How about some more ... ed-ja-macation

Don,

Here's my Pasadena Fire Department HDR photo. No where near as technically demanding as your night time HDR shot.
Two versions of the same 3 2EV bracketed set:

Attachment 54521
Using PhotoMatix's Compressor

Attachment 54522
Using PhotoMatix's Enhancer

My contention is that doing an HDR under flash may be a little too demanding for the software.

The sun, of course, spits out a whole heck of a lot more range than almost any flash ... and that is where it excels. That is some great looking work, Darin, and just the way it is intended.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonSchap

My contention is that doing an HDR under flash may be a little too demanding for the software.

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Don,

Not sure if you've tried it yet (I have not), but there is an HDR technique using multiple exposures with flash lighting different areas of the same scene with each exposure. They are then combined in HDR to create an image that would have otherwise required multiple flash units and lighting for a single exposure shot.

Darin,

That sounds like a clever and interesting HDR technique. I might try it with a new shoot I have coming up called "Abstract to Concrete", in my Editorial Photography class. I am still seeking an interesting abstract from an article to photo illustrate.

Have a wedding tomorrow afternoon, so that part of the day is gone already. :eek:

Time ... where is that "STOP TIME" button ... oh, yeah .. back on the a900!

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...e-function.jpg

Yikes ... :rolleyes:

Since this is our ed-ja-macation thread, I thought I would post an example of my self imposed summer educational project - take a current modern day digital image and transform it into one that could have been taken 100 years or so ago.

Go Color RAW.

Shooting your original image in color RAW gives you the best editing options for later conversions. If you have PS CS3 or later or the equivalent stand alone PS you have the most flexibility in converting to B&W through a B&W layer. Lightroom 2 and 3 also have options to convert your color RAW image to a monotone setting. There are Lightroom development pre-sets that can give you aged photo effects. You can also download third party plug in development presets that provide similar effects.

If you only have the Sony RAW converter software that came with your camera, your options are limited but still pretty decent. With the RAW color image opened, click on the "Creative Style" option to the right and you will find B&W and Sepia options. You can then export a jpeg or tiff.

If you just shoot in camera jpegs set to B&W or Sepia "Creative Style," that is what you get. You do not have the benefit of the original color image. Also, you lose a lot of valuable color information.

In this example, I use Lightroom 2 on the original color RAW image for preliminary adjustments - sharpening, contrast, clarity followed by editing in CS5.

The original image taken at LA's Heritage Square Museum - a museum of about seven historic houses and buildings.
Attachment 54528
A900 w/ Sigma 28-90 @ 40mm, f11, 1/8000, ISO 1600

In this instance, I knew I was going to convert to an old-style image, so I intentionally chose a high ISO to give more color noise. I find that it helps with the overall film grain simulation.

Here's the finished image.
Attachment 54529

The Process.

To get there, here are the steps applied. In Lightroom 2, I applied contrast, clarity and sharpening, then exported to CS5.

In CS5, I duplicated the background layer. I then applied the lens correction filter to adjust for vertical perspective and angle.

A copy of that layer was created for healing/clone stamping to remove the people. (Note, I have found that while CS5's automated removal - which removes the selected portion of the image and builds a background in its place based on adjacent portions of your photo - is much better than earlier versions, it has a real hard time where the adjacent elements differ significantly.) Since CS5 had a hard time with the automated removal, I cleaned up the removal with clone stamping to borrow adjacent elements to fill in the removed area.

I then added a B&W adjustment layer. In this layer, you can adjust tonality via color sliders. A better way, and one of the neat things with newer versions of the B&W adjustment layer, is the ability to click on a part of your image and drag to lighten or darken. To do this, in the top left of the layer adjustment tab, you will see a hand; click on the hand and then move your cursor to the element in the photo, press the left button on your mouse, and drag left to darken or right to lighten. (If you do the B&W conversion in Lightroom, it has a similar adjustment feature, but you drag up or down.)

I opened a new blank layer, set to overlay and checked the box for fill with 50% neutral grey. This layer is for the film grain effect. I then applied the add noise filter set for gaussian and click the monochromatic box. Sometimes I add an additional blur filter to this layer. Alternatively, you can apply PS's filter, artistic, film grain. Better yet, if you have NIK's Silver Effects Pro plug-in for PS, you can select from a number of film grains which were created from sampling original negatives. This is probably the best option for creating a more realistic old world image.

