My mind seems to keep taking me back to the North Rim.... I wonder why?

No, “Random Post Tuesday” won’t be a regular feature here.  It’s just a title, so don’t worry!    With many blogs doing “No Blog Wednesdays,” or guest blogs, or other such stuff, you don’t have to worry about some type of regular feature here.  I’m keeping it all random.

A Little Surprised

Talking with Josh Gosell yesterday I was told he was a little surprised by the original image of Renato.   He didn’t realize that the original was so poorly exposed.  So, I’ll explain to you here what I told him.

I’d literally just setup a Lastolite Chroma Key background over at the Art Store.  Renato happened to be wandering around the back area of the store and asked me what I was doing with the big white softbox like thing.  My response?  I’ll show you…..stand here please.

Now, 2 430EX II’s were setup wireless into the chroma key and ready to go.  I hadn’t setup any other lights, so the only light source was ambient and what came off the Lastolite behind Renato.  So yes, he didn’t get the exposure he should have.  But hey, I wasn’t even done setting up yet.  It was literally my first shot with the gear, and it was the test shot!

So, how did he get fixed up and receive the proper lighting after the fact?  Lightroom 3. 

HDR can be done in a way I can appreciate

A new reader dropped a note directly to me this morning, and I really wanted to share part of what jumped out at me.  The reader sent along the following:

I just wanted to tell you that I found you through googling info regarding the White Pocket and that I have enjoyed reading your blog and have learned a number of things from it already (INCLUDING, HDR can be done in a way I can appreciate) That alone has made me consider buying Photomatix and to start playing with it!

Thanks for the contact, and for your thoughts about HDR.  It is more versatile than people think.

When I first started playing with HDR a few years ago I went for the really over done look.  Come on, that’s cool too in some situations and everybody knows it.  Making near alien scenes out of everyday stuff?  That’s fun!  Of course, after a while I think we all want to get back to reality.  And I’ve been working on that for a while now.  Real world HDR.  Using it to bring the actual scene to life for the viewer.  Yup, and I’m still working on it.  That’s part of what I’ll be sharing in my new full length video DVD…….Nice hand off to the next subject, don’t you think?

A Digital Photographer’s HDR Workflow

Just when I thought the DVD was put to bed, I decided to add a little more.  In total there will be 3 unique workflow segments using 3 distinct locations.

The longest set of lessons takes place here in Prescott.  Several hundred images captured.  We walk through the complete Lightroom3 setup, flagging and rejecting images, searching on images, and managing the catalog.  Once that’s through we’re off and running with Photomatix.  Super real HDRs and super surreal HDRs as well.  After working through several images we move on to exporting to Photoshop for additional work on images, and the Topaz Suite pops up here and there.

The longest session doesn’t assume that you’ve used Lightroom before, so we really get into the catalog setup, and using the powerful functionality of LR3 to manage a lot of images quickly.  The next two sessions are quicker and assume more LR3 knowledge.  That’s where we just get to play with the workflow!

The most recent trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has been added as one additional session, and several sets of images from the Vulture Mine are the final session.  In total, more than 3.5 hours of instruction.  I’ll be posting ordering information very soon…….

If you’ve wished you could come along on one of the in person classes but can’t get out here any time soon, I think this DVD will give you a good feel for all we do in the class!

Goodbye to July & August!

Gotta tell you, I’m glad to see these months hit the history books.  Like last year, my worst months of the year (so far).  Hopefully September will see a turn around, just like last year.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  Tourist season in Prescott.  Folks up from the Valley, right?  Events on the square constantly, activities galore, etc, etc, etc……..  You’re right, all this does go on, but guess what.  It doesn’t translate to revenue for my business.

Tsunami, the Blue Grass Festival, World’s Oldest Rodeo, 4th of July, and all the rest of the shows on the square actually hurt my business.  See, what happens is folks come here for those events.  They go straight to Whiskey Row and the Square, and the bulk of their time is focused only on those areas.  If you’re not right in that zone you get bypassed a lot!  Well, that’s my experience at least.

