8/13/2010
Saco Heath
Happy tridecaphobia day!
The Nature Conservancy has preserved this bit of peat bog in suburban southern Maine. They maintain a boardwalk that bisects it and leads to a stand of Atlantic White Cedar (One of the largest in Maine, and rare this far inland). It is unique habitat. My daughter played piano for worship at a little chapel right on the edge of the Heath last Sunday, so, after, we had to do a quick visit. I only had my Canon SD4000IS with me, but I tired some dual exposures for later treatment in Photomatix for HDR. The expanse of the open Heath dotted with cotton flower and the thin wispy clouds on a blue sky, set off by the tall snag that seems to have actually snagged some clouds…that is what I saw here.
Canon SD4000IS at 28mm equivalent. ISO 125 @ f2.8 with the exposure varied by eye with the Exposure Compensation dial.
I found that with less cloud detail in the sky, I had to try new settings in Photomatix. Tone mapping did not preserve enough of the thin detail in the sky to satisfy me. I was able to use the fusion mode, adjusting the settings by eye, and then take the HDR into Lightroom to move the Blackpoint right, add some additional Clarity and Vibrance, and sharpen.
From Saco Heath.
And just for Andrew, here it is as a B&W with green filter and tweaking in Lr. I will admit to liking it.
Very nice, but I would love to see how that worked as a B&W HDR image as well (with say a red or green filter to darken the sky).
Lovely scene..
Awesome B&W.
Nice scene, and incredible colors in the color version!
Steve
Thanks a lot for taking the trouble to do this. I am glad that you like it. I like it too. I know I bang on a bit about B&W; sometimes it can give a different perspective, like here.
[…] musical service at a local church. I told about the heath and my Photomatix HDR technique in the 8/13 post. This is the board walk I mentioned in that post, which more or less floats on the surface of […]