Next on this image, I wanted to add a Platinum tone which gives a warmer brown tone and was prevalently used in the time period of this house. To do this, I added a Curves adjustment layer and dragged it above the B&W adjustment layer. The blue channel is dragged downward across the entire range from shadows to highlights. The red channel is dragged upward in the shadow tones.

After those major adjustments, I did some fine tuning. I burned in the corners of the image and the side of the house which was a bit too "hot" (bright). I also dodged around the woman's face to help brighten it from the shadows.

Finally, I cropped the image to make the subject matter more prevalent.

Hope this gives those who are interested in old school images some insight into digital editing. A bit later, I'll post some photos applying Sepia tone, Palladium tone, Cyanotype and Selenium tone.

These academic projects seem to get stranger and stranger, at the school. In my Editorial Photography course, I am currently involved in taking an abstract writing and preparing supporting imaging to go with it. In my original idea, I pretty much wanted to illustrate the article concerning the Rockford Airfest, since I have nearly 600 images, but the instructor nixed that idea and said he wanted something more creative, new and more thought-filled, like illustrating a poem, a song or some creative writing.

Naturally, I asked the magic question: "Can we write our own story?"

The answer, was "yes", that was acceptable. :D Today, I shot for the story I wrote along a similar theme I had done in my Adv. Digital Imaging class. I used the TAMRON SP AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD, tripod-mounted on the α850 for everything. Things are a little slow for action shots, so what the heck, I made my own. I apologize if the tale is hard to ... swallow. :o

THE STORY

In his young flying career, never had the Air Force captain dreamed he would be in a fire fight with an alien craft. Yet, there, in the middle of the wild blue yonder, racing ahead of him at near his own top end, banking and maneuvering at impossible angles was an alien ship straight out of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. The strange copper-colored craft had already swept a tragic path of carnage through three western states, downed several airliners full of passengers, taken out three prior pairs of Homeland Security fighter jets and it was still having its way with any and all challengers.

Having been order to "intercept and destroy", the Nellis-based F-15E accelerated on its assigned target. Finally, screaming at Mach 2 and near enough to see the craft, the electronic sensors system present him with a diamond-shaped target indication, which until then, he had only wished of seeing. Now, it blinked brilliantly on his heads-up display. The sight of a "radar lock" was truly amazing, as this UFO before them had, for some unknown reason, been exceptionally difficult to illuminate with the very powerful APG-70 radar dish. The number three and four air-to-air missiles, AIM-120C AMRAAMs, were blinking in assignment and at the ready to fire.

Attachment 54726

“Hot dog! I know he's close and we should go with the gun and all, but ... hit him with the heat ... he’s all yours, John. You own him!” The Weapons Systems Officer or back-seater announced, as he flipped the missile release switch. The pilot flipped open the arming switch cover, threw the arming switch to on and instantly depressed the firing trigger, once, on his joystick’s grip, then again.

“Fox Three! Fox Three” he announced, as the two ‘Slammers’ deployed.

With two jolts, the two missiles were off their undercarriage positions, along the right conformal tank and falling away. A second later, their respective harmonic pulse solid-rocket propulsion systems fired up and the missile pair streaked in twin graceful upward arcs to their target. The smokeless pulse of the rocket engine streamed after each white missile.

“Pitbull!” the WSO announced, as the missile went into its terminal phase of flight.

“Oh, we gotcha, now!” the pilot shouted, as the two men watched while the first, then second missile appeared to make direct contact, slamming into the alien craft and detonating, resoundingly.

Pieces of the shattered missiles fluttered into the surrounding space and the expected secondary explosions from the impact never took place, as the unidentified craft began spiraling about and then climbed straight up, gaining incredible chunks of altitude, obviously intent on leaving the bounds of Earth.

Attachment 54711

“This is Whiskey-Alpha Seven-Seven … negative effect! I say again, negative effect.” The WSO announced back to his controller.

“Roger, Seven-Seven. Negative effect on Fox Three. Break off and return to base.”