I think what happens is visitors get tunnel vision.  Sure, they park right in front of the gallery, but then they spend 6 or 8 hours wandering the perimeter of the Courthouse, Cortez, Gurley, & Whiskey Row.  They don’t venture further out, even if the open parking space was right in front of your shop.  I have had folks come in at the end of their event day observe, “Wow, we never knew you were here.  Wish we’d stopped in here first before we bought art on the square…….” 

Come on September!  We need a good month!!!

Finally, 4th Friday Artwalk

I’ll give you a fun teaser…….  September’s 4th Friday Artwalk (September 24th) promises a very interesting show here at the gallery.  I’d suggest stopping by.  Casey Fritz will be showing here, and if you’ve seen his “Giant Robots” over at the Raven earlier this year, you know it will be a fun event!

A new take on ET from Casey Fritz!

]]> http://blog.richcharpentier.com/2010/08/random-post-tuesday/feed/ 2 http://blog.richcharpentier.com/2010/08/putting-an-image-together-surprising-what-comes-out-compared-to-what-goes-in/ http://blog.richcharpentier.com/2010/08/putting-an-image-together-surprising-what-comes-out-compared-to-what-goes-in/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:37:12 +0000 Richard Charpentier http://blog.richcharpentier.com/?p=4325

Recently I’ve played with creating a few composite images.  It’s been a fun exercise, and I’ve been using Photoshop features that I just don’t regularly use.  Lots of fun!  Today I played with another composite idea.  It isn’t done, but it’s coming along.  Thought you might like to see what went in, and what’s come out so far.  So, with no further chattering, here you go!

The original unedited shot of Renato from a few weeks ago.

The unedited Titan and Airstream from the recent North Rim trip

0EV shot from Tonto Road, shot this past weekend. This image became part of a 3 exposure HDR

There’s the image starting points.  Each image then received edits and were pulled together.  Below you’ll see a few edits, and the final product.  Like I said, the final product isn’t done yet.  I still have to work on the Titan & Airstream’s perspective.  Not quite there, but getting close.  The whole thing was pushed for a high key effect.  Still have that crazy movie in my head……..  and I still haven’t quite gotten the effect down yet.  But I’m working on it!

Topaz Adjust was used for the revised version of the Airstream and Titan. Desaturated a bit too.

Tonto Road once more. HDR, Topaz, and toying with saturation in Lightroom 3

Finally, the image I was working toward. The perspective of the truck and Airstream still need a little work, but I like the direction.

Always learning something new!  It keeps you from getting bored, right? 

So, what went into all of these?  Lightroom 3 adjustments, Photomatix, Photoshop CS4, and Topaz Adjust.  Oh, and Topaz ReMask2.  Almost forgot that one!

Coming in September……..the first full length video class from R.L. Charpentier Photography!  A Digital Photographer’s HDR Workflow.

I’ve taken the 2 day HDR workflow class that I teach out at the Vulture Mine and made a full length video class out of it.  The kicker?  It’s not the Vulture Mine where this video course takes place.  Instead, this class utilizes images from the recent trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The class will be available on DVD first, and then as a download.  If you’re looking to pre-order the course, drop a comment and I’ll be sure to get back to you!

The class covers my own personal HDR workflow using Lightroom 3, Photomatix, Photoshop, & Topaz Adjust!  Check out the teaser video now!

Over the past year I’ve heard so much regarding HDR, “un-realistic”, etc.  Well, I thought I’d talk about doing a more subtle HDR today and how you can get a more realistic look.  That means no halos, no super detail enhancement, and none of the psychedelic look that people complain about.  Of course, I’m sure some folks out there will look at today’s post and say, “That’s way too unrealistic, over saturated, detailed, etc……”  For those with comment like that, I have a thought…..

Move on to the next blog. 

For those interested in HDR, and being creative with your images, read on.

The first three images in today’s post are what went into the final HDR that you’ll see momentarily.  I shot this series in the Granite Dells while hanging out with Josh, Ashley, & Melissa on the fire photo shoot last week.  While they worked on flaming hoola hoops, I worked on shooting the monsoonal clouds here in AZ.  And of course I shot with the intention of creating a few new HDRs.

