Morning fog over the dam

[ceejtank]

I like this photo a lot. Just one quick question - the fog looks super-imposed to me? Was it edited in on photoshop? I added fog to a halloween picture i shot a few years back, looks very similar. Just wondering.

Either way I think it's an awesome photo. I'd hang it on my wall.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

the fog looks super-imposed to me? Was it edited in on photoshop?

It's an HDR.

 

[ceejtank]

I created the HDR photo with Photomatix and used the Nik Color Efex filter in Photoshop Elements to give some life to the foggy landscape. Comments welcome...

the fog looks super-imposed to me? Was it edited in on photoshop?

It's an HDR.

Really? Is that what he's saying in the first post, when he clearly says that? OBVIOUSLY ITS AN HDR. Lets state the obvious again, it's a picture. There are trees. Look I can state obvious things too.

HDR =/ fog looking superimposed always.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Look I can state obvious things too.

HDR =/ fog looking superimposed always.

Then stop posting stupid questions.

The shadows/highlights of an HDR image are always dramatized and look extremely imposed. That's the entire point of shooting in HDR, to capture the entire dynamic range of a subject.

 

[FanBoy]

I think it would be kind of tough to super-impose fog, but I guess it could be drawn in, which I didn't do.

The following are the "before" pictures to my finalized HDR photo.

This is the picture at EV 0 exposure:

And this is the Photomatix-processed image, with two duck ghosts remaining:

I then took it into Photoshop Elements and applied two filters in Nik's Color Efex: Detail Extractor and Sunlight (5310K default temperature). I cloned out the duck ghosts and some stickly weeds at the bottom corners. The processing created some noise, especially in the sky so I applied a de-noise filter, then sharpened it a bit with unsharp mask. (Can never figure out why I de-noise and then sharpen?! Oh well, it looks better...) Finally I adjusted the hue/saturation.

Honestly I never was too fond of HDR either and don't want to debate it here, but I discovered that the process opens up tremendous capabilities in photography. Not every photo needs HDR of course, but as you can see in the EV 0 photo, no discernable color is seen at the horizon, the clouds have no tone or detail, and the photo simply lacks life. If looked carefully, the duck's colors are even evident.

HDR does take time, for sure, especially when you are new to the process, as I am. And of course nothing can substitute good lighting and composition in photography...with some luck. Try HDR if you can. It's not that complicated, and it adds to the fun and creativity of photography. Thanks again for the comments.

 

[jaicatalano]

WHAT THE DUCK??? That is very nicely done.

 

[ceejtank]

Yeah man - great shot.