The semester is finally over. At first it felt like it was going by quickly, but the last few weeks have been on slow mode. It’s been ages since I’ve processed any photos for fun and not for the paper or an assignment, but I finally got around to it. It feels good to be back. I just hope I can keep doing it and not get so wrapped up in robotics this summer that I put it off and neglect this blog, again, for the nth time. It’s frustrating.
It’s been a while since I’ve shot any landscapes. This photo was taken over spring break, back in March. I haven’t really shot any landscapes since then. I’ve been shooting quite a bit of baseball. Go K-State! Big 12 Champs in Football, Basketball, and Baseball! EMAW! It’s a good time to be at KSU! …but I digress. I was asked to shoot a wedding and some senior photos, but I turned them both down because of schedule conflicts, and weddings really aren’t my thing, yet… maybe in the future. So, I haven’t been idle, I’ve had assignments, but, I just haven’t had the chance to shoot landscapes, which I really love, but hopefully I can get out on the weekends this summer and shoot. If you guys have any suggestions of great places to photograph in Kansas, let me know in the comments, I’d appreciate it.
Now let’s get to the details of the photo. I set the camera (Pentax K-5) on a tripod. I set it to bracket mode. I used a wireless remote to trigger the camera. I don’t remember locking up the mirror, but if you really want to ensure that you get the sharpest photos that your gear is capable of, do that too. I took six photos. In bracket mode I can take a max of 5 with one click. That’s great, but I don’t use it, because theres a funky limitation, you can only take 5 photos within a range of 4 stops, like between -2EV to +2EV. When shooting into the sun, you might want to shoot from -4EV to +4EV. So what I did was to take 2 sets of 3 photos at a time, 2 stops apart. The first set was from -4EV to 0EV, so a photo at -4EV, at -2EV, and at 0EV. The second set was then from 0EV to +4EV, so a photo at 0EV, +2EV, and +4EV. Now you might be wondering why I have two photos at 0EV. Well, I have yet to really test this out, but I think with into-the-sun photos, I get better results in Photomatix Pro when I have a duplicate photo at 0EV or whatever the middle exposure of the set of photos is. I processed all six in Photomatix Pro. I then imported the result back into Aperture 3, I did some basic edits there adding some contrast and vibrancy. I then used Nik Color Efex Pro to add a color contrast, which really brought out the red sky around the setting sun. Finally, to sharpen the photo, I used Nik Sharpener Pro. I think I like it better than the Unsharp Mask filter in Photoshop. If you have any comments or questions, let me know in the comments section.
Some details about this photo:
Camera: Pentax K-5
Lens: DA* 16-50
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 16mm
Aperture: f/11
6 image HDR, bracketed from -4 EV to +4 EV
Ddump 