Lightroom's Export to Photomatix

The series of three images in this case was shot with my 5D Mark II, using the 24-70mm f/2.8 L Series lens.  I shot on a tripod, and kept the ISO at 200.  Just to be sure, I used a cable release so I didn’t bump the tripod.  The sun was setting, and the exposure on the over side took a bit.  Tripods are very useful for HDR folks, so don’t forget to bring yours along!

Once I off loaded the images into Lightroom, I’d select the series of interest and export them to Photomatix from the Lightroom interface.  Pretty easy to do, and the best part is you can set the final image to re-import to Lightroom and stack with the original photos that went into the HDR.

3 originals and the HDR in Lightroom

Now, the work is all done in Photomatix for this particular shot.  No adjustments were made in Lightroom or Photoshop.  Lightroom in this case was strictly used to manage the original images and the final HDR.

The image on the left shows you the settings that I used for this HDR.  How did I know what settings to use?

I didn’t.

This is up to you.  When working in any of the popular HDR software platforms out there you can choose what you want.  There’s no formula for “the right kind of HDR.”  You can go way over the top, or you can get really subtle.  It’s up to you.

You’ll note, both the Strength and Micro-contrast are not pushed all the way up.  Also, I did push the saturation a little higher than what I think is completely natural.  If I wanted to go even more subtle I think I would have popped saturation to 65.  That’s what I usually use for most of my images (between 50 – 65), but I really wanted a little more color in the sky.

What else should you pay attention to when you’re avoiding halos and the rest in order to get a more natural look?  Micro-smoothing and Highlights Smoothness.  You’ll note that I actually used both sliders for this image.  Great way to get rid of halos quickly.  But when you push the smoothing up you will loose some of that edgy detail that is an HDR signature.

In the end, whatever HDR package you’re using will allow you to fine tune.  Don’t go with the defaults.  Try every slider bar you have, every setting available.  The only person who will see the icky results from your experimentation is you.  Well, unless you share those results.  You’ll also get to see the good results as well.  In the case of the final HDR below, I’m happy.  Of course 15 minutes after I post this I’ll think of something else I should have done with the image, or that I should have chosen a different scene for this post! 

Last night I took another walk out into the Dells.  This time though I wasn’t alone……

Josh, Ashley, and Melissa came along.  See, Josh has been working on a “fire dancer” project, and last night was his latest part of the project.  Okay, so the whole reason I went into the Dells was for the shoot Josh was doing….. 

Days ago Josh asked about a location I’d taken him to previously in the Granite Dells.  It’s the top of the “Time Zone” wall.  A great spot to introduce folks to climbing.  Both sport routes and top roping are available there.  It’s also a very nice walk out, great views, and on top of the cliff a pretty private area for shooting.  Months ago I’d taken Josh and Ashley out there for another shoot, and they both liked the location.  Unfortunately, Josh doesn’t have the best sense of direction (he claims to be able to get lost with a GPS), so I played tour guide.

Hey, any reason to go out into the rocks is okay with me.

So, for the evening’s shoot Melissa came along.  She’s one of the folks who spin fire on hoola hoops.  Josh’s wife Ashely also spins fire on hoola hoops.  I do not spin fire on hoola hoops, and that’s okay.  We’ve all got our things…….

After making our way out into the rocks everybody set up for what they were doing.  Ashley & Melissa got the white gas ready, Josh messed around with his camera, and I broke out my tripod because we are having the fun monsoonal skies here.  You know, the ones I keep writing about….

Fortunately for me, the sky above Prescott gave me some fun things to image.  I really do love the clouds here, the sunsets, the rocks, and being in a beautiful place.  I’m lucky.  And fortunately, I came home with a few photos that I’m somewhat happy with.