“Negative. I still have a confirmed radar lock on the target.” The WSO shot back. “We may never get another go at this and object is in retreat. I say again, object is in retreat. We're over the desert. Minimum collateral.”

“Roger that, Seven-Seven. Command concurs ... and has authorized use of the ASAT weapon. Confirm ‘system lock’ and deploy in 20 seconds. Corrections will be updated to the weapon. Set yield level to 10 kT.”

The ASAT or ASM-135 Anti-satellite missile was generally given low priority until 1982, when information about a successful USSR program became widely known in the west. A "crash program" followed, which developed into the Vought ASM-135 ASAT, based on the AGM-69 SRAM (nuclear tipped ground attack missile) as an atmospheric booster with an Altair upper stage, carrying to good stuff. The entire system was mounted on a modified F-15 that carried the missile directly under the central line of the plane. The F-15's guidance system was modified for the mission and provided new directional cueing through the pilot's heads up display, and allowed for mid-course updates via a data link. The first launch of the new anti-satellite missile took place in January 1984. The first, and only, successful interception was on September 13, 1985. The F-15 took off from Edwards Air Force Base, climbed to 80,000 feet (24,384 m) and vertically launched the missile at the Solwind P78-1, a US gamma ray spectroscopy satellite orbiting at 555 km (345 mi), which was launched in 1979. Although successful, the program was supposedly canceled in 1988. Well, today it had been re-activated.

Attachment 54762

“Roger that … 10 kT is set.” The WSO replied, as he selected the setting on his weapons panel.

“Climbing through 65K” the pilot reported, as he hauled back on joystick sending them on a nearly ballistic trajectory, upward, using the raw power of the F-15’s twin Pratt & Whitney F100-229 afterburning turbofans.

“Distance to target … approximately 25 miles,” the WSO announced, then flipped over to intercom and warned, “John … at that setting, things could get kinda fugly up here, real fast.”

“Got it. Man, that bastage can move …” the pilot groaned.

“Roger, that. Missile firing in 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … FIRE!” the WSO strummed away, having flipped back to the radio channel for all to hear his broadcast.

The entire jet shuddered as the large, 18-foot ASAT missile released into space, in a parallel line to the F-15E’s nearly vertical trajectory.

Attachment 54710

The center pylon had successfully shed what it had held so steadily during the earlier combat with the alien. The Air Force Command and Decision group had felt that a nuclear response might be required to take out this particular threat … and the chances were off-the-scale that the 10-kiloton atmospheric detonation would be positively lethal to the F-15E, mainly due to the enormous EMP pulse and being so close to the resulting air burst.

The strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that results has several components. In the first few tens of nanoseconds, about a tenth of a percent of the weapon yield appears as powerful gamma rays with energies of one to three mega-electron volts (MeV, a unit of energy). The gamma rays rain down into the atmosphere and collide with air molecules, depositing their energy to produce huge quantities of positive ions and recoil electrons (also known as Compton electrons). The impacts create MeV-energy Compton electrons that then accelerate and spiral along the Earth's magnetic field lines. The resulting transient electric fields and currents that arise generate electromagnetic emissions in the radio frequency range of 15 to 250 megahertz. This high-altitude EMP occurs between 30 and 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The potential as an anti-satellite weapon became apparent in August 1958 during Hardtack Teak. The EMP observed at the Apia Observatory at Samoa was four times more powerful than any created by solar storms, while in July 1962 the Starfish Prime test damaged electronics in Honolulu and New Zealand (approximately 1,300 kilometers away), fused 300 street lights on Oahu (Hawaii), set off about 100 burglar alarms, and caused the failure of a microwave repeating station on Kauai, which cut off the sturdy telephone system from the other Hawaiian islands. The radius for an effective satellite kill for the various prompt radiations produced by such a nuclear weapon in space was determined to be roughly 80 km. Further testing to this end was carried out, and embodied in a Department of Defense program, Program 437.

“Missile Away … it’s all yours, Command!” the pilot announced and immediately rolled the jet over and pulled back his joystick, diving the Strike Eagle back towards the cloud covered and rich looking planet below.

“Detonation in 30 seconds.” The radio announced.

“Go baby go!” the pilot shouted, watching the altimeter unwind wildly as the jet plunged to the surface at 900 miles per hour.

