows. Final product is AMAZING! Love the twinkle of lights on the floor. Gives it a Rustic Glamor vibe.



Thank you! It is rather simple really. You take multiple images of a subject, each at a different exposure. You can do three images with a 2 stop change in exposure, or you can do 9 images with a 1 stop change in exposure, or anywhere in between (or more). you then use special software (or Photoshop) to combine all those exposures together. With practice and good software, you get all of the properly exposed parts of the images combined and it looks normal. Just exposure fusion is apparently now called Low Dynamic Range technique (LDR). You can also do something called HDR / tone mapping, which some people think looks better, but it is easily overdone.


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## vipgraphx (Aug 11, 2012)

Photographiend said:


> Someone some day is going to have to explain to me how you edit just one section to remove strong shadows. Final product is AMAZING! Love the twinkle of lights on the floor. Gives it a Rustic Glamor vibe.




I will add to what was said as I think the question is about you already have the image and want to edit or bring out he detail in shadows. 

Photoshop is a great tool and has tools that can bring out shadows tones. If you are not doing HDR or LDR then what you could do is this. Create a duplicate layer of your photo and add either an exposure layer, brightness and contrast or use the filters to adjust shadows. Then use that layer and create a mask. Then fill it with black and then select your brush tool ( the soft brush tool) and select the white color with a light oppacity and brush in that area you need more detail in the shadows.

I use nik color effect and use a filter call detail enhancer, its great not just for HDR, LDR but regular photos to bring out details that are there. I would do the same thing is just use nik color effects for details and mask the areas that I would want more.  

The outcome will depend if you have enough dynamic range in the image get the detail out from those dark areas, thus why folks that want to capture more detail in their photos use HDR,LDR or manually blend exposures in photoshop.

Trust that this helps!


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## vipgraphx (Aug 11, 2012)

cgipson1 said:


> You have improved your processing immensely in the past few months (several people have commented on it)... and the whale shot comment was not meant to be facetious. I was pulling your leg a little... but I meant it when I said that you had captured it well. I hope that will suffice.....




Well, then I miss read your post and thank you! I am not hear to make enemies but, rather to learn and grow. There is no question that I really like HDR and at this point. I like the photo realistic to the cartoony look as long as it goes with the photo IMO. Its fun processing HDR's and seeing where the image can go. At the same time I do understand that it is not for everyone and understand why people would hate it. 

My thought is just to enjoy doing what makes you happy. Life is to short to take things like HDR vs Single photo battles or black and white vs color or POP art vs HDR cartoony......its all a creation and a vision of oneself and thats what makes this world great! If you want a chevy because you can not stand ford then go buy a chevy,,if you want a ferrari because you can not stand porsche then do it and enjoy your time here...but that would suck that because someone does not like the bright yellows and reds ferrari uses that they would go and key their ride...(equivalent of bashing someone on a forum) just for the sake of doing it because you hate it.

I am not one to hold grudges and I do let things go. I would hope that you would be able to do the same and hey maybe with your new lens and camera you might find that you want to take more HDR or LDR and could use some pointers in processing using various methods in photoshop. I would be more than happy to help...point is to help and respect each other.


The processing on this photo is rather good and I had to look hard to find a few things to nit pick on to support giving you sh!t....


enjoy the lens its fun!


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## cgipson1 (Aug 11, 2012)

vipgraphx said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > You have improved your processing immensely in the past few months (several people have commented on it)... and the whale shot comment was not meant to be facetious. I was pulling your leg a little... but I meant it when I said that you had captured it well. I hope that will suffice.....
> ...



Thanks... no hard feelings! Nicely put!


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