From Sassafras Mountain

[Barefoot]

My Colormunki moved to the west coast and if I ever wanted to see it again, I'd probably have to sneak up on it. Never loan stuff out!

Anyway, started pricing around and found them to be about the same everywhere I looked. At the same time, I always peruse the pages of craigslist looking for interesting items. Lo and behold, within a three hour drive was a Colormunki for $350 in Spartanburg. I called the guy and told him how far away I was and he told me that if I wanted it, he'd let me have it for $300. I jump in it.

After the deal, there was enough time left in the day to make the short trip to the top of Sassafras Mountain to see if this was the day to finally get some decent HDR shots of the distant peaks that can be viewed from there. HDR brings out twice as many as a properly exposed single frame.

How'd that work out, you might ask? Not to good. I never seem to pick the day when there is zero wind/breeze. I did want to see what you guys thought of this single frame pulled from one of the sets of seven or nine. I didn't do much other than the normal touches a raw file would get in Capture NX 2.

I suc at landscapes.

[AntZ]

I like it. There is an interesting depth to it and the colour is fantastic.

[mbrager]

Getting to the landscape is at least half the battle, and you clearly don't suck at getting there. It looks like a great hike. This view is lovely with interesting textures and a lot of color and detail. The sky is also very nice. So if you were shooting for HDR, you would have three or more different exposures of this shot, and combine them in software. The sky might be less highlighted, and the shadows more highlighted. The foreground tree would have less shadow on it. What would the distant hills/mountains look like? I suspect you'd pull out more detail from that area as well. Have you tried this already? Care to share the result? I'd love to see it for sure.

[JAS_Photo]

I like it. It has a very painterly quality to the light and composition.

[Michaelaw]

I think if MA sees it he'll probably kick your ass for the horizon not being totally level Seriously though, it's a wonderful shot BF

[Barefoot]

I think if MA sees it he'll probably kick your ass for the horizon not being totally level...

I can't even see the horizon. Stupid Isoprene.

There is a difference in the clarity of the distant peaks when HDR is used, but in breezy conditions the results are usually less than pleasing if foliage is involved. This is the HDR shot brager wanted to see.



This one was from a three shot bracket and was probably the last one I got that evening. The wind had gotten as calm as it was going to get while there was still light. (truth be told, there was still another half an hour or so left, but there was something big crashing around in those woods to the left and I was the only one on top of that mountain. I just let whatever it was have the mountain to itself.)

[asnow]

I really like the warm colours in the first one. They seem much more realistic than the second posting.

[Runmonty]

I really like the warm colours in the first one. They seem much more realistic than the second posting.

I agree, although I also like the more obvious layering of the distant mountains and sky colour in the HDR version

[AcadieLibre]

First shot looks really good as for the second not so much.

[mbrager]

Thanks for posting the HDR shot. HDR is very tricky to use I find, and there seems to be endless tweaks to apply until it seems right. My sense is that this is a case with very harsh differences between shadows and highlights, so maybe three shots wasn't enough to capture the whole dynamic range. Practice makes perfect so I guess you will keep trying. It's a lovely spot with a great name: Sassafrass.