No HDR

Initially I took 3 shots of it with different f-stops. Started at -2 1/2 ;  -1  and +1/2  f-stop.
Other shooting parameters : 1/90s, f8, ISO 100 at 24mm

Than I decided to go another way. I took the first shot ( -2 1/2 f-stops ) which was really dark, especially in the rocks area. But the sun was not that big and did not completely overwhelm the right area. Nevertheless the possible modification range of lightroom has to be used to get the image out of the darkness.

As you can see, the darkness slider is pushed up to +100, the lights slides goes down to -100. Also the gradation curve looks a bit strange. But if it helps, break the rules...

Other modifications were done in the color section:

So in same cases, it is possible to get unbelievable result out of under exposed shots which you maybe saw already in the bin....
Of course that's not always like this, especially if it is over exposed it is hardly possible to get back a normal shot. That's why I tend to under expose in difficult ligthing situations.
Best way is to do several shots with different exposure and take the best one or combine these shots later on.

This post is also available at G+:
https://plus.google.com/114296100775297704484/posts/BrSA5Yp9Xjg

have a nice day
HG

Macro

Let me start with some technical details. This shot was taken with a 100mm macro lens.
ISO 100, shutter speed 1/180s at f8

Due to the blue color it looks a bit strange. The blue color comes from post production, but less than you maybe expect. The color modification was only done on the purple part. Shift by -40 to blue, increasing the saturation by +19 and the luminance by +14.
No other colors where changed. More adaptions were done on the gradation curve. There I pushed the midtones and the dark tones by +25 to +60.

Furthermore the color dynamic and a bit more saturation. 
The color temperature is out of cam with 5600k.

As you can see, despite f8, the depth of field is very narrow, since the shooting distance was very small. Hope you like.

HG

Time Lapse

Video made out of single photos

Maybe not all know what is meant with time lapse or how it is done. Time Lapse videos are made out of single shots. Thats why every photographer can do this without having a video cam or a DSLR with video funtionality.

What do you need for it:
* a tripod
* a camera being able to be triggered remotely
* a remote controller (e.g. TC-80N3) (would be a bit annoying to trigger it by hand...)
* enough space on your memory card
that's mainly all you need to do a time lapse video. Of course there are other remote controllers available, the above example is just because I am using it on my Canon.

Which settings to put on the camera ?
* put all in manual mode what you can put into manual. Means, no autofocus, no automatic white balance, no auto ISO, no shutter or f-stop automatic.

Since the light may change over time, the settings for ISO, shutter or f-stop may change too, if you put it into auto-mode. That's why you should put your cam in M (manual) mode, select the f-stop and use a low ISO rate. Adjust the shutter speed accordingly to get a normal balanced photo.
I prefer to go a bit below the normal brightness and go with 0.5 or 1 stop under exposed. If the light conditions vary, it is easier to get back the dark areas than the overexposed white areas. In worst cases, the overexposed areas cannot be recovered.
The shutter speed is not so critical, since the camera is on the tripod anyhow. The only thing you have to keep in mind, is to have a faster shutter speed than the image sequence (each x seconds one shot with x > shutter speed)

By the way, all shots were taken in RAW format. But what I did to reduce the amount of memory used for the shots, was to reduce the RAW size. Means I don't shoot with >5000px, but reduced to ~2700px. Since the output video won't be more than 1920x1080, you don't need the maximum size available by the DSLR. This will raise the number of images to be stored on the memory card.

So far the camera settings. On the remote controller I select to take an image every 5 seconds.

For the number of shots you need for a time lapse video you can calculate like this:
e.g. 25 frames per seconds = 25 shots for 1 second of video
For this video ( ~14 seconds) I took 353 photos.
If you now think of 353 photos and every 5 seconds one shot -> means ~30 Minutes.
So if you go for time lapse videos, take a good book or magazine with you to be entertaint anyhow while you wait for the time lapse shots to be finished ;-)

HG

DOF - Depth of field

Corn field macro 

This shot shows a very narrow DOF (depth of field). There is only a small portion of the corn in focus. The remaining part is blurred, especially the background with the blue sky and some clouds.
I used a tripod at a very low position to exclude the area behind the corn field.
Major obstacle were the hundreds of flies around me. I was jumping around, tried to push the shutter and get rid of the flies.

There were several shots necessary to capture it like this, due to the windy conditions.
Wind and macro photography are two things which do not really fit together. Every little movement of the subject will change the focus situation.
So what to do against it ? Fix the subject... not working in this case. That means "try and error" method and keep shooting until the right moment is captured.

The shooting details:
* lens : 100mm macro
* shutter speed : 1/250s
* f-stop : 3,5
* ISO : 100

post processing : slightly pushed the dark tones, add some color dynamic and color saturation. Finally put the gradation curve into a light s-curve.

HG