After all the drama in the sky I too switched to a little fire photography.  Not like what Josh was doing though.  I went after the under-exposure to accentuate the drama in the sky.  I can’t wait to see Josh’s final products.  For those who wonder what I came away with, I offer a small little gallery once again.  Gotta tell you, the NextGen Gallery with the Smooth Gallery plugin works very well.

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Last night I tinkered with a few images after taking a walk through the Granite Dells.  No monsoonal downpours or shockingly beautiful skies yet.  But hey, I’m patiently waiting.

Still, there were some interesting clouds to be seen while walking in the Dells last evening.  So I did take a few shots to see if there would be something I like.  Also, as noted in the previous post, I was pondering the effects in “The Book of Eli” and wanted to toy with some ideas.

The first image in today’s post is pretty simple.  It’s the original 0EV shot, unprocessed.

An interesting scene.  And yes, the dead tree shows up once more.  There are tons of dead trees throughout the Dells.  There are live ones too.  An interesting scene if you like the Dells, granite rolling off into the distance, and some clouds floating around.

Of course, I did 3 exposures just in case I wanted to play with an HDR.  And I did that too.  Decided to do an HDR of this image just to see what could come out of it.  The image is below.  Personally, I think the HDRd image is a little more dramatic.  I used a very light touch in Photomatix in order to create the HDR.

Still, I wanted to try something a little different with a landscape.  Clouds were available.  The sun was setting.  And I thought about that movie.  So, with only Lightroom I decided to really play with the image and see what I could do.  I used the Develop module to work on contrast, then I used the brush tools in the develop module, and finally I used a gradient as well on the sky.

Not quite that super high key effect from the movie, but approaching it.  I just couldn’t bring myself to totally desaturate the sky.  First, I pushed the recovery slider up in the Basic panel of the Develop Module to 100.  Next, the fill light was pushed to 100 as well.  Contrast and clarity were also pushed all the way to 100!  Vibrance was pushed to +36 and Saturation was pushed to -73 (still preserves some color because of the Vibrance bump).  Finally, I set a strong contrast in the Tone Curve Dialogue.

Next, on to the brush and graduated filter.  Love these tools.  The brush was used to clarify, and desaturate the sky further.  Finally, when finished with that I popped over to the graduated filter and used it only on the sky.  Pushed the exposure up a little to get the truly unreal look in the sky that still blends toward the foreground.

So, there you go with my odd little experiment.  I’m going to keep playing with this concept to see if I can really produce something interesting.  In the end, just a fun experiment for me.  Remember, keep your photography and editing fun for you.   Can’t be all too serious you know!

This weekend’s Firehouse Plaza 1st Annual Luau looked pretty successful to me.  The late afternoon saw many people roaming the plaza, enjoying the food, and watching the finals in the volleyball competition.  I decided to include a few more photos just to show you what things looked like during the afternoon around the plaza.  Did you pop down?  If you didn’t, you missed out on some fun events!

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Upcoming Classes and Workshops

Well, the next one day Intro to Photoshop and Intro to Lightroom classes will be here soon.  August 15th and 29th will be here sooner than you think.  Sign up earlier rather than later to make sure you have a seat.  You can also stop by the Art Store in downtown Prescott and sign up right in the store!

The two and three day workshops will be starting again soon.  Back to the Vulture mine once again, and I can’t wait for the next workshop there.  If you’re interested in a full 2 day workshop on an HDR workflow combining Lightroom, Photomatix, and Photoshop then this is the workshop for you!  And don’t forget, one more trip to White Pocket for 3 interested students.  White Pocket is an amazing location, rarely seen by anyone visiting Arizona.  That also means you’ll be one of only a few people to ever capture images from this amazing location!

Additionally, I’ve been thinking about offering another one day class through the Art Store.  A one day HDR workflow class is on my mind.  Tell me what you think about the concept!

The Printer Update

Well, the printer saga is just about resolved today.  A week and a half ago the HP was declared “un-repairable.”  The extended warranty company, Sagemax, cut a check to cover the replacement of the printer.  Today I’ll be placing the order for the replacement!  That means that soon we’ll be running glossy again.  And how about the Polar Pearl Metallic from Red River?  Yeah, I’ve been sitting on that for quite a while.  Got to do some test prints with it that were amazing.  And then the HP had its issues……

So, stay tuned to hear when the new printer is up and running!

