Experimenting with HDR Imaging

I've been toying with the idea of learning HDR for a while now. HDR is high dynamic range imaging. It's (mostly) a post production process that turns photos into something more than just photos, while (mostly) retaining the integrity of the image.
It wasn't until I fell in love with this photograper, Trey Ratcliff, that I really pulled up my socks and dove in head first. And when you see this photo of Trey's you too will want to discover how to do HDR... it's just... heartstoppingly beautiful.
HDR production requires that you take photographs in Raw format. In fact, you have to take 3 photos of the same scene in varying degrees of exposure. Next is to use some snappy HDR software that merges all the photos together, blending the best exposure components together to result in one stunning image.

The first HDR image was created in the 1930's by a photographer, Charles Wyckoff who used it when taking pictures of nuclear explosions.

It's been miserable weather since i fell in love with HDR, so I haven't had the opportunity to shoot in raw outside, so I've been working on fudging HDR. ;-)

There is a nifty Photoshop Plugin from Topaz that creates a "poor man's HDR" result. The upside is that it does interesting things. The downside is that it relies on a lot of noise addition to the photos. I'm still working on it, and have had interesting results, but Trey has nothing to worry about from me ;-)

You want to lose yourself in some eyecandy - check out the HDR Flickr Group.
(Cross posted from jules.ca)

Playing with an HDR Filter.

Farm Fog

Dreaming of Upgrades

Canon 50DTis the season to be contemplating camera upgrades.....

:-)

I've had the Canon 30D for 2 years now, I haven't been terribly pleased with it for some reason. In fact, I think I liked the results from my old Canon EOS more....For 2 years I've been working with the 30D, and now, with the 50D out, the price seems right, and the additional features seem worth the change...unless I'm feeling Uber lucky and want to get the 5D.... which is a bit of a leap, all things considered.....

Mostly, the 30D hasn't impressed me. I'm not thrilled with the autofocus options, I'm a bit sad at the limitiations of the ISO (I'm an ISO whore when it's dark). I have an aversion to using the flash. Ever.

The 5D would likely be the camera they bury me with. It's just a question of when to buy.

Autumn - Oak Ridges Moraine

Juicy Eyecandy

Thomas Hawk can completely rock my socks off. Full Stop.His imagery makes me sit and watch in quiet contemplation. This man was born with a camera clutched in one tiny fist. His photo titles are simply the icing on the cake. Go. See. It's a vacation for the mind. This is just one sample of many tasty, sensory treats.

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Tags: ThomasHawk

Thanksgiving

Waiting for Lunch

Storm on the Horizon

Hummer

Watching

Don't Eat the Red Ones

Lensbaby

Live Bait

100 Years

Piping Time

Kites

Kite Surfing

Kite Surfing Gallery

Toronto Girl Geek Dinner -

On Wednesday, I ventured forth into the Big Smoke to partake of bevvies and snacks and geekiness. I've been a lurker on the Toronto Girl Geek site for almost a year, but it was last month when i bit the bullet and decided to participate.

And it was good.
Quite Good.
I didn't sign up because of an interest in the speaker [although, the fact that the speaker ended up being phenomenal was just gravy], but because I figured it was time to discover other like minded chicklets. And besides, you can't go to soccer games every night of the week.

The speaker happened to be Jayne Hoogenberk, the mastermind behind the e.community for Harlequin Romance. No, she didn't really talk about product, but all about the technical ins and outs of creating on-line communities, being responsible for the care and feeding of an on-line brand and some of the best practices she used in cultivating a successful online community. There were bits and pieces of her discussion that any industry could take away and incorporate into their own on-line strategy. Stellar and very applicable.


And just guess who's going to be the speaker for their next dinner? Sandi Jones. Yup. That's right. One of the greatest thought leaders in the Canadian Internet Industry. I think you've got to go.

I Got a Lens!

Imagine my joy. :-)
After checking the Toronto Photography Meetup Group, Craigslist and Kajiji, I finally got lucky on Kajiji. A very nice fellow named Dan sold me his 28-135 lens. And then he added a Hoya filter to it! Including the tax implications of buying everything new, I saved myself over $300! Whoot!

In the past 24 hours, I haven't let the new lens out of my sight. And today it's going to get a bit of a workout I think. We are going to a top secret anniversary bash. The 28-135 is going to be an awesome secret weapon for candids.


CANON EF 28-135MM/3.5-5.6 IS USM

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