Morro Bay After Dark

Morro Rock 1.5 hours after sunset

Canon 5D Mk II, EF 24-70mm 2.8L, Induro C213, RRS BH-55

30" f/2.8 ISO 400

We shot horses again last night on the beach just north of Morro Rock. After the action (I'll try to post some of those later) we worked some slower shutter speed shots.

Once you start shooting after sunset, you will absolutely love it. Too many photographers pack up and leave immediately after the sun sets. Some of the best shots occur up to an hour and a half after sunset!

I like to combine my low light shooting with longer shutter speeds. This allows me to not only keep the ISO as low as possible (which really helps with the noise) but also to play with blur.

Morro Rock and Reflection

Canon 5D Mk II and EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, Induro C213, RRS BH-55

20" f/22 ISO 50

Another Fun Morning

2 shot stitched panorama

Canon 5D Mk II and EF 24-70mm f/2.8L

f/16 3/10" ISO 100

ACR 5.4 Vibrance +20

Living on the Central Coast of California does not suck.

We travelled to Black Hill in Morro Bay hoping to shoot a sunrise. Interestingly, as we drove to the hill in the fog, expectations were not high. By the time we arrived at the top of our ten minute hike, we were still in the fog and decided to wait it out. Five minutes later we started to watch a spot clear directly in line with the rising sun. For the next fifty minutes we were in and out of the fog as wave after wave came over us. Finally, the fog settled in the valleys about 250' below us and we shot for another forty five. As the sun rose higher, the fog began to build and slowly enveloped us again. To breakfast we went!

So when asked how the shoot went we could honestly say "It was foggy when we started and foggy when we ended but the middle was unreal!"

Back in the classroom now and working our images. Off to shoot HDR at a local farm this afternoon and horses on the beach again tonight.

Good living.

Stairs Take Two

3 Shot HDR, Canon 5D Mk II and EF 70-200mm f/4L

Lightroom, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop, and Topaz Adjust to process

Another shot from our trip to Morro Bay on Tuesday. I added Rick to scene and then shot just like before. Three shots with the Canon 5D Mk II and EF 70-200mm f/4L at Ev of 0,-2, and +2. I processed all three shots with Photomatix Pro and it's Lightroom plug-in. Remember to turn off the Tone Curve and Sharpening before the export!

The first time through Photomatix Pro I did a photo realistic effect and the second time I went with a little more grunge. From LR, I stacked the images in Photoshop and continued the process. I also brought Topaz Adjust into the game to help go even edgier. I desaturated everything but the sunglass reflections and finished with a little vignette (I normally use a Curves adjustment layer set to Multiply blend mode for my vignettes.)

Day Three with Rick Sammon

Moonset at Sunrise

9 shot HDR, Canon 5D Mk II, EF 24-70 f/2.8L

Three segments each shot at 0, -2, +2

HDR in Photomatix Pro and Pano in Photoshop CS4

Just returned from another sunrise shoot with Rick Sammon and the class. Yesterday might have been a little better but we're splitting hairs to make that call.

We're heading out for breakfast here in a few but will return to the lab for downloading and image processing.

We shot for about two hours this morning and have two more shoots scheduled later today. We are working with models and flash around lunch and will shoot horses at Pismo Beach around sunset.

I'll put up a few more HDR lessons learned throughout the day.

HDR from this Afternoon

3 Shot HDR, Canon 5D Mk II, EF 70-200mm f/4L

Processed twice in Photomatix, combined in CS4, worked in Topaz

A quick one from this afternoon. Shot for about three hours today in Morro Bay with Rick Sammon. Class had a great time and learned a huge amount.

I'll have a bit more time tomorrow to upload some more shots from today.

Cheers!

Hal

Another Quick HDR Pano

15 Shot Composite

Canon 5D Mk II, EF 70-200mm f/4L, hand held

The image above is a composite of 15 hand held shots taken during a scouting trip the other day. Workflow is to batch process in Photomatix Pro including merge to HDR and tone map with Details Enhancer. I saved the results as full quality JPEG to speed my photomerge. The panorama was stitched with CS4.

I added a little contrast back in and in so doing suppressed some of the shadow detail (a good thing most times, I think.)

Here in class with Rick Sammon. Rick's teaching HDR today so I'm working a couple in the back of the room.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) in Maui

Link and information is up for my HDR workshop in Maui.

http://ivamaui.com/hdr2009.php

Should be a good time for HDR in paradise.

Cheers!

Hal