Lewes, Delaware~ HDR Workshop with the Coastal Camera Club

D4 Bracketed shots combined in Nik HDR Efex Pro, processed in PS and then added a touch of Snapart3

Its been a busy several days...Thursday night, before I left for the beach, I visited the Silver Spring Camera Club in Maryland, and  made a presentation on iPhone Photography...which always amazes photographers who are not using the iPhone, with what it can do both when capturing images and processing with the photo apps..as it amazed me when I started to explore photography with the iPhone!
Friday I packed out and headed for the beach. Saturday I hosted the homeowners assn meeting and Sunday conducted an HDR workshop for the Coastal Camera Club in Lewes, Delaware. Whew!
Sunday morning, I arrived early at out meeting point and walked around the Little League Ball field. Nothing like a hometown ball field from 1957 to get the juices and imagination flowing...I just loved the look of this ball field with the sight of the Marina in the background. I made a few bracketed images so I had some files to demonstrate in the afternoon session.The light was variable from dark gray skies to peeks of blue. It was a great day working with several members of the club! Thanks!

 

In addition to the Ball field the historic Lewes Life Saving Station sits adjacent to the property and provided another fun subject to work with using bracketed shots for HDR processing.

These images were made with a Nikon D4, bracketed shots 5 stops of light apart and processed in Nik HDR Efex pro. I ran that file through Vintage Scene, an app for Mac Desktop, and finished the image in Nik Silver Efex Pro, for the monochrome conversion.

Photographic images don't have to be just straight shots! I like to consider image files a beginning. Pixels are a medium, like paint to a painter, to be utilized to achieve your vision.

I was asked a great question by one of the workshop participants when processing images with HDR software, he said, "are you trying to achieve the look of the scene as it was?"
My answer to that was no, I am trying to achieve the look of the scene in my mind. I don't think your image has to represent the "reality" of the scene as you see it with your eyes when you are standing in front of it. A processed image is an interpretation of the scene, based on the vision of the image maker. I encourage experimentation with software, say what if....just like experimenting with your camera in the field...lots of choices for image capture...say what if....and have some fun!

Now I have a few days to get the beach house ready for the rental season before heading back to Baltimore.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to meeting Dick and Dorine in Lewes for some iPhone fun! But first I have to organize and download the 3000 images off of it!