Rise and Shine

Rise and Shine, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Taken on the same day as the previous post and processed the same way as well accept for one caveat.
The original 3 were to much on the dark side so I needed to make 2 higher exposures to process with the HDR to bring out more detail in the boats, dock and the foreground water. The processing was easy and quick.
I waited for the sun to move behind the lighthouse which defused the sun and gave the lighthouse as well as the grassy area a nice glow. The rest of the shot just fell naturally into place.

Safe Harbor

Safe Harbor, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Unfortunately life is not a safe harbor like the ship is in and HDR photography is not a process through some software (Photomatix) and it is ready to post either.
This shot is a 3 shot HDR (+2,0,-2) but once the shot has been put through your HDR software the process has really just begun. Here is my post processing technique for this shot:

Post Processing:
>All 3 shots are shot in Raw
>All 3 shots are brought into Adobe Camera Raw
>Black sider defaults to 5, that is set to 0
>I check all shots for the same White Balance and Tint (Most shots I have set the White Balance for in this case it is set to shadow
>Sharpening is also preset to 25, this is also moved to 0 and a slight noise reduction is applied
>All 3 shots are saved as 16 bit tiff files
>All 3 shots are processed through photomatix (Detail Enhancer)
>I reset default settings in Photomatix and adjust accordingly (All HDR's are different) please look at Exif info for settings)
>Once again photo is saved as 16 Bit Tiff file

Processing in Photoshop CS-5:
>In this shot the -2EV sky was brought in and Masked and painted over the HDR sky that came out less than pleasing. This also removed some haloing effect from the HDR processing which can happen quite often around poles and lines. In this photo that would be the masts and lines. Also in this case it was a dark smear around those that were less appealing than the sky. So all were replaced and blended in with the -2EV.
>Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0-Pro Contrast for color correction and any added contrast
>Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0-Tonal Contrast for any areas I may want to bring out with more detail and texture (Note: These 2 Nik plugins are not always used but I do run the photo through and see if I like the corrections made. I can either lower opacity if I like what has been done but would like a little less or I can mask and only use in certain areas that I did like with a brush and blend technique)
>Lab Color Enhancement with Curves for Lightness, A & B Channels. This will usually enhance color and lightness, once again I can lower opacity to taste.
>Adjustment Layers-Photo Filter- I use this to enhance color of sky or water. Only used in areas I want to enhance and often Masked to selectively use in this photo it was used on the sky only.
>Adjustment Layer-Curves-In this shot I enhanced the brightness of the boat and dock a little of the lighthouse. These seemed dark to me from the processing through photomatix and I wanted those areas to pop more. Once again a Mask is used and a brush tool is used to paint in the areas I wanted to enhance with the curves.
>Adjustment Layer-Curves again-This time same technique as above but I wanted to darken the birds flying through the photo.
>Once the photo is where I want it I Flatten the image
>I will duplicate the image again with (Command J for Mac users) and remove all dirt or spots from lens and sensor. HDR photo's have a tendency to bring out every spot on lens or sensor.
>I will then sharpen- I mostly use Topaz InFocus
>Noise removal-More times than not on a clear sky such as this I will remove the noise from the sky only. This is used with Noise Ninja Plugin.
>I once again will save final image before cropping.

That is pretty much my work flow for HDR processing that I get emailed on. I hope you find this helpful.

Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

After a evening of shooting at Aliso Beach I noticed this light post on the way back to the car. It seemed different and it stood out amongst the ocean and sky background so I thought I would throw a few shots at it. After I got home I noticed the signs. 3 right there (No Dogs Allowed, Steep Beach and Tsunami warning) I started to think to myself and a song kept going in my head "Signs, signs everywhere a sign blocking up the scenery breaking my mind, do this don't do that can't you read the signs" and I thought of all the signs that I saw in the parking lot
Lifeguard on Duty
No Parking
No Littering
Park hours
Bathrooms
No Dogs
Steep Beach
Tsunami Warning
Handicap Parking
Pay Here for parking

Just made me think of so many signs, so, so many signs!

Golden Gate Sunrise

Golden Gate Sunrise, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

This is a redo from a shot taken a few years back. I liked the first one out but this one has a more simplified process. The sky came out way more even.
This was my first time visiting the Golden Gate. We arrived so early in the morning and after all the shots I took at this location on this morning this one was my first shot and best in my opinion.
How do you take a bad shot at this location, i think it is impossible.

The Shot:
>4 panels of 3 HDR shots +2, 0, -2. Total shots 12

Processing:
>Each 3 shot panel brought into Raw, Transfered to Tiffs and brought into Photomatix
>Photomatix-Detail Enhancer and saved as 16 bit Tiffs
>4 Panels brought into Photoshop-Copied one over the other
>Choose all 4 panels and Auto Aligned and Blended-Then Flattened
>Lab Color
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Pro Contrast
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Tonal Contrast-Water only
>Adjustment Layer-Levels-Overall contrast darkening
>Adjustment Layer-Hue/Sat-Decrease saturation of reds in bridge
>Adjustment Layer-Filter Blue-Sky only and Opacity adjusted to taste
>Cropped and stretched
>Topaz Adjust InFocus for sharpening
>Framed and sized for posting

The Wonderful Cross

The Wonderful Cross, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

The title speaks for itself!

Missed Sunset

Missed Sunset, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

While out taking Christmas photos at the local park with my family. We finished up and we were walking back to the car when my daughter said to me "Look Dad, you missed another great sunset". Yes, that was the general consensus around the entire family. So I stopped and made them wait while I shot off a few comps before heading off. They were patient and waited before moving to the truck. They didn't have much of a choice since I had the keys.

I did shoot this hand held, I didn't make them wait while I whipped out the tripod and composed a nice photo at f/11 and low ISO which would have been a 2 to 20 second shot, With HDR that could have been a few minutes per set. Instead I opted for the higher ISO and an F/4 Aperture. I leaned against a tree to steady myself and picked a point to keep my focal point.

The colors were awesome and well worth making the family wait.

The Shot:
3 Shot HDR -2, 0, +2 expanded to -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, F/4, ISO 400

Processing:
Photomatix, Detail Enhancer, Saved as 16 bit tiff

CS-5:
>Uploaded HDR and -1 EV
>Used -1 EV to replace some blown out areas from HDR/Photomatix (Masked and Brushed)
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Pro Contrast at 20% Opacity
>Lab Color-Curves and adjusment on A and B Channels
>RGB Color-Adjustment Layer Levels
>Adjustment Layer Exposure-Slight darkening of image (Removed the haze)
>Nik Color Efex Pro-Tonal Contrast-Sky only
>Topaz InFocus-Overall Sharpening
>Noise Ninja- Noise on sky only
>Sized and Framed for posting

My Winter Sunset

My Winter Sunset, a photo by Tony DeSantis Photography on Flickr.

Back Bay, Newport Beach.
I decided to skip out on work a little early to get a shoot in. Unfortunately work did run late so I got a late start out. Back bay is the closest to the office so I headed out. I was glad when I got there I had time to walk-not run down and find a good comp. The grass/Algae really intrigued me and I knew it would make for a good foreground with the sunlight shining on it.

This is a 5 shot HDR +2 to -2.
Processed through Photomatix Detail Enhancer
Topaz Adjust to enhance Color, brightness and detail
Lab Color-Curves to enhance more color
Adjustment layer Curves-increase brightness in foreground
Topaz InFocus
Topaz Denoise for sky
Sized and Framed for posting