{"id":2438,"date":"2011-12-13T07:05:28","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T12:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/p4td.lightshedder.com\/2011\/12\/13\/12132011-wildcatter-dawn\/"},"modified":"2011-12-13T07:05:28","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T12:05:28","slug":"12132011-wildcatter-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=2438","title":{"rendered":"12\/13\/2011: Wildcatter Dawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wildcatter Ranch bills itself as the<\/em> Resort Ranch in the North Texas hill country. It is a working ranch and they cater to corporate retreats and weekend getaways for those who enjoy luxury rustic. The restaurant and conference buildings are strung out along the top of a narrow ridge and the views off either side are wonderful. This is dawn coming to the hills of North Texas. <\/p>\n

Canon SX40HS at 24mm equivalent field of view, f4 @ 1\/500th @ ISO 250. Program with iContrast and \u20131\/3EV exposure compensation.<\/p>\n

This image got a lot more processing than I normally do. I was experimenting with Lightzone again, and then trying to approximate (and improve on) the Lightzone tone-mapped effects in Lightroom and Photomatix. In Lightroom I used the dueling Graduated Filter effect technique to lighten the foreground and darken the sky. That produced a pleasing image but with a very soft sky. In an attempt to bring some definition to the clouds, I exported the Lightroom image to Photomatix for tone mapping. I began with the Painterly setting and then backed off on the controls until I got the definition I wanted, without the artificial look (I hope). <\/p>\n

This next was taken a few moments later and further down the ridge. It received similar treatment in Lightroom and Photomatix. <\/p>\n

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