Monsoon Update

This morning it’s really cool here.  The sun is hidden behind some pretty dark clouds.  And I think….finally……that Point of Rocks might see a monsoonal downpour at any moment.  Rain does come to the desert.

Now, gotta tell you, last year Monsoon season was super weak.  And so far this monsoon season has also been super weak.  Maybe that will change with today’s storm?  Bottom line?

Bring the rain!  We’re all waiting for it here in Prescott!

Oh, right as I went out to take the photo above the rain started coming down.  It’s now pattering on the Airstream roof.  With the winds and thunder I think this is going to be a doozie, and the roof will start moving from a pattering sound to a blattering sound.  Should make for an interesting morning!

A little photographer fun

Last week I stopped by Scott Kelby’s site to read the Wednesday Guest Blogger spot.  Aaron Johnson was in last week, and I got a kick out of his posting.  He creates the strip, “WTD.”  That stands for What the Duck.

You know how Dilbert helped to express the frustrations of all us engineering types out there?  Also, Dilbert helped people understand what life in the cubicle farms is really like.  Well, WTD does the same thing for photographers that Dilbert does for engineers.  If you’re a photographer, be sure to check out WTD.  It’ll give you a smile when you have nothing to smile about! 

Over the course of this year I’ve had the privilege to take multiple groups of photographers out in the field on digital photography workshops. The big winner in the workshops so far?

The Vulture Mine / HDR Workflow Workshop.  It’s been the one that is wowing folks, including me, the guy running the workshop.

So, what’s been so special about this particular workshop?  Well, it combines a lot of great stuff into a 2 day span of time.  It’s a pretty intense workshop with a lot of information.

The first day of the workshop finds participants at the Vulture Mine, outside of Wickenburg, AZ.  It’s a fantastic ghost town that offers so many photographic possibilities.  The Arizona Desert at its finest.  Saguaro cactus, Teddy Bear Chollas (aka jumping cholla…ouch), roving rattle snakes, “hanging trees”, and the remains of a productive mine.  Beyond the landscape there’s more to work with.  Old mining buildings, bunk houses, mining equipment, junked cars, and crumbling ruins.  An HDR enthusiast’s dream setting.

And that leads to the HDR possibilities.  They’re everywhere.  How about extreme contrast environments.  Breaks of sunlight through collapsing building structures.  Broken out windows in the background of an ore crushing facility.  Rusted metal, sand covered metal, broken metal, and lots of metal.  Peeling paint, weathered beams, and dusty chairs made out of Hercules blasting powder boxes.  Extremes in contrast, light, color, and textures.

Yeah, it’s a “gold mine” alright.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist that.

After the first day of shooting with participants the second day gets into post processing with HDR and stylized images in mind.  I let students know, you don’t have to be going after HDRs if you don’t want to.  That’s fine, and it’s not everybody’s thing.  That’s okay.  The workflow section of the workshop covers way more than just HDR.  It gets into the whole workflow, which I’ve learned over the years, really helps get you focused on the images you want.

The first segment of day 2 covers Lightroom 3 (it was 2, but now 3) and everything necessary for a streamlined workflow.  You wouldn’t believe how far Lightroom helps you take your post processing.  Talk about streamlining and saving yourself hours of time.  And in the first segment we cover initial Lightroom setup, catalog creation, image storage, image backup, catalog backup, and making sure your images go where you actually want them to go.

You’re now saying, “Wait a minute Rich……putting your images where you want them is really a topic?  You’ve got to be kidding…..”  Nope, not kidding.  Let me tell you.  I’ve rescued many Lightroom libraries in the past few years.  I even had to rescue my own over a year ago because I didn’t pay close enough attention in my initial setup.  It’s very important, and worth paying close attention to.  Not a hard topic, but if you quickly jump into a new catalog and library you might find a mess pretty quickly.  Fortunately, cleaning up the mess has gotten easier too!

