The Narrow Road [Canon 5D]
February 25, 2010 Point Bonita, California
(click in the image for a larger view)
This image was made last Thursday along the path to the Point Bonita Lighthouse at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. I was exploring the Marin Headlands, which is one of the places I like to visit when time permits during my regular Bay Area consulting visits. I arrived a bit too late to visit the lighthouse, however, and the tunnel through the rock at the far end of the path above was already locked by the time I got there. But it was still a great place to go for a stroll and the view was truly spectacular.
This image is a an HDR blend of three hand held exposures that were photographed one stop apart using the camera's auto exposure bracketing feature (see below for what the original shots looked like; click to see it larger).
The initial HDR blend was created using Merge to HDR in Photoshop CS4 and then the 32-bit HDR file was processed in Photomatix. I've been playing around lately with day-for-night interpretations of some scenes and I knew that this is how I wanted to process this photo. I actually made two separate Photomatix versions: the first one (see below; click to see it larger) created the overall HDR tone mapping effect that I liked, as well as the beginnings of a general flavor of an exaggerated night scene.
But I was unhappy with the strong halo around the tip of the rock, so I made a second version in Photomatix with a darker and lower contrast sky that did not have the objectionable halo (see below; click to see it larger).
These two versions were then opened into Photoshop and combined with a layer mask (see below; click to see it larger).
Finally, the night effect was enhanced via several adjustment layers and the overall color saturation was reduced. The power poles in the distance were also retouched.
I am preparing a video demo deconstructing how this image was made in more detail than what I've covered here and this will be available for subscribers of my Newseltter in a few days. The Newsletter has been on hiatus for quite a while due to a crazy work schedule, but it is on the way back (really and truly!). There is a sign-up link above on the left side.
Coming in 3 Weeks!
A Weekend Workshop in Carmel
I'll be teaching a weekend workshop at the Center for Photographic Art, in Carmel, California, on March 20th and 21st. This is a laptop-based class designed for photographers by a photographer that will cover the essentials of working in the digital darkroom:
Lightworks & Shadowplay
Digital Darkroom Essentials
March 20-21, 2010
Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
More Information & Registration Links
Coming in 7 Weeks!
3 Photoshop Workshops in Hawaii
April 22 _ 25, 2010
More Information & Registration Links
I love this image. Very gothic and moody. Perfect for a novel dust jacket...
Posted by: Brian Duggan | 10 March 2010 at 10:33 PM