Peekaboo Canyon via PS Blend

Peekaboo Canyon via PS Blend, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

In my second part of my HDR blog, here is a shot where I took 2 shots of different exposure, used the Quick Select Tool in PS CS3 and used that to create a Layer Mask to select just the sky from the second shot.

Here is a picture of the results of combining 5 shots via DPHDR:


I like the blend a little better. I think the HDR shot brings out a little more detail in the shadow areas.

Overall, neither picture is perfect. I think the blend is more asthetic to me. Probably, a combination of the two would make the best picture.

Red at the Madison

Red at the Madison, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Red opened up for Seether on May 21st at the Madison Theater in Covington, Ky. They put on a nice set. Flyleaf was supposed to open but they canceled due to illness.

Seether put on a good show but it was fairly shot and they didn't play a lot from their new CD. Also, they didn't do an encore. I guess the venue was too small.

I used my wife's Canon A710IS Point and Shoot for this shot. I experienced my first ever media card failure in 10 years of shooting digital. The Sandisk SD Ultra II 2 GB card failed to let me write to it shortly after this picture. I've been unable to format it or erase any images. Quite the surprise. I didn't have a spare card in her camera case, another good lesson. In the field with my normal cameras, I always have 3-4 cards available. Of course, I couldn't take those into the theater. Alas!

Dynamic Photo HDR and Pictures from Utah

Bryce HDR, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Well, I'm back safe and sound in Dayton and I'm slowly getting a chance to review my photos and clean them up.

On this trip, I purchased RoboGeo to geotag from photos and I already owned Dynamic Photo HDR to create High Dynamic Range Photos.

In this post and the one tomorrow, I'll go over in more detail the positives and negatives of Dynamic HDR with landscape photography and compare it to doing overlay layers in Photoshop CS3.

When I shoot for HDR, I like to shoot a shot for 0 exposure, -2 and +2. For my D80, I'm able to do 3 bracketed shots with a 2 step exposure but on my D300, I'm only able to do a 1 stop step so I've been shooting 5 bracketed shots. I've also switched to shooting RAW+Jpg as I usually shoot raw and find that the JPG shots seem to make it process a little faster.

For the slot canyons, I tended to shoot a shot for the shadows and then a shot metered for the sky and the dynamic range was too vaste for a standard bracketed shot.

I'll do a couple of additional comparisons on my next post showing some HDR shots compared to Photoshop layers.

Heading Home, May 17, 2008

Today we finally head home after 10 days. It's been a long time away from the family. We got up around 7am and at a quick breakfast at the Comfort Lodge and we've packed up and we're getting ready to head to the Vegas Airport.

On our way, we're going to stop at St. George and the Johnson Farm to check out the dinosaur tracks. Then it's off to the airport.

I hope my main luggage is under 50 pounds! With tripod and spare camera pack, it's pushing the limit!!!

Moonrise in Zion, May 16, 2008

Moonrise in Zion, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

As our last full day in Zion, Terry and I took it easy while Brian and Ken hiked Angel's Landing. Our plan was to meet back at the Visitor's Center around 12:30.

Terry and I started on a trail to Emerald Pools but was told that it wasn't much today because of a lack of rain. We took the shuttle down to the Court of the Patriarchs and shot a little and then headed out of the park to do some shopping.

We finally heard from the guys around 1:30. They were at the top of Angel's Landing and said it was the scariest thing they had ever done. There was a half mile on a 3 foot ridge with an 800 foot drop-off on one side and a 1200 on the other. Plus, they had to use both hands and feet at times to climb up the ridge. If you're afraid of heights, this trip isn't for you!

Terry and I decided to grab lunch and we had a Polygamist Stout, to good to drink just one!

After some more wandering around, we finally hooked up outside the park at 3:30 and took Brian and Ken to a mexican restaurant for their lunch. We had a 39 ounce heffe-wieze beer and drove back to the lodge to take a few shots of the Watcher and get setup for sunset.

We could see clouds behind us but we never got a good sunset and we headed back to the room to pack and get ready to head out for home!

The Subway, May 15, 2008

The Subway, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we decided to do the trail to take us into the Subway, a combination Slot Canyon-River.

This was a tough hike of 4 miles to the subway as the Narrows were closed because of high water. The hike started with a 1/2 mile steep decent to the Virgin River.

I started the hike with a litre of water but it wasn't enough. The trail was a scramble over rocks and trees and over the trail when we saw it. At about half way into the hike, we came across some dinosaur tracks that were very cool! We also got eaten alive by flies!

A little after the tracks, Terry made a good move as he was about out of water and he turned around and returned to the car. We started the hike around 9am and 4 hours later we were still a ways from the Subway.

Ken was ahead of us and got to the Subway before rian and I. Brian hiked the entire way with his camera out. I took out my D300 and carried it for a while until I slipped while looking at a snake sunning on a rock. I put a small mark on the battery pack and decided it was tie to pack up the camera in my pack so I could have both hands free.

The boots and hiking stick from Zion Adventures came in very helpful as wading through the river was sometimes the easiest path.

Once I got to the Subway, I found Ken and sat down to eat a quick lunch of Tuna. Unfortunately, I misplaced the cap to my water and decided to finish it before spilling it. I also bummed a Pepsi off Brian and we all shot for a couple of hours before heading back.

The trip back was much quicker as we didn't take many stops for pictures. The worst part of the hike was the start and finish with the last .6 miles and 500 foot altitude change up a steep cliff. At this point, I was pretty wiped and took a quick snack of some oranges that Brian had. I was also regretting the fact that I hadn't purchased a carbon fibre tripod and that I had brought my heaviest pack because it had the best water protection. it combined for a 40-50 pounds I had to carry uphill. A lot of the climb was very steep and required both hands at certain points. A little over half way up the trail, Brian and Ken were a few switchbacks uphill and another couple had just past them when I heard a huge noise and a scream. A boulder the size of a vmw bug started tumbling down hill and started a rock slide. The couple were 1 min from the point of impact when they heard the rock slide start and ran back down the trail. I watched the rock bounce down the mountain, frequently several feet in the air. We were all freaked out and had to deal with getting over the area where the rock slide just occurred.

At this point, I was dehydrated and exhausted. I got over this area but was pretty wiped. Brian came down and made me give him my pack as the sun was setting and we didn't want to be on the trail that late. My pack was WAY too heavy. It was much easier to make it to the car where we found Terry waiting for us with Gatorade.

Two key things I learned : (1) Pack plenty of water or gatorade and (2) don't over pack gear.

Friday is a mellow day for me and Terry but Brian and Ken are doing Angel's Landing, a very strenuous and dangerous hike .

Zion National Park, May 14, 2008

Brian in the Rapids, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we drove from Page to Zion National Park in Utah. It is the oldest national park in Utah and is similar to Yosemite or Rocky Mountain Nation Park in services.

So far, it's the most family location we've been to and some place we would bring our families. The place is beautiful.

We caught the shuttle at the Visitor Center and headed up to the last stop to walk along River Walk and do some shots on the Virgin River.

One thing we can't figure out, it seems man capris are in fashion with the foreign tourist. We've taken to calling them manpris. Terry and I have taken a pledge that if we ever see the other wearing them, we will kick the crap out of them. ;-)

Tomorrow, the Subway!!!