Pink Flower — Macro and Wide Depth of Field. I used the pink flower from yesterday as an exercise to practice with a macro lens, flash, and Helicon Focus to get a macro image of a flower with an extreme depth of field in focus. Ten images of the flower were taken from rear focus to front focus by manually adjusting the focus distance on the lens. The raw images were processed with Capture One Pro, converted to 16 bit Tiff files, and then processed with Helicon Focus. Even though the lens was set at f/22, the actual focus plane was very narrow and thus needing several focus distances for Helicon Focus.
Pink Flower Macro and Helicon Focus Study. Image taken with a Nikon D3x, 200 mm f/4 macro lens, and SB-200R flash (ISO 100, 200 mm, f/22, 1/60 sec). Composite of 10 focus layers combined using Helicon Focus. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See America 2010. Big Sur Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant. Day 3: Big Sur & California Coastal Redwood Forest.
Digital Editing — Comparison of RAW Image Converters. Something a bit different. Today I am comparing 4 different programs that convert the RAW digital images acquired by my Nikon cameras. The RAW converters that I typically use include Adobe Camera Raw (ver 6.2), Nikon Capture NX2 (ver 2.2.6), Phase One Capture One Pro (ver 6.00), and DxO Optics Pro (ver 6). The programs were all run on Windows 7 (64 bit). The image was taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec) on a tripod. The overall scene was beyond the dynamic range of the digital sensor. It was rather dark in the forest, thus the long exposure. The bit of sky visible is bright (and blown out). In the following days I will be comparing some HDR (high dynamic range) programs to process several images of the same scene taken at different exposures to try to compensate for the wide dynamic range.
Adobe Camera Raw. This is the program that Adobe uses to process RAW digital images for Photoshop and Lightroom. Camera Raw is only able to read some of the Nikon in camera settings. In recent versions they have included settings that simulate the Nikon Picture Control settings (Landscape, Vivid, etc). The current version of Camera Raw also now includes lens corrections for a wide variety of lenses including the lens that this image was taken.
Adobe Camera Raw: Adobe Standard, No Lens Correction. Wide Angle Looking up from a Coastal Redwood Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Raw image converted using Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 default. (David J Mathre)Adobe Camera Raw: Landscape and Lens correction for Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8. Wide Angle Looking up from a Coastal Redwood Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Raw image converted using Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 (landscape and used lens correction). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See America 2010. Big Sur Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant. Day 3: Big Sur & California Coastal Redwood Forest.
Digital Editing — Comparison of HDR (High Dynamic Range) Emulation Programs and Settings. There are a number of commercial HDR programs programs available that I am evaluating. Adobe HDR Pro, HDR Soft Photomatix Pro(ver 4.0), and the recently released Nik HDR Efex Pro(ver 1.0). I will also include a couple of examples of “one shot HDR” from Phase One Capture One Pro(ver 6.0) and DxO Optics Pro(ver 6.0). Bottom line, the HDR programs have improved significantly in the last few years.
The images used for this test were taken during a Photography Workshop in Big Sur run by Michael Mariant. Five images were taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 0.6, 1.2, 2.5, 5, 10 sec) with mirror up delay to minimize vibration on a tripod.
Adobe HDR Pro Adobe has included a HDR rendering program with the last few versions of Photoshop. The version include in Photoshop CS5 is significantly improved over the previous versions. The program is relatively easy to use. Select File> Automate> Merge to HDR Pro, Select the images to process, OK. Once the images are initially processed, there are 14 preset options (default, flat, monochromatic, photorealistic, saturated, surrealistic, etc.). I am providing examples of the standard default, photorealistic and saturated presets. In addition to the presets there are many additional sliders to control and tweak all aspects of the final image.
Wide Angle Looking up from a Coastal Redwood Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Raw image converted using Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 (landscape and used lens correction). (David J Mathre)Wide Angle Looking up from a Coastal Redwood Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Raw image converted using Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 (landscape and used lens correction). HDR of 5 images (+2, +1, 0, -1, -2 EV) using Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro (default). (David J Mathre)Wide Angle Looking up from a Coastal Redwood Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Raw image converted using Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 (landscape and used lens correction). HDR of 5 images (+2, +1, 0, -1, -2 EV) using Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro (photorealistic). (David J Mathre)Wide Angle Looking up from a Coastal Redwood Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Raw image converted using Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 (landscape and used lens correction). HDR of 5 images (+2, +1, 0, -1, -2 EV) using Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro (saturated). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See America 2010. Big Sur Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant. Day 1: Redwood Gulch.
Comparison of HDR Image Processing Programs. I’ve used 5 images from a Photography Workshop in Big Sur taken a year ago to compare two of the newer HDR image processing programs: HDR Express from Unified Color, and HDR Efex Pro from Nik. The image is of a waterfall in Redwood Gulch where there is a very wide range of light levels. To smooth the moving water in the waterfall, I used a couple of Singh-Ray filters (Vari-N-Duo and Mor-Slow ND). The exposures ranged from 2.5 to 30 seconds. The initial raw images were processed with Capture One Pro, cropped to a square image and converted to tif. The images were then imported to Lightroom, then processed with the HDR programs. The first image is the 10 second exposure without any HDR processing. The next 5 images were processed with HDR Express using the following defaults (Optimum, Linear, Natural, Vivid, and Artistic). This is followed by 3 images processed with HDR Efex Pro using the following defaults (Realistic Strong, Realistic Gradient, and Vibrant Textures). Please let me know which (if any) you like or dislike.
Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Initial Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 10 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro..Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express: Optimal.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express: Linear.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express: Natural.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express: Vivid.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, HDR Express: Artistic.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik HDR Efex Pro – Realistic Strong.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik HDR Efex Pro – Realistic Gradient.Redwood Gulch Waterfall, HDR Exercise. Image(s) taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens Singh-Ray filters (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 2.5 to 30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Nik HDR Efex Pro – Vibrant.
Page Arizona Photography Workshop with Winston Hall. Day 2: Upper Antelope Canyon.
Nik recently upgraded its Silver Efex Pro plug-in for Photoshop CS5 to version 2. The following images of the Upper Antelope Canyon were taken during a Page Arizona photography workshop lead by Winston Hall. The raw images were processed with Capture One Pro, converted to tiff and transferred to Photoshop CS5, then converted to B&W using the new Silver Efex Pro plug-in. The conversion used the default “Fine Art #19” settings. Make a comment to this blog post, or send me an e-mail if you see the ghost in one of the images.
Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 15 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 1/4 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 15 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 30 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/16, 5 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 48 mm, f/16, 6 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 32 mm, f/16, 8 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 29 mm, f/16, 2 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 25 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 10 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/11, 30 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/11, 6 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 3 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2Upper Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 40. mm, f/16, 2.5 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro. Converted to B&W with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2
