Fire fighting aircraft

[Dave A]

Busy last week at the Forest Fire Management Center. I did manage to get out of the response room to take a few shots and stretch my legs.

Dave


1.



2.



3.



4.



5.



6.

[Wavelength]

Excellent images....and the last one is Gold!!!

[Geoff F]

They all work well.

[Dave A]

On #4 top left there appears to be some green CA. At least that's what I think it is. I tried to process it out with no luck.
Any suggestions how to make it less noticeable?

Dave

[Manfred M]

On #4 top left there appears to be some green CA. At least that's what I think it is. I tried to process it out with no luck.
Any suggestions how to make it less noticeable?

Dave

I suspect it is more of a halo than CA. These images are overcooked and oversharpened, and what you see is a halo artifact from these processes. I see this in 3, 4 and 5.

[Spam]

I suspect it is more of a halo than CA. These images are overcooked and oversharpened, and what you see is a halo artifact from these processes. I see this in 3,IS this a 4 and 5.

Is this a bad thing, Manfred? I'm looking at these images and thinking: "Wow, good work, Dave. Wish I could take pics like this."

[Shadowman]

Nice series, good play of light.

[Manfred M]

Is this a bad thing, Manfred? I'm looking at these images and thinking: "Wow, good work, Dave. Wish I could take pics like this."

I think to some extent this is a personal taste thing Simon. I don't think you could take these images because if Dave posted the SOOC originals, they wouldn't look like these. These are definitely a result of post processing work.

While I love bright and contrasty images, I find that there is a fine line that separates a well done image and one that is pushed too hard using post-processing techniques. I find that once we start seeing these undesirable artifacts, the PP work has gone a bit too far.

[Dave A]

I can't say I disagree with Manfred about them being a bit too processed. The last couple weeks while at work and when I get a chance I've been shooting some of our aircraft using multiple exposures then processing them through Phootmatix as an HDR image. I've been trying to get the detail and look I want without looking too over processed. It's been tougher than I thought it would be because it's so easy to process just a tad too far and that little extra is often way too much for many people. I know I'm getting better results than when I first started and I know I need to keep at it to improve.

Dave

#5 is very close to where I want my HDR images to be.

Dave

[Spam]

I've been trying to get the detail and look I want without looking too over processed. It's been tougher than I thought it would be because it's so easy to process just a tad too far and that little extra is often way too much for many people. I know I'm getting better results than when I first started and I know I need to keep at it to improve. Dave

At the moment I can only dream of getting images as crisp and clear as you are. They may seem overprocessed to some, but it seems obvious to me that you could step backward on the processing far more easily than you could step forward.

[Dave A]

At the moment I can only dream of getting images as crisp and clear as you are. They may seem overprocessed to some, but it seems obvious to me that you could step backward on the processing far more easily than you could step forward.

Thank you Simon. I don't shoot a lot of HDR images but I do enjoy playing around with it.

Dave

[IzzieK]

The last one is called Jacob's Ladder, I think...it is m y favourite. I can only dream of being able to see one, much less photograph one...

[Dave A]

The last one is called Jacob's Ladder, I think...it is m y favourite. I can only dream of being able to see one, much less photograph one...

Thank you Izzie, I didn't know that.

Dave

[Tony Britton]

Fantastic work. Images 3 & 4 are especially excellent.

Tony

[Manfred M]

The last one is called Jacob's Ladder, I think...it is m y favourite. I can only dream of being able to see one, much less photograph one...

The technical name for these is Crepuscular Rays, i.e. sunlight that goes through holes in the clouds. They may have all kinds of names, Jacob's ladder I hadn't heard before, but I have heard them called god rays.

[Manfred M]

Phootmatix as an HDR image.

That definitely explains some of the issues. Some of the Photomatix filters can be rather heavy-handed and halos are a common issue with people using that software.

[IzzieK]

I forgot to comment on the choppers...they are all very good looking. You certainly some good and fine resources in that airport to photograph every now and then...and I like the PP too if I may say so...particularly #1 and #3...the peak through to see the clouds in #5 is another favourite. Some of them a little bit overdone but I can live with them if you can...

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Dave,

On #4 top left there appears to be some green CA. At least that's what I think it is. I tried to process it out with no luck.
Any suggestions how to make it less noticeable?

CA will give complementary colours around high contrast edges in certain areas of the frame in a predictable way, so if you see green (cyan), also look for magenta (red) - I see it in #3, #4 and #5, I expect it is (was) in the others too, just that the image content, detail distance and sharpening radii have hidden it. I also suspect your brain is not 'seeing' the magenta/red edges because it is assuming they are from the sunset.

Any suggestions how to make it less noticeable?

What are you processing with?
What order of workflow are you following?

It needs to be dealt with (in RAW) as one of the first steps in the post processing workflow, I suggest before any HDR merging and certainly before any sharpening.

If you try to remove it now, I wouldn't expect that to work well, unless you do it manually; by which I mean, open the image, zoom to 200%, use a 100% desaturation brush sized to about the width of the false colour edges and desaturate them out - this will be effective - in fact I should get a T-shirt printed I now take great care to fix CA before I process!


Most do look a bit over processed for my taste - and I like the subject matter and enjoy the detail.
Wish I had your access to the flight line

HTH, Dave

[Stagecoach]

Yes they do look slightly over processed when you look close Dave, but it's a great over processing that particularly suits the compositions of 3, 4 and 5

If you can crack those halos WOW.

[Dave A]

Hi Dave,



CA will give complementary colours around high contrast edges in certain areas of the frame in a predictable way, so if you see green (cyan), also look for magenta (red) - I see it in #3, #4 and #5, I expect it is (was) in the others too, just that the image content, detail distance and sharpening radii have hidden it. I also suspect your brain is not 'seeing' the magenta/red edges because it is assuming they are from the sunset.



What are you processing with?
What order of workflow are you following?

It needs to be dealt with (in RAW) as one of the first steps in the post processing workflow, I suggest before any HDR merging and certainly before any sharpening.

If you try to remove it now, I wouldn't expect that to work well, unless you do it manually; by which I mean, open the image, zoom to 200%, use a 100% desaturation brush sized to about the width of the false colour edges and desaturate them out - this will be effective - in fact I should get a T-shirt printed I now take great care to fix CA before I process!


Most do look a bit over processed for my taste - and I like the subject matter and enjoy the detail.
Wish I had your access to the flight line

HTH, Dave

Thank you Dave, very helpful. It's Canada Day here today and raining so I may get one the computer and try again with image #4 which has the worst CA/halo I believe.

Dave