Bear Lake. Early morning fog on the mirror, as very cold air entered the region.
3 exposures (1/4s, 1/8s, 1/2s) Images captured in RAW format. Processing in Apple's Aperture. PhotoMatix plug in.
Detail Enhancer:
Strength 50
Color Saturation 74
Luminosity +8
Light Smoothing High
Microcontrast +3
White Point 0.559
Black Point 0.006
Gamma 1.00
Temp. 0
Sat. Highlights +2
Sat. Shadows +2
MicroSmooth 3
Highlights Smoothing 0
Shadows Smoothing 0
Shadows Clipping 0
Fine tuning in PSE 6.0. Resized. Conversion to sRGB.
[Sep. 16th, 2009 01:50:20 PM]
Soft grad ND filters, 0.6 & 0.9, helped on this image, in conjunction with the HDR PhotoMatix processing.
[Sep. 17th, 2009 12:55:37 PM]
Several days into the voting. My score above 8 is a mystery and a complete surprise. I'll have to try to figure this out. Very grateful for all the nice comments. I've not commented in the forums, as Bear Lake is highly associated with my home town. Silence is a good policy when I'm in this rarified air. I don't take for granted an 8+ score. It will be a personal best.
[Sep. 18th, 2009 04:37:51 AM]
As of this day, score still above 8 average. This image has the potential to beat my previous PB by 1 full point. Comments continue to cascade in. I'm very grateful for the unselfish feedback.
I should mention the importance of the ISO 100. The lack of noise in the foundation images is crucial. I also captured images at ISO 400 on this morning. HDR processing of the higher ISO was much more troublesome with regards to noise in the shadows, which is not a big surprise.
[Sep. 19th, 2009 10:28:06 AM]
Saturday. One more day of voting. The votes have slowed. My score has leveled out at 8.0650, which is very high and much appreciated. Comments continue to roll in. Thanks to everyone!
I did use the AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) feature on my camera... set to -1,0,+1 camera stops. The camera was tripod mounted, of course. Shutter release cable used. Double bubble level on the camera's hot shoe. Focus on the approximate hyperfocal distance.
[Sep. 20th, 2009 11:44:53 AM]
Last hours of voting. To my amazement, score still above 8. I'm thinking the scrub may take the 8+ away, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
My final note about this HDR image is related to the PhotoMatix upgrade which was issued during the summer of 2009. It was that upgrade which provided the tools to create a blended image with a natural look. In my opinion, this was an important leap forward.
Post voting: Thanks everyone for the amazing votes and wonderful comments. I am honored and humbled by the generous recognition.
Validation message!
from DPChallenge to hahn23
date Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 6:07 AM
subject DPChallenge Validation
We are happy to inform you that your submission to the HDR II challenge ("Lake Fog at Sunrise") has been validated.
Your entry has been reviewed by the Site Council and/or Administrators, who have confirmed your submission.
Thank you for your continued participation in DPChallenge!
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 155 Avg (all users): 8.0743 Avg (commenters): 8.7143 Avg (participants): 7.8851 Avg (non-participants): 8.2174 Views since voting: 23083 Views during voting: 639 Votes: 202 Comments: 106 Favorites: 103 (view)
Just magnificent. In the 80's my old man bought a few oils from an Aussy outback painter named Jack Absalom whilst visiting his studio in Broken Hill (I bought a few prints). Your feather light use of HDR reminded me of some of his work. Brilliance but not overdone. WD and well deserved, despite stiff competition.
Gorgeous image Richard. I had to throw on a jacket just to look at it. I think the thing which impresses me most is how you managed to manipulate the image just enough to make it life like. Yes, thats exactly it ..... LIFE LIKE. I've been to many lakes just like this and feel the chill, smell the trees and fear the damn cold water!! ;-) Congrats on an epic win!
Very well deserved of this high score, you have shown the world that HDR is not what most people think and that it can be smooth and pleasing to the eye. Very well done indeed Sir
Yayyy! No surprise here! But what an added accomplishment to get one of the very few ever 8+ scores on this site. Even the trolls didn't dare give you below a 4.
Be sure to let everyone know on the RMforums about their favorite lake getting such a prestigious award :)
Richard, this is pure magic! I'm sad now, because on our honeymoon trip to Estes Park, we missed Bear Lake. We set out to see it, but turned back after a good distance when bad weather started to set in. Thank you for filling in the blanks! ;)
Congrats on this most deserved blue and an incredible score!
During the voting, my daughter saw me at the computer and asked me how my picture was doing. 'Pretty good', I said, 'But there are some strong contenders out there, look at this one for example.' I showed her yours.
'Hmm,' she said.
'I think it might be ever so slightly tilted.' I said.
'No. that's an optical illusion' she replied.
'Oh' I said.
-----------------------
Congrats on the blue, an 8 and a new PB - not a bad tally.
(Also, thanks for the heads-up on the photomatix upgrade)
Wow, a new personal best, and an 8+ to boot! Congratulations. I think this goes to show that many voters (including me) still prefer HDR to be understated!
This is an incredible shot. I don't give too many 10s, but I didn't even have to think about this one--it was a 10 as soon as it hit the screen (I guess 41 other people thought the same way!) Absolutely spectacular, and it's fun seeing someone get an 8+ score!!
Beautiful shot. I gave it an 8. I would have given it a 9, but the Horizon seems tilted to me. Could be just the way the mist hangs over the water, but it's distracting to me. Nice work none the less.
Not voting, just stopping by to give props...WOW. I'm a sucker for snow-capped peaks, mountain lakes, and misty mornings. This is a trifecta of perfection.
Very nicely done. The HDR processing has given it an ethereal look without making it so garish as many of the other photos in this challenge. Incredible!
If the reflection wasn't enough, it's a very nice touch that of an already beautiful scenary. This would work great as "deep dof" too. Thanks for sharing... (upgrading)
This has BLUE Ribbon written all over it. If this doesn't win I'll... I'll... I'll do something crazy... but I'm not going to put too much effort into thinking what because it'll be a waste of time because this is a certainty for the blue. I can't fault it at all... it's sharp, it's interesting, the colours are beautiful, the composition is brilliant... I'm running out of superlatives... so, I guess I should bump the 9 I gave it during my voting phase to a 10! I never give 10s... well almost never, and I'm giving this a 10... and I guess it'd make sense to favourite this too. OUTSTANDING!! LOVE IT!!!
This should Rib, I'd say Top 3 '' if you survived me :P '' Just kidding, it is amazing and can't think of anything that would improve it, top of the line photography, the one that you'd love to hand on your wall, even then, it would still look too good to be true, very well done, 10
This is stunning. Clearly a top 5 image. Somewhat restrained use of HDR which I like. To nit pick the processing, I wonder what could be done with the trees top left that are back lit. 9
wow... amazing.... not sure I love the rock in the immediate foreground but that would depend on who you ask I think... and it also can add to it if you do like it or maybe was impossible to get shot without it from where you were - anyway, think you may win this thing!
Richard, I saw this on the forums, so I won't be voting on it, but I have to say, from what I've seen, if this doesn't win a ribbon, you will have been totally robbed! I don't think that lake has ever looked more breathtaking! Bravo!!! . . . .
. . . . I'm back after just having finished voting. Yep! This one most DEFINITELY deserves blue! I love how it is so elegantly NOT overdone, yet each tone and color is exquisitely separate and beautiful! This needs to be the HDR poster photo! Maybe you can teach some of the others how to do it :)
Lake Fog at Sunrise
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