Bolton Abbey

[Mick]

A visit to Bolton Abbey In North Yorkshire.



Still on the HDR kick, I will crack it... Sometime!

[victor]

Mick,

Nice image.

With HDR I find myself masking back in one of the original skies after minor mods in Lightroom. This avoids the grey that Photomatix turns lovely white clouds into. Greens I tone down a little with a hugh and saturation adjustment on the yellow channel. This can be masked as well so it affects only the trees/grass.

I also use groups and layer masks to enhance minor details. One thing to try is black and white layer with high contrast above the hdr layer set to luminosity and opacity to suit image.

See Jiros work methods/flow here:

My workflow procedure as requested by Rob.

I have tried it and it does improve my HDR work.

With above adjustments:



Regards

David Aka Victor

[Seriche]

Mick,

I love the subject, composition and colours, and also very much like the enhancement of the celtic cross. Nice touch of warmth with the little pots of flowers too

I haven't tried HDR yet, but have looked at many images. From a personal point of view I go for either a very light touch, or completely insane . But in general I'm not so keen on the curdling effect HDR seems to have on clouds, even though it increases the drama. To my eyes it seems to make the clouds heavier and also draw attention away from the main focal point.

A lot of people do like that effect though, so there's no right or wrong to it

Seri

[Seriche]

David,

Just crossed posts with yours......but confess I do like the dark grey colour in the clouds

Seri

[Mick]

Hey Dave

Thanks for the crit.

I do use a B&W layer, In fact I use 3, 4 if you count the background copy.

The 3 I work on are all HDR, tonemapped separately; Grundgy/Painterly, B&W and as near normal as I can get it.

I agree; my greens are OTT, my skies are "forbidding".

However, we all try to show the "Hwyl" (Spirit) of a place. With the history of Bolton Abbey, the dissolution of the monasteries, conducted by Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister. I didn't want a "Postcard".

I will go back and shoot an adjoining building, which was built by the guy who bought the abbey and land from the King at a nominal price. Then built his house from the rubble. Now, we pay for the up keep of the ruins, while his descendants live there ... and another thing... opps! Had a John the Baptist moment.


I'm still perfecting the workflow and my style.

Cheers tho'

[Mick]

[Mick]

Seri

Thanks for your comments and crit.
The pots, was considering cloning them out, but, seeing as tho' I'm in touch with my feminine side I left them in.

Cheers mate

[Seriche]

Seri

Thanks for your comments and crit.
The pots, was considering cloning them out, but, seeing as tho' I'm in touch with my feminine side I left them in.

Cheers mate

I don't have a feminine side, but I still liked the pots for that nice warm accent

[FrankMi]

A visit to Bolton Abbey In North Yorkshire.



Still on the HDR kick, I will crack it... Sometime!

Hi Mick, If you are trying to create a somber, foreboding mood, then your treatment of the image is close to perfect! It reminds me of Disney's Haunted House! Excellent.

For most images, I find that HDR tonemapping tends to make the sky too dark and the foliage a bit on the 'electric' side. I like the composition. The overall image seems to be dark to me but it might have actually been that way when you shot it. In this case the dramatic sky may even pull the eye off the subject. In some cases, a dramatic sky can really enhance a muted subject but here you have four objects competing for attention, the monument, the graveyard, the building, and the sky. As the monument is in the foreground, you might want to consider lightening and sharpening that and leaving the other three more subdued.

One thing that is noticeable is how dark the tops of the trees are where (I suspect) you worked on the sky. It's hard to adjust the sky without affecting the foliage in front of it. The sky seen through the trees is usually not noticed so I've found that it’s better to leave the sky behind the trees alone and just be very careful about creating halos in that area.

I hope you don't mind if I show an example of what I am thinking....



I also moved the monument more toward the right to give it more prominence. I hope this helps!

[Mick]

It reminds me of Disney's Haunted House! Excellent.

Erm... let me think about that one!

[FrankMi]

Erm... let me think about that one!

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend.

[Mick]

It's OK. Lightened up!



Went back and started again. I think, It looks too normal now. Less intense I grant you.

Maybe wait for a sunset or a more interesting sky.

[victor]

Mick,

I use HDR to pull details in shadows and push into highlights. I try not to over cook skies grasses etc. I have now tried HDR Programs Photomatix, HDR Efex Pro and what is packaged with CS5. I am slowly leaning way from Photomatix with my main subject matters Church Interiors and using HDR Efex Pro with the combination of control points to refine areas of the image further.

One example processed in 2 packages:

1. HDR Effex Pro (Further work required on Windows)



and

2. Photomatix



Regards

David aka Victor

[Mick]

Hey Dave

Thanks the reply

Are these 2 Images at the same stage?

[Mick]

Increased the contrast a wee bit, to get texture on the stones.

[victor]

Mike,

Not quite there yet. I have to work on the HDR EFEX PRO Version. Not happy with the windows. Colours of walls are OK now. White not dirty grey. Masking and groups required !!

Call it work in progress ....

Thats HDR !!

Regards

David

[DaveWilky]

Fantastic shot of the Abbey Mike, been many many years since i walked around there. it was on a school trip and now i`m 46, just looking at your pic made it feel like yesterday... Cheers for the post Mick..