Saturday, November 8, 2008

A Courthouse That Glows

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Photomatix can do strange and wonderful things to your pictures, although it takes some experience to get comfortable with it. If you didn't know better, you might think that this image was a painting. I particularly like the way the software adds a light glow around large objects although I don't know the technical reasons why that happens. This image is made of three photos, shot at correct exposure, two stops underexposed and two stops overexposed. The variable is the shutter speed, not the f stop, because you need to keep the depth of field the same. Photomatix squishes everything together, preserving high and low tones. Then you can fiddle with it some more. This is another picture of the architecturally wacky Civil Courts Building, with the Arch lurking in the background.

BY THE WAY,
you may begin to notice some changes in the blog starting today. For one thing, I'm now using my real name, not the old nickname. Something new is afoot, something exciting (well, depending on how somnolent you are), with a projected launch next Thursday, November 13.
Watch the skies. And thanks, PJ.


WHAT'S ON FOR THE WEEKEND: very little (a relief!), made up of tons of paperwork at the office, photo shooting, photo editing, dinner with our daughter and son-in-law, and working on this hush-hush new project. That's what I call free time.

TOMORROW:
all of Soldiers Memorial. The full view. More than meets the eye but not necessarily the lens.

4 comments:

Virginia said...

I finally see the glow effect. IT took me a minute. I lie how that building in the background looks like it's been stuffed up under the Arch! I still don't get this 3 shots thing. HOW can you change the shutter speed on your camera and still get the exact picture 3 times??? Geeezzzz. I'll just stick to fiddling with the levels and a little saturation razzle dazzleHA

This is a happen' place around here. You've "come out of the closet" so to speak and now something new is afoot. Can we break out the champagne next Thursday?
V

Sharon said...

All I can say is wow! As I've said before, this is one of my favorite St. Louis Buildings and you've made it...well...glow...as you said! Very, very nice.

PJ said...

You'll always be ST to me but I defer to your wishes and was glad I could help.

PJ said...

The part I don't understand about HDR is making the three exposures. Are you using a tripod or are you manipulating it, nowadays, through software, or can you do either. I read up on Ortonizing and tried it but mostly it's a crapshoot. Your work is precise. And beautiful. And within the range of reality.