iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2011
With an assist from the Topaz Lab Clean plug-in.
(You need to look close to see it.)
Crystal Cove State Beach, Newport Beach, California
My Photography Tips and Reviews on the LA Times site
Sunset at Crystal Cover State Beach in Newport Beach last night
iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010
Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Newport Beach, California
It seems like I am getting into the “I need to find a sunset, time for 3-exposures, what’s my next HDR photo mode?” Could it be an addiction? It’s not a surprise when you see the results. Lets face it, one single image just doesn’t reflect what your eyes see. When you take a close you look at this image of the Doryman’s Inn in Newport Beach (above) at sunset, the ability to meld three different image exposures into one starts to close that gap. Of course, you need a tripod, so it really isn’t going to work for your kid’s soccer or party photographs.
It’s pretty much the same settings from my last HDR (High Dynamic Range) post, which included combining three image exposures taken with my Canon G10 camera and a tripod. The photo was first processed with Photomatix software. Next, I imported the photograph into Photoshop to make a few levels adjustments and then moved on to the FocalPoint plug-in by onOne Software to add a dark vignette and soften the focus around the hotel.
FocalPoint is on my short list of favorite Photoshop plug-ins and is on sale at onOne software website until April 30, 2010. The price is down to $100. You can read my review of the software by clicking here. A great resource for learning HDR is photographer Trey Ratcliff’s website Stuck in Customs.
Below is a photograph from a single correct exposure of the scene without any adjustments. Let me know what you think. -RL
(BEFORE) A single correct exposure of the scene without any adjustments.
Photograph with Canon G10 by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Newport Beach, California
iPhone Photograph by Robert Lachman ? 2010 – Newport Beach, California
It was a quick trip by the Newport Beach Pier on our way to the Crab Cooker Restaurant last night. For the top photograph, I used my Canon G10 with a tripod from the south side of the pier recording three exposures (+2, 0, -2) of the scene.
Next, it was post processing with Photomatix to combine the photos for the (HDR) High Dynamic effect. This bring the best of each exposure to the final image. The final touch was the artistic edgy touch added with the Adjust 4 plug-in for Photoshop from Topaz Labs.
The bottom photograph was taken with my iPhone 3GS with the Hipstamatic app. I’m sure you already figured that out already.
The best part of the evening was dinner out with my wife Lorelei. Have a great day! Is it time for coffee? 😉 -RL
Photographs by Robert Lachman @ 2009