Fall Aspen

[RussHeath]

Here is a shot from a recent drive up Mt. Evans highway in Colorado. It's also a trial run of my shiny new Photomatix Pro. I know the colors are pretty intense, but that's actually how it looked. I played with the idea of cropping the evergreen in the foreground, but ultimately thought it provided nice depth by not being in perfect focus.



All critiques welcome.

[oriolhdz]

Hi newbie:
I liked the autumn colors you got! IMHO I think you should in someway get rid out of that green tree. I think it distracts the whole panorama. For the rest, I'll keep it that way.
Thanks for sharing it!

[clockdoc]

Nice color. Since you mentioned this iwas your trial run with your newly acquired Photomatix Pro, can you share how you shot and processed this final image. Is this tone mapping of a single exposure or did you shoot multiple exposures?

[RussHeath]

Originally Posted by oriolhdz

Hi newbie:
I liked the autumn colors you got! IMHO I think you should in someway get rid out of that green tree. I think it distracts the whole panorama. For the rest, I'll keep it that way.
Thanks for sharing it!

Thanks, Oriolhdz. I have several others from the same spot, I'll try to post a different one soon that is framed in another way.

Originally Posted by clockdoc

Nice color. Since you mentioned this iwas your trial run with your newly acquired Photomatix Pro, can you share how you shot and processed this final image. Is this tone mapping of a single exposure or did you shoot multiple exposures?

Lee -- I shot this using three exposures in RAW at -2.3, -.67, and +1.0 (auto bracketing with a 1.67 stop separation between shots started at -.67). I then processed to an HDR in photomatix and tone mapped using fairly standard values for most of the sliders (close to default with minor tweaks). I rather like the finished product, but I'm sure I can do better with more practice.

If you want to see a single RAW file converted to an HDR with photomatix, see my thread in the landscape section, also posted today:

Secret Falls

If you're thinking of buying photomatix, there are a few ways to get some significant discounts. The coupon code "stuckincustoms" is good for 15% off. If you are affiliated with a University in any way and have a ".edu" e-mail you can use the academic discount for a whopping 60% off.

[clockdoc]

Thanks for the detailed explanation and the info on discounts. Every little bit helps. Your single RAW file converted to HDR came out very nice as well. It would be interesting to see a comparison of the same shot in jpg mode to see what is lost. I look forward to seeing more of your HDR work with Photomatix.

[windrider86]

I like the green in it as it gives it a nice contrast, but perhaps it might be a but more pleasing if it were off to one side a bit more. I miss Mt. Evans. There is so much to shoto in that area. Down here there is as well, but on a slightly different level

[Robin Sarac]

This shot is great! I would actually like to see a bit more of the evergreen...it's sort of like the subject of the photo.

[RussHeath]

Originally Posted by clockdoc

Thanks for the detailed explanation and the info on discounts. Every little bit helps. Your single RAW file converted to HDR came out very nice as well. It would be interesting to see a comparison of the same shot in jpg mode to see what is lost. I look forward to seeing more of your HDR work with Photomatix.

Clockdoc -- I just updated that thread with a jpeg created from the same raw file. See my discussion there regarding the differences between the two.

[RussHeath]

Originally Posted by windrider86

I like the green in it as it gives it a nice contrast, but perhaps it might be a but more pleasing if it were off to one side a bit more. I miss Mt. Evans. There is so much to shoto in that area. Down here there is as well, but on a slightly different level

Windrider -- Mt. Evans highway is beautiful this time of year. Too bad you can't go all the way to the peak right now (closed until summer), but I did see several big horn sheep up at Sumit Lake! (Actually I didn't realize I had seen them until I got back and noticed them in the pictures -- little buggers blend right in). See below for a more zoomed out view with lots more green.

Originally Posted by Robin Sarac

This shot is great! I would actually like to see a bit more of the evergreen...it's sort of like the subject of the photo.

Robin -- Thanks for your comments! Here is another one shot from the same position but zoomed out quite a bit. Overall I think it's busier, but it does get the whole tree in the shot (as well as many others).