Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L Series @ 45mm
HDR blend using Nik Software's HDR EFX Pro then converted to B&W using Nik Software's Silver EFX Pro 2.0
Last Fall Nancy & I took a 4,200 mile drive through the Southwest. We covered LOTS of ground in that epic road trip! This was taken late in the day on the rim of Canyon de Chelly in Northeast Arizona.
I've been experimenting with doing HDR blends then converting them to B&W. This one came out rather nice!
I dont care for very many software HDR shots, but doing a conversion to BW comes out quite nicely. I wouldn't be able to tell it was done with software. Love the clouds and the rain in the distance. It certainly opened up the shadows in the foreground. I like this a lot. One thing though, the shadows seem a bit uneven, they appear to get darker towards the edges.
Rick,
As so much of photography is subjective, I have to disagree with Douglas. I like the darker shadows as they serve to focus attention toward the center of the scene and provide a richer contrast. Either way, a very nice shot and a good use of B&W.
I like the effect of the processing, Rick. Makes the scene more abstract and dramatic. I light the reprocessing on the shadows and agree that they looked dark and unnatural. Much better now. Great clouds and virga in the bg. You know me, always cropped stuff! But the title indicates the approaching storm as the subject. Given that, what about a crop from the bottom up to the base of the cliffs on the right. Doing that also gives a nice leading line of road and bushes leading to the dark and mysterious triangle on the left. Just a thought... Very nice shot, and I'm imagining that it was way cool being there in person. Canyon de Chelly is a must-do on my list of places to see.
Nice effect, Rick. I use Nik products too (photomatix for hdr, but some Nik for almost everything). It's amazing what they are capable of achieving. You might check the control point coverage to see whether the tone is different enough at the edges of a control point that there is a feathering effect that you don't want. I've noticed in Viveza that an area I think is the same color or tone is just different enough that my control point adjustments don't extend as far as the circle indicates. Not sure if that makes sense, but it's worth checking if it does.
Posted by John Williams on August 5, 2011 at 12:48 AM
I vote for the repost. Very nice. I'll echo that I especially like the virga in the background.
Discussion
7 repliesCanon 24-70mm f/2.8 L Series @ 45mm
HDR blend using Nik Software's HDR EFX Pro then converted to B&W using Nik Software's Silver EFX Pro 2.0
Last Fall Nancy & I took a 4,200 mile drive through the Southwest. We covered LOTS of ground in that epic road trip! This was taken late in the day on the rim of Canyon de Chelly in Northeast Arizona.
I've been experimenting with doing HDR blends then converting them to B&W. This one came out rather nice!
Please let me know what ya think!
I did a bit of work with the local adjustment brush in Lightroom to smooth out the shadows.
As so much of photography is subjective, I have to disagree with Douglas. I like the darker shadows as they serve to focus attention toward the center of the scene and provide a richer contrast. Either way, a very nice shot and a good use of B&W.