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How I took it: Oslob Sunset

This is a new segment to this blog.  A "How I took it" section where I'll blog about how I took a featured photo from start to finish.

Today's photo is a photo which I took during Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk 2012.  This is a sunset image taken at Oslob Municipal Heritage Site, Oslob, Cebu, Philippines. 

Ok, let's talk technicals.

Gears and Accessories

Camera:          Nikon D5000
Lens:                 Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6
Accessories:    Tripod
                           ND8 square filter
                           GND8 square filter
                           Corded remote trigger
No. of shots:    1 frame

Camera Settings:

ISO:                     200
Aperture:           f/11
Shutter Speed:   8secs

Metering:           Matrix

File type:             Raw

Color Space:     AdobeRGB

AF:                       Manual

Lens focus:         Infinity

Setup

I mounted the camera on the tripod.  Composed the shot to the entire length of the structure and of the sky.  I set the ISO to 200 and f/11.

Typically when using square filters you'll need a holder.  But since the scene was so perfect, I didn't have time to attach the holder so, I handheld both the ND8 and GND8 filters.  I carefully placed it in front of the lens. 

I then, set the focus on the lens to infinity.  I set the shutter speed to 8 secs, with the ND8 in front.  I intended to partially under exposed the image hoping to capture the colors of the sky.

And the resulting image below.

This is the SOOC (straight-out-of-camera) image, converted to jpeg, of course.

I know, its far from the final image.  So, let us go to post processing.

Applications used for final image

Lightroom 4.1
Photoshop CS6
Nik's Viveza

The Post Processing

First step is importing the image to Lightroom.  In LR (Lightroom), I did some global adjustments.  Here are the details under Basic Panel.

Temp	7050
Tint	-54
Exposure	0
Contrast	+31
Hightlights	-100
Shadows	+38
Whites / Blacks	0
Clarity	+36
Vibrance / Saturation	0

These are the only settings I’ve adjusted and nothing else.  See the result (below).



This is still no closer to the final image.  The sky is still a bit of blown out.  To get the details on the sky, we needed to under expose the image.  So in LR, I created a virtual copy of the image and these are the settings.

Temp	7050
Tint	-54
Exposure	-2
Contrast	+33
Highlight	-62
Shadow	-31
Whites	+55
Clarity	+45

And the result...

This is the virtual copy.

Now the sky has details.  Here’s a neat trick using Photoshop Layers.  Exported the two images to Photoshop by selecting the two images, right click –> Edit In –> Open As Layers in Photoshop...

In Photoshop, be sure to put the under exposed image under the correctly exposed image.

Now add a layer mask on the top layer.  Select the Brush Tool (B), and be sure that the black is active on the color palette by pressing (D). 

Adjust brush size by ( [ - open bracket) to decrease or ( ] - close bracket ) to increase.  Brush off the sky to bring out the sky on the layer below.  See image below.

Brush until you get the entire sky.  Be sure not to brush the building.  In case the building is brushed, press (X) to switch the palette to white and brush on the parts of the building that were brushed by black.

Now flatten layers by going to menu Layer –> Flatten  Image.

I applied Nik’s Software Viveza.  Adjusted Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Structure.  Increased the Shadow Adjustment to brighten the building.

Last step, I added my watermark.

Hope you’ve learned something.

A Must Read about HDR Photographers

I read about this article about The 10 Steps Every HDR Photographer Goes Through.  It is a really fascinating article.  I know I've been to some of these steps (if not all, at one point).

How bout you?  What step are you now? Which steps have you gone through?