“25 … 24 … 23 …”

“C’mon, you lead sled!” the young man groaned, pushing the thrust levers fully forward, into afterburner detent. The engines roared their gluttonous consumption of fuel as the engine nozzles flared their enormous flames.

“22 … 21 … 20 … 19 …”

“I don’t think I thought I'd be doing this, this morning.” The WSO sighed, as he looked up and saw the pilot keeping full pressure on the levers. Their airspeed was now at 1500 mph and still accelerating.

“18 … 17 … 16 …”

“I feel like I am missing something.” the pilot said reflectively.

“Did you leave the dog out?” the WSO joked.

“Missile detonation is a go!” the ground controller announced.

“13 … 12 … 11 … 10 … 9 … 8 …” agonizing echoed in their earphones.

“Distance of aircraft to target is 30.8 miles”

“5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Detonate!”

Attachment 54713

His rear mirrors, along the front of the canopy, blossomed in brilliance, illuminating the entire cockpit, as the nuclear payload detonated behind them, right on cue, incinerating the airspace for miles in all directions.

“Holy Hanna!” the young pilot gasped in astonishment, as he instantly shielded his eyes. When he looked back up, the underside of the cumulus clouds suddenly filled the mirrors and he barely got the jet to horizontal attitude at 8,000 feet.

“My stomach thanks you for that, John. Good God ... that was 11Gs!” the WSO groaned, having noted the "G-meter", during the level-off.

“Target destr ...” the radio began to bark, but went instantly dead. Just as suddenly, all the jet’s indicators fluttered to nothing and the engines ceased their incredibly powerful roar, leaving the jet to deafening sound of Mach 1.8 air rushing around it. As the aircraft streaked across the sky, it immediately began losing altitude, again, and there was nothing to be done about it.

“Friggin’ EMP!” the pilot snarled, fighting his now seemingly dead joystick. He had some control, but the hydraulic controls were like wrestling a bull to the ground.

Attachment 54712

“Uh, it’s time to bail, John!” the WSO shouted, their internal communication system out, as he set the seats for dual operation and reached between his legs. He pulled mightily on the ejection activation loop and the jet’s canopy was instantly jettisoned and a second or two, later, the powerful explosive in the base of each ejection seat violently removed both he and then the pilot from the now floundering jet.

In seconds, thrown hundreds of feet up and well clear the stricken aircraft, each parachute erupted from the two ACES ejection seats. The anxious pilot scanned the sky, as he slowly drifted to Earth. His sharp eyes detected and quickly followed his disabled jet, as it plunged quietly into the desert floor, some miles away, exploding in a huge ball of flames and the resulting oily smoke. A second, much larger explosion erupted from the crash site, throwing debris high into the air, attesting to the twelve Mk 82 500-lb bombs that were still slung under the fuselage.

“She was a good bird.” He lamented and then mused, "Probably should have jettisoned those."

Forty-five minutes later, the two men waved, uninjured, to a hovering helicopter, who had tracked them down, using the ejection seat’s locating beacon. The WSO smiled when he saw the helicopter pilot giving him a rousing thumbs up, indicating his determined ASAT shot had found its mark. As he crawled into the chopper, the rigging officer informed him that the surrounding several hundred miles of civilization was unpleasantly, completely and for the most part, permanently “blacked-out”, as a result of the unexpected EMP burst.

“It’s a good thing that beacon of yours and this bird are nuclear-hardened. Also, I must say, that smoke trail was hard to miss.”

“Well, at least our space-buddy won’t be sending cards home this holiday season.” He chuckled, as he vigorously shook the officer’s hand.

“They want to debrief both of you, sir,” the other man informed him, “We cannot talk anymore.”

“I’ll bet.” The pilot said, shaking his head in understanding, adding, “It’s a good thing they grounded everything this morning … otherwise there would have been a whole lot more falling out of the sky than just us.” He relaxed back, closed his eyes and quietly endured the return flight to the air base.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Anyway, that's the shoot, based on models I had lying around. Even the mini-nuke blast was difficult to shoot. Darn near burned the house down. ;) Okay ... whatever. We have to produce four mounted images (I'm going with the five) ... and that's it. Look on the bright side and "man up" ... at least it wasn't a song! :p

Okay, so I head on down to Calumet Photographic, right?

