OF Equality—As if it harm’d me, giving others the same chances and rights as myself — As if it were not indispensable to my own rights that others possess the same.
When standing on imperious ramparts,
Breathing clean, fresh air,
Letting your soul fly free,
As your eye simply tries
Encompassing all piquant visions...
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1900
When standing on imperious ramparts,
Breathing clean, fresh air,
Letting your soul fly free,
As your eye simply tries
Encompassing all piquant visions...
There are precious times when freedom and equality transcend mundane daily life. One such time occurred for me as evening’s light reached probative arms deep into the Grand Canyon, gliding down ancient lava flows, bouncing off vertically sculptured cliffs, with one gorgeous ray illuminating river and green of life at Lava Falls, as if a blessing.
Except for three photographers, Toroweap Point was devoid of people. Not so beauty! Subtle intermingling of light and shadow strategically emphasized the river and this particular falls – to transcend an ephemeral moment.
Yet, my eye flattened some points and de-emphasized some marked piquancy light’s tricks played, whether direct or reflected. I would need a steady tripod and full range capture in HDR mode to ingest full beauty.
Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3
Technology, created by humans, is not all equal.
When I began addressing Lava Falls, I had Photomatix, Bridge, and HDR Pro. Let me go on record - I'm not a devotee of Bridge. It's simply too cumbersome and rather limited, although I can use a less fluid version of Adobe Camera Raw. Nevertheless, I tried both HDR Pro and Photomatix paths for HDR. Unfortunately, I couldn't get what my eye recalled.
With Lightroom 3 and new Adobe Camera Raw 6.1, not only will the tools add range more conveniently, they let me clearly delineate Lava Falls in this awesome fine art image.
Dust Spots and Four Corners Capture
For just a moment, I'm going to rail against equality...
It's hard to shoot in Western United States deserts without getting dust spots on your sensor. When using Bridge, to try to remove dust spots, I found it difficult to recall exactly where that spot was after processing several tens of photos (Yep, the old brain was tired).
It's hard to shoot full range HDR without collecting noise in negative EV shots.
Yet LR3 provides a simple although not so straightforward path to quickly resolve multiple issues such as noise reduction, spot removal, and sharpening.
LR3, Noise Reduction, Sharpening, and Spot Removal – All in One
In a recent blog, I commented on Tom Hogarty's view regarding the new noise reduction algorithms in LR3. Under Detail, Sharpening and Noise Reduction have associated panels.
Here's my preferred LR3 workflow...
1. Zoom image to 200% [repeated Ctrl +).
2. Click Home key (takes you to upper left corner).
3. Check out Luminance Noise (move the slider right until noise goes away).
4. Under Presets, choose Sharpening-Narrow Edges (Scenics).
5. Zoom image to Fill [repeated Ctrl -).
6. Hold down Alt key.
7. Move Masking slider right to a value of about 5.
8. Check out the sky for round dust spots
9. Click Spot Removal Tool, size properly, and place over a dust spot.
10. Click to remove dust spot (repeat at will until you have a clean sky).
11. Repeat the 200% zoom, carefully examining all aspects of your photo before you leave (you may find chromatic aberration or fringing as well).
Light’s Freedom
While light is not evenly spread across Lava Falls, subtle slashes of light bounce off near lava crests, pointing to the southern cliff. Some of that light bounces across the river, giving a reddish cast to the reflecting northern cliff mid-ground.
But, it's the combination of light and shadows on the river which makes this shot. At the falls, a few light ridges (right) lead the eye to the fall, but the dark cliff beyond makes the eye bounce to the river below the falls.
The combination of light and dark cliffs, bisected by direct and reflected light on the tantalizing river, creates an equality in this image.
In essence, it’s lights freedom to go where it can and as it wishes which creates depth, power, and piquancy for Lava Falls...
Enjoy...
Except for three photographers, Toroweap Point was devoid of people. Not so beauty! Subtle intermingling of light and shadow strategically emphasized the river and this particular falls – to transcend an ephemeral moment.
Yet, my eye flattened some points and de-emphasized some marked piquancy light’s tricks played, whether direct or reflected. I would need a steady tripod and full range capture in HDR mode to ingest full beauty.
Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3
Technology, created by humans, is not all equal.
When I began addressing Lava Falls, I had Photomatix, Bridge, and HDR Pro. Let me go on record - I'm not a devotee of Bridge. It's simply too cumbersome and rather limited, although I can use a less fluid version of Adobe Camera Raw. Nevertheless, I tried both HDR Pro and Photomatix paths for HDR. Unfortunately, I couldn't get what my eye recalled.
With Lightroom 3 and new Adobe Camera Raw 6.1, not only will the tools add range more conveniently, they let me clearly delineate Lava Falls in this awesome fine art image.
Dust Spots and Four Corners Capture
For just a moment, I'm going to rail against equality...
It's hard to shoot in Western United States deserts without getting dust spots on your sensor. When using Bridge, to try to remove dust spots, I found it difficult to recall exactly where that spot was after processing several tens of photos (Yep, the old brain was tired).
It's hard to shoot full range HDR without collecting noise in negative EV shots.
Yet LR3 provides a simple although not so straightforward path to quickly resolve multiple issues such as noise reduction, spot removal, and sharpening.
LR3, Noise Reduction, Sharpening, and Spot Removal – All in One
In a recent blog, I commented on Tom Hogarty's view regarding the new noise reduction algorithms in LR3. Under Detail, Sharpening and Noise Reduction have associated panels.
Here's my preferred LR3 workflow...
1. Zoom image to 200% [repeated Ctrl +).
2. Click Home key (takes you to upper left corner).
3. Check out Luminance Noise (move the slider right until noise goes away).
4. Under Presets, choose Sharpening-Narrow Edges (Scenics).
5. Zoom image to Fill [repeated Ctrl -).
6. Hold down Alt key.
7. Move Masking slider right to a value of about 5.
8. Check out the sky for round dust spots
9. Click Spot Removal Tool, size properly, and place over a dust spot.
10. Click to remove dust spot (repeat at will until you have a clean sky).
11. Repeat the 200% zoom, carefully examining all aspects of your photo before you leave (you may find chromatic aberration or fringing as well).
Light’s Freedom
While light is not evenly spread across Lava Falls, subtle slashes of light bounce off near lava crests, pointing to the southern cliff. Some of that light bounces across the river, giving a reddish cast to the reflecting northern cliff mid-ground.
But, it's the combination of light and shadows on the river which makes this shot. At the falls, a few light ridges (right) lead the eye to the fall, but the dark cliff beyond makes the eye bounce to the river below the falls.
The combination of light and dark cliffs, bisected by direct and reflected light on the tantalizing river, creates an equality in this image.
In essence, it’s lights freedom to go where it can and as it wishes which creates depth, power, and piquancy for Lava Falls...
Enjoy...
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