After really drilling down into the initial setup and importing to Lightroom, we cover the develop module, an extremely powerful tool.  There’s so much you can do in the develop module that you might wonder whether or not you really need Photoshop.  Seriously, it’s that powerful.  And in the develop module you can actually create highly stylized images without the help of any outside programs.

Between the Library and Develop modules we also discuss sorting, selecting, comparing, and flagging images.  That’s a big part of the workflow.  Find your picks, find your so so images, and wipe out the junk that just isn’t worthwhile.  And do it quickly.  That’s one of the key benefits of using Lightroom in your work process.  Streamlining selections couldn’t be easier.

And once you’ve selected and corrected?  Yeah, then it’s time to take those selections in your HDR workflow and pass them along to Photomatix.

Grumbling to yourself again eh?  I know what you’re thinking…..”Rich, with the advent of Photoshop CS5 and the new HDR features in it, why focus on Photomatix in an HDR workflow?  Oh, wait, I know.  You’re a hater because you had that hiccup with your CS5 upgrade, right?”  Nope, not a hater.  Are you kidding me, I think the new features in CS5 are amazing!  Maybe someday I’ll get it loaded on my machine.  But I can say this.  After a month with the trail version, and trying out the HDR features, I find myself an even stronger proponent of Photomatix when it comes to HDR software.  They’ve got the market in my mind.

For those with CS5, we can certainly talk about the HDR features.  Never exclude any tools.  But in my workflow, when it comes to HDR, Photomatix is the tool of choice.  And dialing in what you want to portray is much easier in Photomatix still.  No two ways about it.  Even other folks who’ve reviewed the HDR features in CS5 concede that there’s more flexibility in Photomatix.  Just because it isn’t bundled with Adobe’s latest offering doesn’t mean it isn’t the best tool for the job.

So, from Lightroom we cover exporting to Photomatix.  Once in Photomatix we run through many options on HDR rendering.  From over the top edgy insanity to the “light touch” HDR everybody is talking about these days.  You can actually spend a few hours really working through your options, learning from presets, and designing your own initial presets for specific conditions.  The number of presets on my gallery computer is getting out of hand, but they really help me with my launching point.  And when my own presets don’t work out, I create a new one based on scene specifics!

Finally, after re-importing to Lightroom the final step in the workflow process I cover is jumping into Photoshop.  Fine tuning can still happen in Photoshop.  Maybe a little more enhancement?  Or a little fine tuning and removing some of those over the top HDR artifacts?  Yup.  We spend a good bit of time in Photoshop too.  And if folks have Topaz Labs filters installed?  Yeah, we cover that too.

In two days what do we do?  Start to finish, creating stylized images.  And sometimes creating mildly stylized images.  No matter what you feel about HDR, the workflow works even for the non-HDR crowd.  And the two days has been a fun packed event each time!  All fun.

So what does all this have to do with the price of eggs in Boston?

I don’t know.  Check with my dad.  He lives in MA, and he has chickens.

Why the whole description of the class?  Simple.  The Lightroom 3, Photomatix, & Photoshop Workflow video class is almost set for publication.  It’s been working up over the past few months, and it stands to be a very interesting video tutorial set.  And no, I’m not the one compiling it.  I went to a professional video producer who’s local.  He also creates a video series on video production.

Always seek out an expert.  And I’m not a video expert, so I went and found one of my own.  Actually, he found me and it’s worked out well.  We’ll be doing digital downloads of the course, and also DVDs if you want physical media in hand.

If you’ve got questions about the upcoming tutorial video feel free to get in touch or leave a comment.  As soon as it’s completed and available I’ll post links up here on the blog.

And if you’re interested in improving HDR skills, Lightroom skills, and creating more “stylized” images, this one might just be for you. 

Of course HDR still happens here. I’ve just been experimenting with several dozen other items beyond HDR.

Now and again I come across an image that I forgot I shot, and then I toy with it a little. In between running prints, color matching paintings, scanning 4×5′s and all the rest. Oh, things have picked up on the print business side, so that’s a nice plus.

