Cemetary Chime Tower

FanBoy · Aug 15, 2012

I have been coming recently to this chime tower at a local cemetary to take pictures, but this is my first, serious attempt at HDR photography with Photomatix and some post-processing in Photoshop Elements.

The fast, low-moving clouds were a challenge to capture with my Nikon D3100 in manual bracketing (5 exposures) and so were the maple tree leaves on the left. (Some shadowy magenta ghosting appeared). :grumpy:

I waited till a cloud rolled over the sun to take the set to avoid stark shadows. Comments welcomed...

Trever1t · Aug 15, 2012

an awesome scene, the image lacks a bit of contrast, looks 'muddy' and doesn't pop but it is a great first attempt and with some creative editing no doubt would be outstanding.

FanBoy · Aug 15, 2012

Trever1t said:
an awesome scene, the image lacks a bit of contrast, looks 'muddy' and doesn't pop but it is a great first attempt and with some creative editing no doubt would be outstanding.

I also noticed it has a bit of 'haze' to it...Thanks!

vipgraphx · Aug 15, 2012

here is a quick edit just adjusting a level layer

Trever1t · Aug 15, 2012

the tower is still too green, need to catch that when the setting sun is shining on it!

zombiemann · Aug 15, 2012

I love the composition, but I agree with Trever1t that the tone mapping needs a bit of work. All things considered its pretty good for a first attempt, especially considering the circumstances you described. Maybe play around with different settings in Photomatrix? You might even try one of the B&W presets... It might give it a more moody feel. I could, of course, be way off.... but it never hurts to try

FanBoy · Aug 16, 2012

That's a bit better, vipgraghx...thanks, but I did use a polarizer filter for this shot, mainly because of the glaring sky conditions. Need to invest in a ND filter? B&W seems fitting for a composition like this, and I have considered it. I'll have to try different settings, and possibly do a redo on the shoot without a filter and/or different time of day, weather, etc....

Bynx · Aug 16, 2012

On a cloudy day like this you dont want to use a ND filter. It will only reduce your shutter speeds which you dont want to do. Slower speeds will only give the clouds longer to move and will show up as clone like patterns if they are moving fast enough. This is a pretty good job, especially if this is your first time. Did you process after putting it through Photomatix? If not you should do a bit of Exposure, Gamma Correction to fix the too flat look created when details were brought out in the highlights and shadows.

FanBoy · Aug 17, 2012

That makes sense about using any kind of darkening filters with bracketing photos. I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

I re-did this project in Photomatix, but I bracketed three exposures instead of five, didn't do much editing there but took it into Photoshop Elements and applied a Topaz neutralizer filter. This is the result:

zombiemann · Aug 17, 2012

Yea, that has a much better look to it in my opinion.

Dagwood56 · Aug 18, 2012

All I can say is that I like the photo - I don't do HDR so can't really give any CC on this. However, I was wondering if you could tell me what cemetery this is? The only large cemetery I've been to is Charles Evans in Reading and I don't recall ever seeing anything like this there. Saw you were from PA, you said it was local and I recognized your avatar. 2+2=4

The only other large cemetery I'm familiar with is Memorial Gardens near Fleetwood.

FanBoy · Aug 18, 2012

Dagwood56 said:
All I can say is that I like the photo - I don't do HDR so can't really give any CC on this. However, I was wondering if you could tell me what cemetery this is? The only large cemetery I've been to is Charles Evans in Reading and I don't recall ever seeing anything like this there. Saw you were from PA, you said it was local and I recognized your avatar. 2+2=4 The only other large cemetery I'm familiar with is Memorial Gardens near Fleetwood.

Hello...small world. :sillysmi: The Pagoda is easily recognizble, even in PA Dutch Country, lol. I'm also a resident of the county. This picture was taken at the Laureldale Cemetary in Muhlenberg Township, along Tuckerton Road. I'll be heading back for more pics through the changing seasons. It has been awhile since I was at Charles Evans, and that cemetary has a beautiful arboretum, from what I understand.

A Google map to the Laureldale Cemetary:
https://plus.google.com/115932178534031585988/about?gl=us&hl=en#115932178534031585988/about

Dagwood56 · Aug 18, 2012

FanBoy said:
Dagwood56 said:

All I can say is that I like the photo - I don't do HDR so can't really give any CC on this. However, I was wondering if you could tell me what cemetery this is? The only large cemetery I've been to is Charles Evans in Reading and I don't recall ever seeing anything like this there. Saw you were from PA, you said it was local and I recognized your avatar. 2+2=4 The only other large cemetery I'm familiar with is Memorial Gardens near Fleetwood.

Click to expand...

Hello...small world. :sillysmi: The Pagoda is easily recognizble, even in PA Dutch Country, lol. I'm also a resident of the county. This picture was taken at the Laureldale Cemetary in Muhlenberg Township, along Tuckerton Road. I'll be heading back for more pics through the changing seasons. It has been awhile since I was at Charles Evans, and that cemetary has a beautiful arboretum, from what I understand.

A Google map to the Laureldale Cemetary:
https://plus.google.com/115932178534031585988/about?gl=us&hl=en#115932178534031585988/about

Thanks for the info. You just gave me a place to visit later this week.

I'm pretty sure my husband and I have driven past it a few times, but I guess I never really paid much attention. I haven't been to Charles Evans for two years. I'm kind of boycotting them after they went thru and killed the entire herd of resident deer. It happened only a few weeks after I'd been there and some of the deer were still fawns...so sad, but it is a beautiful place. Are you familiar with the cemetery at the old Dunkel's Church on Dunkel's Church Road? I think its in the Kempton - Kutztown area. The church is all boarded up, but quite a neat place with a stone wall and iron fence along the road. Taken from a top the hill, it could make for some interesting shots. Thanks again.

FanBoy · Aug 18, 2012

Dagwood56 said:
Thanks for the info. You just gave me a place to visit later this week. I'm pretty sure my husband and I have driven past it a few times, but I guess I never really paid much attention. I haven't been to Charles Evans for two years. I'm kind of boycotting them after they went thru and killed the entire herd of resident deer. It happened only a few weeks after I'd been there and some of the deer were still fawns...so sad, but it is a beautiful place. Are you familiar with the cemetery at the old Dunkel's Church on Dunkel's Church Road? I think its in the Kempton - Kutztown area. The church is all boarded up, but quite a neat place with a stone wall and iron fence along the road. Taken from a top the hill, it could make for some interesting shots. Thanks again.

I have never been to that church/cemetary, and it sounds kinda like a creepy but interesting photo opportunity. I'm sure local historian and ghost story teller Charlie Adams was there!