Restoring the Blacks in HDR

It was a wet stormy day in the Tetons as we looked for spots to shoot. We came across this little pond just off of the highway just as there was a short break in the rain. The wet conditions made the colors rich and saturated and storm clouds really made the sky dramatic.

HDR can enhance a scene like this by darkening the sky and giving more detail to the reflection and other dark tones. However if we are not careful, the tonemapping can remove black and dark tones from the image making it much less pleasing and dramatic. Check out this tutorial to see how to restore this vital element to improve your HDR images.

A Memorable Graduation

Last year I had a proud moment when my son received his PhD at University of California Santa Barbara. While waiting for the graduation ceremony I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures...

Levels Adjustment

Correcting exposure in your image is a critical component of post processing. You can let your software do it automatically or you can let the machine do it when you get your prints...Or you can take control and adjust the levels yourself for your own desired look. See how do this relatively simple but extremely important adjustment in Photoshop in the tutorial below.

Straightening Out Parliament

Correcting perspective, optical distortions, and leveling can sometimes be a challenging task. This tutorial demonstrates a technique I frequently use to correct strong vertical and horizontal elements of an image which I want to be aligned with the borders of the image.



Watch the video below to see the details...

Serenity

It was quiet, calm, and cold (-14 degrees F) when I quickly jumped out of my car to snap this image of a drifted over canal north of Idaho Falls. It was the light that motivated me to get out of my warm car and extend the cold tripod legs! There were thin clouds which diffused the early morning light and cast beautiful glow and soft shadows on everything around. How glad I was that I didn't let this fleeting photo op pass as I wandered the snow covered country roads north of Idaho Falls.