Under a waterfall - early morning HDRs

Seriously - if I don't hit some 80 degree water and blow some bubbles soon I'm gonna lose it ... in the meantime, the snow just keeps on falling.

Here's a few shots from Cambell Falls State Park right on the CT/MA border. The morning light was beautiful and so, of course, I tried a few HDR captures ... my tripod head lost its "thread locker" as it was REALLY cold and a bunch of cool shots I tried with the tripod head hanging under the sticks got fouled by a slowly rotating head ... oh well ...

Looks freezing!

I think they'd all benefit from some contrast.

Alex

I don't think I've seen Antarctic pictures that look colder than the last two. I agree with Alex, need a little more contrast. One thing I've been playing with more with HDR is blending the HDR final image, with a normally exposed image. These might benefit from this. I like them a lot though, any panorama potential?

Whats that white stuff?

Hang on I have to turn the air con up over here.

I don't think I've seen Antarctic pictures that look colder than the last two.

Thanks, guys ... it was chilly - about 10 degrees F, but only a short hike from the road.

I agree with Alex, need a little more contrast.

I agree - particularly now that I am seeing them on my 22" LCD at the office. I need a real monitor - I use my laptop mainly and that just doesn't cut it for this snowy stuff.

One thing I've been playing with more with HDR is blending the HDR final image, with a normally exposed image. These might benefit from this.

Interesting - I've done that to fix movement artifacts, but never as a whole layer ... I'll give that a crack. These are "hot off the press" and haven't been to Photoshop yet after the Photomatix bath ... I really like digital post-processing a lot more than all those smelly little cabinets in the 'dark(room) ages'.

I'm thinking I may want to start a printing company ... might be a good segue out of the Manhattan rat race ...

I like them a lot though, any panorama potential?

I'll have to go back - that's where the thread locker let me down. I shot a whole series of panoramas with the camera hanging under the sticks and the head was slowly spinning throughout every single shot ... makes for very poorly stitched panos ...

Hi Jeremy

I feel your frigid frustration! I'm over on the other side of New York, near Buffalo. If you want any more snow for your pics I'd be happy to ship it to you!

Mike

I think that second shot would look great in hi contrast B&W with a midtone density boost. I have an HDR i shot in the Bahamas I need your expertise on. I'll put the RAWs on my public drive if you have time. Not a particularly exciting scene though but I was trying Alexs' filter out. The cheapo $40 tripod worked wonders for panos & HDR. 50 pounds of lead weight made a stable platform, but expect to give the DM's a healthy tip... before the dive!

When you jump ship and become a print master, let me know. I've been playing with Epsons new(er) exhibition fiber paper (gloss) and am in love! Expensive though!

I think that second shot would look great in hi contrast B&W with a midtone density boost. I have an HDR i shot in the Bahamas I need your expertise on. I'll put the RAWs on my public drive if you have time. Not a particularly exciting scene though but I was trying Alexs' filter out. The cheapo $40 tripod worked wonders for panos & HDR. 50 pounds of lead weight made a stable platform, but expect to give the DM's a healthy tip... before the dive!

When you jump ship and become a print master, let me know. I've been playing with Epsons new(er) exhibition fiber paper (gloss) and am in love! Expensive though!

Point me to the files ... I've got time these days.

I fixed the first one using Jeff's suggestion to overlay a layer from a "normal" exposure. As long as you can align stuff correctly, this is an interesting way to tone down some of the HDR effects and get a very nice looking image.

Here it is with a 4x5 crop and a contrast boost using that technique - thanks for the feedback!

Here's a non-HDR B&W of the upper falls ... I used ISO 100 to help slow down the shutter - first time using "LO" ... (I may need to trial that B&W conversion software ...):

Yes, the foreground on the HDR in not as washed out. interesting. I'll get those files up later today.

Yes, I think the HDR mix worked nicely. Keeps the HDR looking real.

I quickly dragged your B&W into Silver Effex Pro and used the 'High Structure' conversion - this has the effect of increasing the detail in the snow and the water. I'll post it, but not sure you can see much as I only used your JPEG, not the original colour version you have.

I've installed Silver Efex trial at home via remote desktop and will start playing with it tonight ...

I've installed Silver Efex trial at home via remote desktop and will start playing with it tonight ...

I've really enjoyed Silver Efex Pro.

Here's a B&W HDR from just upstream from the waterfall in the pictures above.

I used Photomatix to make the HDR and then Silver Efex Pro for the conversion.