Recently while waiting on a few prints to finish I took a look back through the images from the latest White Pocket trip and I found one that I’d forgotten about. Best part, I bracketed the shot with the intention of making an HDR out of it. Glad I did that too!

On last week’s White Pocket Photo Workshop I personally didn’t spend much time shooting stills.  Instead I was roving around shooting video for a project I’m still working on.  You’ll learn more about that soon enough.  I used both the 5D Mark II and a Sony High Def Hard Drive camcorder to do the work.  But we’re going off on a tangent here.

Sunday late afternoon I came across this scene.  We were walking in one area of White Pocket that I had not explored enough yet.  The rock formations coupled with the barb wire fencing and the tree pieces got my attention.  Since it was extremely windy I decided not to take out the 17-40mm lens, and I stuck with my 24-70.  Changing lenses in blasting sand just isn’t smart, and it’s not good for your camera!  Because of the lens I was using I didn’t get the full scene I wanted.  Stepping further back would have made an odd shadow in the foreground that I didn’t want.  So, I went with this composition.

For HDR’ing I used my standard workflow.  Lightroom 2 to Photomatix, and then saved and stacked back into Lightroom.  As you can see, the right hand side of the image has some light haloing going on.  I didn’t pay close enough attention when I processed this one, and I’ve got to go back to deal with it.  I’m really trying to get away from the haloed look.  And with Photomatix you can easily manage halos.

I should note that while I was experimenting with CS5 and the new HDR process in there, I wasn’t fond of it.  Maybe with time I can adjust.  But honestly, Photomatix is an integral part of my digital workflow for HDRs now.  I don’t see that changing any time soon.

So, there you have it.  HDR still happens here.  Along with a lot of other photographic techniques that I’m working on! 

You know Adobe, you’re killing me. I mean it. Torture here!

Weeks ago I wrote you to let you know that at the last possible moment I didn’t pre-order CS5 because of a power outage.  To add insult to injury, the money I had set aside for CS5 was used to purchase a new power converter in the Airstream, and to pay for the installation.  Honestly, the power converter cost more than the CS5 upgrade, and it doesn’t do nearly as many things as CS5 does!  Hmph!

Everywhere I look I hear about CS5.  And I hear nothing but good stuff.  Content aware fill?  Oh yeah, that sounds so dang cool!  Better HDR support?  Lens correction, noise suppression, and more……oh man, here’s a moment when spending on the upgrade might not hurt my feelings……

But then there’s the matter of no cash on hand for the upgrade.  All because I wanted power in the Airstream instead.  Stupid electricity!

Well, I promised myself I wouldn’t walk down the path of temptation…..but I downloaded the trial version of CS5 and installed it at the gallery today (no power outages here).  And this morning I spent some time playing with a few of the new features.  And you know what I’ve learned???

You guys suck!

It’s an amazing upgrade.  Tried out the content aware fill on several images and found myself laughing out loud!  Not small laughs either.  This was the enjoyment of my 8 year old self while running around with a plastic Millennium Falcon!  So dang cool!  Seriously.

Then I got around to toying with the HDR tool that you added into CS5.  While I’m still a little new to HDR Pro, I think I can get the hang of it.  I even spent a few minutes recreating a favorite image with the new tool.  While I still like the Photomatix result better, I’ve only been working with CS5 for a few short hours.

Seriously, you guys really suck…….

Would you be willing to take a Paralax Power Converter in exchange for a CS5 upgrade for me?  Please……..

Way to go on a great upgrade.  I’ll play with it for the next month, and maybe, just maybe, if business picks up I can get Photoshop CS5.  Why do I need electricity in the Airstream anyways????

Below you’ll find my first HDR attempt with Photoshop CS5 compared to the image I’d generated with Photomatix a year ago.  Not the same, but I bet I could fine tune it……

Generated with CS5 and HDR Pro. Interesting

I still like the Photomatix results better, but in time bet I can figure out the new CS5 option…….