Accidental Coastal Night Shot?

[fozzeee]

Before:


After:


This "After" shot was a bit of an accident! I loaded 3 differently exposed shots into Photomatix right after editing a different image where I had previously maxed out the HDR effect due to the subject matter ( see here for what I mean if you want to. ) Normally I wouldn't have left the settings as they were, but I quite liked the effect as it seemed almost moonlit. So I just used the Unsharp Mask at 150%, and then used the Neat Image plugin to smooth the sky a little and that's it. Not a masterpiece by any means but it just goes to show what can happen when you're not expecting it!
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Nikon D90 + 18-105VR kit | Tamron AF 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 | SB-600 Speedlight
MyFlickr

[sybren]

To speak with the words of Bob Ross: "we don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents"

But to be honest, personally I think the result is a typical over-processed HDR. The original is very promising, and I think it would be a good candidate for a B&W conversion.

[fozzeee]

Originally Posted by sybren

... But to be honest, personally I think the result is a typical over-processed HDR. The original is very promising, and I think it would be a good candidate for a B&W conversion.

Hi! Thanks for your comment. I agree with you, it's certainly over-processed (compared to what I might have done with the picture normally), as the Photomatix settings I used were left over from a previous picture where I had purposely tried to achieve one of those amazing/weird/ugly (choose whichever you find most appropriate!) HDR pictures that's very easy to find on Flickr etc. I was just surprised at how the image had been changed to an almost moonlit scene (well, that's what I thought when I first saw it, anyway).

I like your suggestion and example of the black & white conversion, and I'll be trying to remember that when I look at some of the other images from that day, as well as others I've taken

Andrew