Mystery

[GB1]

A five image HDR of (lower) Antelope Canyon.

This one's shape is a mystery. The two weak points are the bright spot in the middle left and that odd purple area in the upper right. Not sure how much it really matters ?

gb

[armando_m]

Almost like another planet !

Awesome image

a bit of flare (?) where there is high contrast of shadows and highlights

[OldClicker]

Strange - all the dark areas are purple. Were these areas light on one of the images? What HDR software? - Terry

[CaraRose]

Other than the flaring, I think its pretty good.

Just an add on note-- showed this shot to my sister-in-law and mom and they were both in awe.

[PrevailingConditions]

Compositionally, I really like this. I like how both the top and bottom portions seem to compliment each other. I also really like the textures and lighting shifts along the rock surfaces that are so typical of Antelope Canyon shots.

I'm less keen on the HDR treatment here. There are a number of halos around the edges and the really bright spots along the high-contrast regions which I find distracting, but maybe that's just me.

PC

[Greg McCary]

Yeah the sky is blown in a couple of spots and the upper right looks odd, maybe HDR and FF don't mix well? I think you would have done just as well combining images. It is definitely worth trying something else

[WesternGuy]

GB!, looks great, love the colours - would you care to share what the 5 images were ( +2, +1, 0, -1, -2) ?

About the purple colour, a couple of questions:

1. Is it due to internal reflections from the rocks inside the canyon itself?
2. Is it an artefact of using the 5 exposures and the software used to process the images, e.g., if you only used 3 of the images to build the HDR, would you still get the "purple" colour?

As far as the flare is concerned, looks like you just caught a bit of the sun coming around the corner of the canyon on the middle left, not a problem, but it (the flare) can probably be removed (maybe not all of it) with a bit of judicious editing in Photoshop - worth a try anyway, although some might like the flare. Personally, it doesn't really bother me and I think it adds a bit to the overall effect of the image. If it it lens flare then you may be stuck with it - don't know?

Regards,

WesternGuy

[daq7]

That is amazingly cool. I have seen the subject before, but never as good as this. Yeah the bright spot sucks a bit, but just a bit.

[GB1]

Thank you for commenting. See below.

Armando - Ha, it is surreal down there. I'm now seeing the flare even more than I originally noticed, at the bright spot and maybe at the rock area at the 1/3rd up from bottom and 1/3rd over from left point. Argg, but maybe the advantages outweigh the negatives?

OldClicker - Yep, they're purple after Photomatix is done with it. I also own CS5 and it's HDR function is much improved, so I just ran it through CS5's: it also shows purple. Hmmf. Just checked the originals and even the lightest one doesn't show detail in that area, so I therefore think this is a result of the software adding several stops of exposure to that area and it simply showing grain - and odd colors - as a result. I really should have taken more than five shots w/ this one: there's just so much difference between highs and lows.

Thanks Cara: it is surreal looking. Maybe with some work I can make it even better?

PC - I also like it's balance. Just like a movies, fancy special effects can't compensate for fundamentals, and this one's composition is strong. I cropped a little off the left because it looked a tad soft btw. I'm posting the CS5 HDR that doesn't have as much fringing; however, it also doesn't look as spectacular as the Photomatix one. Btw, the upper canyon gets most of the PR, but lower canyon is actually superior if you're ever in the area and decide to shoot it. Try to go on a less popular day - a lot of foot traffic in that place.

Greg, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't know what FF or combining images mean. I thought that the HDR software basically combined the images (?), but maybe you mean by hand? More skill than I have at this time.

WesternGuy - You guessed it: -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, but that was a mistake. I probably should either have shot 7 or 9, or used 2 f stop differences in the five.. just too much contrast here. I'm actually more concerned with that dull, flarey looking area at the 1/3rd from left & 1/3rd up from bottom, but I think that this would be extremely difficult to remove w/ all that texture. Ok, just tried with three images (-2, 0, 2) and it basically produced the same thing, albeit not quiet as good. Note that Photomatix now has about 12 selectable looks that you can select and edit from there. I just used the default enhancer.

Thanks Daq. When you getting out there?

Anyway here's the CS5 version.



Also, here's a SP I did before climbing in. Pret-ty tight! The spot of this image is farther down though (if I look a little rough here, I slept in my SUV the night before )

[hminx]

Did you think about trying this in portrait mode ?

[Greg McCary]

GB, FF = Full frame, seems like I have seen some other full frame cams that seemed to be a little off with HDR's. Maybe the lack of depth, maybe I just ain't seen enough of them You can combine exposures, stacking them on top of one another in PS and then use the eraser tool. Old fashion HDRs. Looks like this one would be an easy one to try that with.

[GB1]

Pete - Yep! I actually did try it like that, as for some reason it seems like it might work. But I found the horizontal aspect more relaxing. I could probably flip it though, and nobody would know!

Greg: Hmmm... I can't think of why the full frame would throw off the HDRs. They say (and I believe them) that FF images may be softer on the sides, as the 'sweet spot' of the lens is in the center and that is the only area that the smaller digital sensors capture. Ha .. I wish I was good in PS .. still learning the ropes. Corel still does some things better (or at least I believe it does) and I end up going back and forth between apps when processing. I have to get layers down. Argg. Thanks

G