Editing high dynamic range images in PhotoLab 5

[OXiDant (Peter)]

The only thing i would try to change is horizon level by eyeballing the level on the scene.
It looks leaning towards the right just a tad. (perspective i know)
And a small exposure lift to see if more detail in the front don’t ruin the scene.

Great catch.

[Sparky2006 (Chuck)]

agreed, as I said, more time gets invested when I get closer to printing…

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

@mikemyers I’ll bet, if you sit down and try to remember what you think you saw when you took the image, you would end up, not with one mental image, but with a series of memories of the detail in the grass, the detail in the sky, the detail in the mountains, etc. So how do you convey all those memories to someone without an image? You tell a story, which is a sequence of words that describe the scene, bit by bit, until the listener can form a mental image of what you saw. Of course, because you can’t see inside their mind, there is no way you can tell if what they are “seeing” is anything like what you think you remember seeing.

Ideally, you would want to take them to the scene and let them observe it for themselves. And, if you could have done that, they would not necessarily have seen what you saw in the way that you saw it.

Well, a photograph can go a long way to helping in that process of describing a scene to someone else.

But, just as taking someone to the scene in person would have allowed them to choose what and how they see, a well taken, well processed, photograph has to give them the same opportunity - unless you want to restrict what they see to your own interpretation.

For better or worse, yes, you are right. That’s why I decided to take 7 bracketed shots, and combine them using Photomatix. I had no idea I could do it all in PhotoLab. Photolab manages to bring out all the things I wanted to capture, even though I couldn’t see all of them at the same time, as you pointed out.

Yes, a series of images, with images of the brightest and darkest parts of the scene.

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

As I have just said, what the camera records is absolutely not real, when compared to what your in-built optical sensors and neural processor perceived and recorded during the time when you originally saw the scene.

@Joanna, ten or maybe twenty years ago, I learned that when I was watching a sunset, I knew that my camera would get an awful photo, so I set the exposure for the sky. Voila! All those beautiful sky colors came to life. The cameras I was using were very crude, but this trick forced them to capture an image I enjoyed.

In Kannakumari, India, I used to photograph almost every sunrise and sunset, learning by my mistakes how to do better.

It’s like your image up above “Export of treated RAW”. When I was standing there, usually everything was washed out, until I underexposed. By the way, I love that image, both because of the colors and composition, but also because of the water. I used to struggle with that. You nailed it perfectly!

[GIBF4 (Jeroen Veenvliet | Win10 Enterprise x64 | EOS 77D | Tamron 16-300mm | DPL 7.6.0 | Netherlands)]

Hello,

Just a small update on the late '50’s Fighter Jet (F-86F).
Goal now was to be more ‘honest’ in the way I actually saw it at the time when I took this picture.
I believe this one to be better than my previous attempts.

Regards, Jeroen

[OXiDant (Peter)]

my only grief is a very narrow crop. the plain can hardly breath.
maybe a 16:9 ratio can give some space back on the nose and wing.
note you clipped the shadow on the left of the wing.

it isn’t critic just observation. you know why you frame this as you did.

[mikemyers]

I think he framed it that way because there was no “room” to include more space on the sides, because of things he didn’t want in the photo.

I was wondering what the photo might look like if the camera was resting on the ground, shooting a little upwards?

[GIBF4 (Jeroen Veenvliet | Win10 Enterprise x64 | EOS 77D | Tamron 16-300mm | DPL 7.6.0 | Netherlands)]

Good morning,

Thank you both for the further feedback on the latest enhanced photo. Appreciated.
@OXiDant: I do understand your grief on the very narrow crop on the airplane, and I do agree on this entirely. Be informed I only have one lens (Tamron 16-300mm) in possession and attached to my EOS 77D camera body. No other lenses at my disposal. I like photographing but am an amateur with a very basic kit. In short; I took this specific photo with the sole aim of getting it processed back home using PL5.2.0-4372. My main focus was to ‘play’ with the settings in order to achieve a better result, setting op the landscape and perspectives aside Again, you’re fully right in saying this could be way, WAY, better.

@mikemyers:

@mikemyers

I was wondering what the photo might look like if the camera was resting on the ground, shooting a little upwards?

I’ll do this next time when I shall be there again. This advice is welcomed indeed. Many thanks for mentioning it.

Have the best of day my friends.

PS: Leaving to Greece tomorrow, bring my camera along with me. So, new subject will follow in short notice

Regards,
Jeroen

[Wolfgang ([ Win11, PL9, FP7, VP5, Nik8 + 3.3 ])]

@GIBF4

Just a small update on the late '50’s Fighter Jet (F-86F).

Hi Jeroen,
this is a different picture than the one you have been showing before. Suppose you took it with the same exposure, you developed your subject (the fighter plane) not so dark anymore, so it’s better recognizable.

Otherwise you may do as you like, trying to reproduce the scenery you saw (remember)
– or like you want to present your subject.

@OXiDant mentioned the too tight crop already.

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Have a nice holiday, Wolfgang