I need paper ... lots of it, for the next quarter ... and doggone if the place does not have a lick of 100-sheet Brilliant 8.5" x 11" Luster Grade Paper. Yeah they have 25-sheet, but that stuff is pricey to buy, packaged that way. So ... I offer to buy 4 x 25-sheet for the 100-sheet price. Hey, its not my fault they cannot manage the inventory, right? This is a consumable ... it is different than hardware. It winds up being a go.

So, while I am wandering the store, I see something I had wanted ever since I bought that heavy SONY 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM lens, as per the advice of my old buddy "Rooz." Yeah ... a gimbal-head mount for my tripod. I could live with the lightweight TAMRON SP AF 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD ... but, when I added the extra 10-ounces to the front of the α850, with the G-lens ... whoa baby! The hydrostatic ball-head was a real battle to use with the lightweight tripod. To have enough torque on the ball-head to hold that heavy lens and the equally weighty full frame steady, when you go to pan or tilt, it twists the tripod out of position, half the time. The non-hydrostatic ballhead (obviously, the cheaper one) is about impossible to use without 100% management, otherwise you could be injured, when the rig pinches your fingers. Well, "enough of that nonsense," I say!

During the previous shoot, with the jet and the UFO ... as I tilted the hydrostatic ballhead back, to get enough angle, I hit the ballhead's stops with the 70-200mm f/2.8 mounted. I needed an 80-degree to vertical shot and wound up adjusting the tripod legs (dangerous and precarious to do) to achieve the angle. That sealed it. New tripod head. This baby allows the camera to swing through the tripod vertical plane and flip completely upside down! :D If you loosen the tripod ring so that the lens can rotate inside it, you can reverse the direction of the camera without release. That's a twist.

Anyway, now I am good and ready for the 64-oz+ glass ... which is a lot like carrying a 2-liter bottle of water on the front of your camera. Oh, that's real maneuverable :rolleyes: This swinging bad boy rocks ... literally.

Attachment 54827

I also acquired three sets of casters for my heavy-duty light stands, because once you load the strobe flash heads on those stands, moving them around is truly a battle royal, with power cords and all the other stuff on the studio floor. The casters lock in place and when you need to adjust ... well, unlock and ease it into position, with the sandbag still on it.

Everything was at the student rate ... saving me another 10% on gear and 25% on the paper goods.

Yeah, I got carded, too. Who knew? :D

Don,

You should check Freestyle Photo. They have really great prices and student discount. Their Arista brand (no student discount) is very affordable and really good quality. Even with shipping costs, their prices may well beat what you can get in your local neighborhood.

Wow Don, I'm envious yet again.
I've long hankered after a Wimberley Head but for the eye watering £500 price tag.
Even the Calumet version is £300, Ouch!

I've been looking at these as a possible alternative.
Sidekick type
Gimbal type

Heres a link to a guy who got the Sidekick Type.

I think I might try one.

Peter,

I debated on getting one of these, also ... seeings that I dumped $249 into the Manfrotto hydrostatic head and really wanted it to work for the 70-400, but no dice. The lens is just too hard to manage, if at all, on such a device. The normal tilt-pan tripod head is far too limited to offer a natural solution to most images. You need to be quick to get those birds and my experience has shown me that going vertical seems to be mandatory.

I have left that lens set up on the gimbal for the past two days, examining how the entire device interacts with various camera setups. Where I am going to have to be a little more imaginative with the solution is using the high-powered mecablitz flash. The layout of it being a "sidecar" mount on the camera makes a direct conflict with the normal left-side approach of the gimbal.

Oh, it fits, but the front to back tilt advantage is effectively limited to ten to fifteen degrees. I may have to completely reverse the usual left-hand approach that I have. The tripod mounting hole is, unfortunately, on the wrong side of mecablitz bracket. There is not a second one. I know, I know ... machine and re-thread one.

I will know more later in the week, concerning this.

If I use the hot shoe mounted flash, it is no longer at issue. I am finding that everything hardware has its limitations. There is no one-size fits all. You just have to employ more flexibility and as we all seem to eventually find out, that usually is spelled with "hidden" capital-$ in the word, Photography. :p