Along the coast of Maine (watch your step!) and a peak at the original shots

“A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.” – Author Unknown

You know, its kinda funny. Stumbling about the rocks and tide pools here along the coast of Maine, I was sure I was soaking it all in. With the earbuds in, and a great playlist on, I try to let the scene pull me in deep…..zen like cinematic deep (whatever the heck that means). As I worked on the image tonight however, I noticed alot more detail than I remember being there at the scene.

There is a process….a rather involved process that most of my images go through. I know I have promised a little peak into the workflow and magic a few times…..and have delivered zilch, but its still on the list. Until then, here is a peak at 3 of the original files that I used when creating this shot. I first processed all 5 of the original NEF files in Photomatix Pro 2 separate times to get 2 separate HDR images. This allowed me to pull in warm and cool color temperatures where I wanted them. The next process was to take these HDR shots into photoshop as separate layers and by using layer masks, I was able to get a version I liked. The whole process then gets refined again with a few other tricks and plugins.

It still amazes me that we are able to pull out all of that color and detail from these base images!