Coke with water

[vipgraphx]

I have two photos I set up this morning of a glass of ice cold water in a coke glass what a refreshing glass of water! I used 7 exposures for these photos because I really think it needed more range. I have whats called an Arizona Room. What this is, is basically a screened in porch. It's great to have as it keeps fly's away. It is dark with minimal light coming in.

The reason I decided to do this as a subject is that with my past two posts, it seems to have caused a lot of heated discussion so I wanted to take a photo that everyone should be able to relate to. An ice cold glass of water so we can just chill.

I went for a more realistic processing on this one as I felt it needed it and by doing something to heavy would distract the main subject of the ice cold glass of water.


coke and water 2 by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

A close up of the glass. You can see the condensation occurring what makes it more mouth watering on a hot day like today.


coke with water by VIPGraphX, on Flickr



Cheers!

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Really cool!

 

[Steve5D]

That's a very cool glass.

And out here, we have a "California Room". My brother, who lives in St. Augustine, has a "Florida Room".

Never hear much about those "Wisconsin Rooms", though...

 

[vipgraphx]

Yeah the glass looks like a coke can.

 

[inaka]

I really love that glass and the texture of the frost on the outside, etc. Really nice.
Composition wise, that last should could use something. I dunno, like a colorful cocktail or some more elements to balance the shot. But the processing is fantastic. I like it.

 

[JRE313]

i have been trying to get my photos to get this type of look
how did y do that

 

[vipgraphx]

Started out with 7 exposures -3 - +3. Then merged in photomatix. If want a more realistic look keep your strength slider between 50-70 and micro-smoothing towards the middle. This helps to keep the image from become dirty and grungie. Also keep saturation between 50-60.

Once processed in photomatix of course I brought it into photoshop. I brought in all my exposures with the tonemapped version on top. This is where I begin masking to bring out more depth. Bringing in darks and lights where needed to me to help achieve a more depth image. Once I am finish with an exposure I will flatten and see if I want anything else from other exposures. Once I am done I will flatten and then create a duplicate layer and select a levels layer in the layers pallet. I will do some more adjustments here to lows, meds and highs.

But I want more texture to the wood, glass and chairs. Ok well this is now what I will do. I will use color effex and use both bleach bypass and detail enhancer. I make sure to keep the saturation of both down I really just want the textures. I layer the filters in nik color effex then use that layer as an under layer in photoshop. I used the tonemapped layer on top and created a mask to mask in some texture for the glass, wood and chairs and a little bit of the table top (mostly the edge). My brush is set to about 20% and I just lightly paint in the textures until it looks good to me. Once I am done I flatten image or merge image. Now I will duplicate layer and add a high pass sharpening adjustment to the photo. Flatten and create a selective layer once again. Here I will adjust the red, yellow, neutral and black. One of my favorite things to do to ALL my images is the part. It really makes the image POP! The neutral color in this I moved to the right which just makes it a little dark but not, its hard to explain until you do and see what happens. Now I am just about done flatten once again and create a blank layer on top. I fill it in with black and use my eraser brush ( a soft brush) and start in the middle of the image and keep the size to almost as big as it gets to fill in the picture and basically create my own vignette. I then will adjust the opacity to where I like and done.

I think it gives this image a very realistic look but has way more depth than any single image could get. It still has an HDR look and really brings out the textures.

I hope this helps. My advice to anyone doing HDR if they really want their images to stand out is to really learn photoshop and learn how to use masks and many other features. You also have to keep in mind that thinking outside of the box is what makes an image better. Example that glass from using photomatix made it flat. The only way to get a better looking glass with great detail was to use that detail enhancer and or bleach bypass (there are other methods, but this is my method) using nik software. YOu could also use Topaz and or in photo shop posterize or what ever. However I don't want it global I want those details only in certain area and not over done where it does not blend in good. This is where layer masking is really going to be the best way to do this. I can not stress enough that layer masking and knowing how to use photoshop is
what truly takes your photos over the top.

I often see photos that people use straight out of photomatix and maybe with a little sharpening in photoshop and some minor changes. I am always left with it looks unfinished and what they could have benefited by taking more time post processing. More post processing does not mean the photo has to be over cooked it means more attention to detail and making your image POP!

Cheers!

 

[Bynx]

I like what you said Vip, but wow so much work. My method is much, much, much simpler. I guess I fall in the last paragraph category. I have a great piece of glass Im going to shoot shortly and post tonite. I think I can match your detail.

 

[vipgraphx]

Bynx point I am trying to make is that in that last paragraph is that to just rely on photomatix and a few things in photoshop does not push the image over the edge. You can have a good image or a greattttt image...you dig?

I would love to see your glass and detail and how you processed it.

Keep in mind there is more than one way to cook a piece of meat.....You may have another method that works great. I just touched on my methods and opinions.

 

[vipgraphx]

just for giggles a digitally altered HDR image

A little more saturation and added some light rays on the right with a darker vignette.

I like this because it keeps your attention to the glass, to me it feels like you can just reach out and just grab it.


coke and water 3 by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

 

[o hey tyler]

I like the HDR treatment of this, but I feel that the light rays look unrealistic. They're a solid attempt, but I don't feel that they cut the mustard. The processing however is pleasing and not too over the top. Has a contrasty cinematic quality to it.

 

[Bynx]

The rays are ok if they didnt extend over the table. On the wall like they it looks like light through venetian blinds. The table is one plane and the wall another at right angles so the rays wouldnt look like that. Remove them from the table and leave them on the wall and your are right, they do make the shot look more balanced.

 

[ann]

The glass looks very "cool", but dead center is certainly dead boring.

Adding the shells with the second one helps with the balance of the composition, but still too centered for my taste. I like both version, except for those light rays where the background blue shifts serious in in tone.

 

[vipgraphx]

I did one without the rays after I posted because I actually felt they looked like blinds...funny Bynx said the same thing.

I like the way the blue shifts just my opinion.

The vignette is not as heavy in this version leaving some more detail on the bottom frame.


coke and water 5 by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

 

[Bynx]

Hope you dont mind if I drop this in here. Its glass and cold. I keep my liquor in the freezer so when it comes out it frosts up and beads of sweat form. The left shot was taken first and the liquor level frosted the glass. After not too long when I took the second shot the frost was gone. This is an unusual bottle of vodka produced by Dan Ackroyd. Believe it or not its a 6 shot HDR. I kept shooting until the blinkies stopped. I will do a proper layout sometime soon meanwhile I thought you might get a kick out of this bottle.