Sony Lounge Thread MKIII (All Sony cameras welcome)

digital_AM wrote in post #18390763
Thanks Gene. Actually I didn't use Color Efex on this one. I used Photomatix for the blending and then most of the edits were done in LR.

The sky appears a bit gray and darker up too. That's from the mesh metal roof, not HDR blending.

Great work Alfredo. I love this scene. In Photomatix did you start with one of the presets...would like to know what settings tricks you gravitate towards.

David Arbogast wrote in post #18390783
Great work Alfredo. I love this scene. In Photomatix did you start with one of the presets...would like to know what settings tricks you gravitate towards.

Thanks David! I'll grab a screenshot of my settings tonight. One issue I had was using deghosting. Some of the leaves moved a bit so I tried deghosting in Photomatix. I didn't like the results so I just cloned out a few of the leaves on the left. I think the issue was the sky was blah so Photomatix had a hard time blending in parts of a different exposure for the deghosting.

I want to try out Lumariver HDR to see how it performs. The only reason for looking at this "automated" digital blending tools is to save time. I could do it with the various luminosity panels I use but sometimes I get lazy.

http://www.lumariver.c​om/

digital_AM wrote in post #18390788
Thanks David! I'll grab a screenshot of my settings tonight. One issue I had was using deghosting. Some of the leaves moved a bit so I tried deghosting in Photomatix. I didn't like the results so I just cloned out a few of the leaves on the left. I think the issue was the sky was blah so Photomatix had a hard time blending in parts of a different exposure for the deghosting.

I want to try out Lumariver HDR to see how it performs. The only reason for looking at this "automated" digital blending tools is to save time. I could do it with the various luminosity panels I use but sometimes I get lazy.

http://www.lumariver.c​om/

Thanks! Yes, I've been loving Photomatix except for the deghosting. Even when I manually select the deghost areas it gives me trouble.

Looking forward to your Lumariver review.

I'm curious if you've tried SNS-HDR Professional. I've found it to be the best HDR editor as far as keeping things natural. Admittedly, I haven't tried the newest version of Photomatix yet.

I used to use SNS HDR but when I switched to Mac it wasn't available on that platform so I stopped. Haven't checked recently if a Mac version is available

navydoc wrote in post #18390811
I'm curious if you've tried SNS-HDR Professional. I've found it to be the best HDR editor as far as keeping things natural. Admittedly, I haven't tried the newest version of Photomatix yet.

I used to use it Gene. I don't recall why I stopped. I think that's when I started to get into blending exposures myself through Photoshop.

idsurfer wrote in post #18390710
Overcast skies can really make for nice soft light.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/W2xQ​Lj Short Break While Hiking. by Cory Shuler, on Flickr

This nice image is an example of why I like to use CPLs. A CPL can take all or most of the glare off those leaves (the eye gravitates towards brighter areas, so glare is a distraction). Regardless, I love the shot...you live in a beautiful part of the world.

Thanks for pointing that out David. I even carry a CPL but never use it! I think I'll give it a whirl!

idsurfer wrote in post #18390862
Thanks for pointing that out David. I even carry a CPL but never use it! I think I'll give it a whirl!

I don't know if this will appeal to you but you can help mitigate the brightness of the leaves if you didn't use a cpl by adding a hue/saturation adjustment layer and set to 'luminosity' blend mode. Use the color picker and click on the brighter leaves to select its color and then move the 'lightness' slider to the left to darken. You can mask out areas you don't want affected like his shirt in this case. (I also darkened his hair a little using another layer on 'softlight' blend mode and painting over his hair with black at 20% opacity)

Here's a quick example.

I have a few long items I need to sell on FM. Got the 48" strip box mentioned above, also have a Westcott kit that includes an Octabox and a Stripbox along with the lightstands. And then I've got a really cool RRS monopod. So, a few extra-long items...

So my question is how the heck do I find shipping boxes for that stuff? Usually I like to sell lenses and cameras that fit neatly into USPS flat rate boxes. My boxing/shipping quandary has led to me procrastinating selling this stuff.

thanks Gene. I will try that.

navydoc wrote in post #18390878
I don't know if this will appeal to you but you can help mitigate the brightness of the leaves if you didn't use a cpl by adding a hue/saturation adjustment layer and set to 'luminosity' blend mode. Use the color picker and click on the brighter leaves to select its color and then move the 'lightness' slider to the left to darken. You can mask out areas you don't want affected like his shirt in this case. (I also darkened his hair a little using another layer on 'softlight' blend mode and painting over his hair with black at 20% opacity)

Here's a quick example.

Hosted photo: posted by navydoc in
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forum: Sony Digital Cameras

A very slight improvement. Can't replicate a CPL glare reduction in post.

idsurfer wrote in post #18390862
Thanks for pointing that out David. I even carry a CPL but never use it! I think I'll give it a whirl!

!!! take a shot with and without and compare :P CPL is really good on greens and water.

navydoc wrote in post #18390223
Thanks. I've thought about using tile as well. The problem for me is that they are typically only 9" or 12" squares and would have to be mounted on something if more than one is to be used. I've found that foamcore board is excellent as a background in solid colors such as black, white and gray but beyond that, I've been trying ideas that are first, good looking and 2nd, cheap. The wood was given to me by a buddy. Because the wood panels are basically 'one dimensional', they are easy to lean up against a wall for storage. The foamcore I use are around 20" x 30" by the way.

I know I could do composites and add a photograph as a background and will when the subject is appropriate but for now, this is the easiest solution for me...and less work to boot.

Thanks very much Vinz.

ahh ok. yup that is the downfall of the tiles, you gotta place them together. there's a few that are blended together. i also looked at the rolls for larger size but they didnt have nice looking ones. good to hear about your experience and thoughts

David Arbogast wrote in post #18390889
I have a few long items I need to sell on FM. Got the 48" strip box mentioned above, also have a Westcott kit that includes an Octabox and a Stripbox along with the lightstands. And then I've got a really cool RRS monopod. So, a few extra-long items...

So my question is how the heck do I find shipping boxes for that stuff? Usually I like to sell lenses and cameras that fit neatly into USPS flat rate boxes. My boxing/shipping quandary has led to me procrastinating selling this stuff.

If you'll ship via UPS, take your items to the nearest UPS Store and have them box everything for you. There will be a small charge probably but well worth it not having to hassle with it for me.