Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 15: Torres del Paine National Park, Departing Hosteria Lago Grey Chile.
Early Morning Double Rainbow in Patagonia. Comparison of HDR (High Dynamic Range) Processing Programs. Digital camera sensors are not able to deal with the full dynamic range that the human eye can process. The same is true with computer monitors and printers. There are several commercial programs that will combine over and under exposed digital images to provide a composite digital image that tries to express the wider dynamic range of the eye. I continue to evaluate the commercial HDR programs. The following images are of an early morning double rainbow taken at Lago Grey in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile during my Photography Workshop in Patagonia with Thom Hogan (10-January-2011). The inital image is the original single exposure. This is followed by four HDR images processed with 1) Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro, 2) Photomatix Pro, 3) Nik HDR Pro, and 4) HDR Express Pro. Please reply with comments on which HDR image you like or don’t like.
Early Morning Rainbow, Lago Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 28-120 mm f/4 lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/5.6, 1/25 sec).Early Morning Rainbow, Lago Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 28-120 mm f/4 lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/5.6). HDR composite of 4 images using Photoshop CS5 HDR ProEarly Morning Rainbow, Lago Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 28-120 mm f/4 lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/5.6). HDR composite of 4 images using Photomatix ProEarly Morning Rainbow, Lago Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 28-120 mm f/4 lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/5.6). HDR composite of 4 images using NIK HDR ProEarly Morning Rainbow, Lago Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 28-120 mm f/4 lens (ISO 200, 31 mm, f/5.6). HDR composite of 4 images using HDR Express
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 6: Hosteria El Pilar, El Chalten, Laguna Torre, Parque Nacional Los Glaciaries.
Composite Panorama Image Processing.
There are several image processing programs available to combine images to afford wider panorama images. The images of Laguna Torre were taken on a hike from El Chalten in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares while on a Photography Workshop in Patagonia with Thom Hogan on 01-January-2011. Three examples shown below have four portrait orientation images combined using Photoshop CS5, AutoPano Giga 2.5, and PTGui. All three composite images were cropped to the largest rectangle: Photoshop (11865 x 5814), AutoPano (12572 x 6266), and PTGui (12091 x 5979). Photoshop did the best job in minimizing the stitching artifacts in the water. AutoPano Giga did the best job in including the most image area — our hiking guide in the far lower right corner of the image is not cut off
Laguna Torre Panorama. Composite of 4 images from a Nikon D3x and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 100, f/11, 1/40 sec) combined using Photoshop CS5.Laguna Torre Panorama. Composite of 4 images from a Nikon D3x and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 100, f/11, 1/40 sec) combined using AutoPano Giga Pro.Laguna Torre Panorama. Composite of 4 images from a Nikon D3x and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 100, f/11, 1/40 sec) combined using PTGui Pro.
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 6: Hosteria El Pilar, El Chalten, Laguna Torre, Parque Nacional Los Glaciaries.
Photo Techniques. High Dynamic Range (HDR) Image Processing.
I continue to evaluate and compare several HDR processing programs. The images were taken on a hike from El Chalten to Laguna Torre in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares while on a Photography Workshop in Patagonia with Thom Hogan on 01-January-2011. The first three images are composites of 5 images processed with Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro, Photomatix, and NIK HDR Efex Pro. The last two images are single image HDR processed with Capture One Pro and DxO. Of these I like the image from NIK HDR Efex Pro best.
Patagonia Panorama. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 16-28 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 31 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec). Five image HDR with Photoshop CS5.Patagonia Panorama. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 16-28 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 31 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec). Five image HDR with Photomatix.Patagonia Panorama. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 16-28 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 31 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec). Five image HDR with Nik HDR Pro.Patagonia Panorama. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 16-28 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 31 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec). Single image HDR with DxO Pro.Patagonia Panorama. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 16-28 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 100, 31 mm, f/11, 1/200 sec). Single image HDR with Capture One 6 Pro.
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 22: Back in the USA!
I arrived in Miami at about 5 AM, made it through immigrations but had to wait for my luggage. After going through customs I couldn’t directly recheck my luggage to Tampa because I didn’t have a boarding pass. It was a long walk to Terminal D. The problem with the boarding pass was I had multiple reservations on the AA flight. Once that was resolved, I had to go through security again. I just barely made it to the AA Tampa flight. The flight arrived in Tampa on time, but now we are waiting for the rain to stop so they can unload the luggage.
Jens Picking Me Up at Tampa International Airport
22-January-2011 edit: Check out Thom Hogan’s blog about being held hostage in southern Chile.
Gone to See Patagonia 2010/2011. Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 21: Beginning the Journey Home!
Yesterday we moved from the Hotel in Puerto Natales to the Red Cross Refuge center (in the E3 School). Early in the morning we thought that things were about to be settled and thought about a dash in a bus to Calafate Argentina. Our local guide visited the nearest barricade and found that the protesters were in no mood to let anyone through. Therefore, we decided to go with the safe option. By the time we got to the Red Cross site, they had us stand in line to be registered. A line in the main auditorium was for folks wanting to go to Calafate, Argentina, and another line in the gym for folks wanting to go to Punta Arenas. Looking at air schedules out of Calafate, made it look like we could be there for a week or two before catching a flight. Punta Arenas had more flights and appeared to be a better overall choice (even though it is still blockaded from the city 24 km away). Lunch for 1000+ in the Red Cross center was pasta, some meat sauce, an apple, bread, and orange juice – a typical elementary school meal on the school lunch trays. By late afternoon two buses had been organized to bring folks to the local airport. The initial selection was families with small children, elderly, pregnant women, and sick. With my cough, I ended up on the 2nd bus, and the rest of the photography group was with the 3rd group.
NOTE: As we were leaving and going through the roadblock we saw others being separated from their transportation and having to walk the 10+ km into Puerto Natales rather than being pointed to the local airport for transportation out of southern Chile.
After running the blockade and being dropped off at the local airport, the Chilean Air force transported us to Punta Arenas via a B737. This got us past at least 6-10 additional blockades. I ended up sleeping in the airport and taking the first flight out at ~5:40 AM to Santiago. I am currently working in the LAN Executive Salon waiting for a flight to Miami that leaves late tonight.
LAN Business Class Seat – Back as a full lay down bed (David J Mathre)
22-January-2011 edit: Check out Thom Hogan’s blog about being held hostage in southern Chile.
