Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Toadstool Hoodoo – Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, HDR Processed with Unified Color’s HDR Expose

Colorado Plateau, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, High Dynamic Range, Hoodoo, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Technique, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, Sony α900, Utah No Responses »

Aug 042010

Toadstool Hoodoo, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony 20mm lens. Image is an HDR blend from three exposures all shot at f16 at 1/2 stop intervals.

Hi everyone. I will be gone for the next few days and have been diligently trying to get this image prepared for today’s posting. Generally speaking I am not a proponent of most HDR processing primarily because I do not like the over-processed look common to many of these images. But I am intrigued by the possibilities of using the software to to accentuate the shot through blending of several exposures. I had the opportunity to secure a copy of Unified Color’s HDR Expose software to make some test images. This image, from the Toadstool Hoodoo’s in Grand Staircase-Escalante, was processed through the HDR Expose software and is a composite from three separate exposures.

I found the software to be very easy to understand and you can see the changes happen almost immediately. The three files for this image received some initial processing in LR before being transferred to HR Expose. Transferring is very easy with a drag and drop of the RAW files into the HDR Expose window. This automatically launches the merge function. And here is the really nice part. Once the software has crunched the numbers the resulting image is not that “wacked out” non-tone mapped image you get from other software. For all intents and purposes it looks just like a flat RAW file prior to image enhancement. The software gives you a great suite of slider based controls to adjust Brightness/Contrast, Shadow/Highlight, Sharpness, Saturation, White Balance, Fine Color Tuning, Dynamic Range Mapping, and Veiling Glare. The Veiling Glare tool can help remove some of the atmospheric haze associated with many merged HDR images. It essentially helps to add contrast and detail back into the image.

Toadstool Hoodoo after merging in the HDR Expose Software and prior to final processing in Photoshop.

Learning the controls takes some time but there is a great manual that explains most of the steps, tools, and processes along with some video instruction through the website. The video instruction is better at explaining the various tools within the program. The program is easy to use and I think the results are great. It blends well into my own workflow and the merged files can be exported in a variety of formats including tiff, jpg, bitmap and the softwares’s BEF format. The software supports a full range of Camera RAW formats and the program supports color managed files. This image was exported to Photoshop as a 16 bit, Profoto RGB, tiff file.

The exported files have none of the usual color shift problems associated with HDR images. 32 bit image editing with full fidelity is possible without having to resample the image to 8 or 16 bits. Additionally there are plugins for Lightroom and Photoshop that support the native BEF file format.

I really like the possibilities with this software and it supports my vision and workflow methodology. I am only beginning to tap into the power of this program. The processing of the final file was complex and involved quite a few luminosity layer/curve masks, color adjustments, dodging and burning and color burning. The last bit of sunlight striking the hoodoo was fleeting and gone within a few minutes of setting up for this shot. I wanted to capture the luminous glow I saw that evening and I think the HDR blend helped in achieving the final image.

Its quite a departure for me to process an image this way but I do like results. Is it a little over done? Maybe so but I like the fact that I could really pull out the details in the hoodoo and rocks and hold on to the glow. What do you think? Drop me a note and let me know. I will continue to work with this program to get a better understanding of the controls and see what else I can achieve. To find out more about HDR Expose visit the Unified Color website.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Toadstool Hoodoos – Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

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Jul 272010

Entrada Toadstool, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 28mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/30th of a second.

Hi everyone. Welcome to today’s posting. I am going to talk about several things in this post relating to how I shot and processed this image. First a little background. This shot was made in an area called the Toadstools in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The area features a wild landscape of red Navajo formations and white Entrada formations. The white toadstools are hidden in a small side canyon and receive afternoon light. Littered all around the site are dark Dakota Formation rocks and caprocks that sit on top of the toadstools. Sunlight bouncing off the white Entrada surfaces is intense so it is best to wait until the late afternoon and a lower sun angle to shoot in this area. I made quite a few shots around the canyon but I kept gravitating to this amazing Dakota Rock. I loved the color and textures. I spent some time just trying to compose a shot and as I moved around I was able to focus in on a composition with the rock and the toadstool against the canyon wall. In this composition I wanted to capture the implied leading line of darker rocks beginning at the left corner and leading up to the toadstool with the caprock. There are actually two leading lines here; the line of the foreground rocks and the diagonal line formed by the wedge of light leading to the toadstool. To make this work I wanted to achieve sharp focus in the shot all the way from foreground to background.

The final processed image is a merge of three exposures, all with the same exposure, but each with a slightly different focus point, and combined in Helicon Focus software. The focus points were the foreground rock, the group of rocks in the middle, and the toadstool in the background. The three RAW files were processed with the same settings in Lightroom and placed in the Helicon program where the software magically crunched the numbers and blended the files into one critically sharp image. It was saved out as a .psd file for final work in Photoshop.

Entrada Toadstool RAW image before processing in Photoshop.

The image above is the merged RAW file before applying the various layers and adjustments. When comparing the two shots I think it is pretty easy to see the differences between the files. The RAW file lacks the contrast, punch, and color of the final image. But buried within the RAW file is the image I envisioned. It is only a matter of laying out a plan of action to bring out the details. I have outlined four areas within the image that I focused on in processing the shot.

Area 1: In order to make the toadstool standout I would need to darken the canyon wall. This would achieve separation and actually make the toadstool look brighter.

Area 2: This wedge of highlight would need to be knocked back. It was too bright compared to the rest of the tones in the scene. In addition the line of rocks were to hot and also needed to be toned back just a bit for better balance.

Area 3: The left hand fin of sandstone would also need to be toned back to help in framing the toadstool.

Area 4: The foreground rock is one of the most important features and along with the small grouping of rocks to the left form the beginning of the line that leads the eye up and around to the toadstool in the back of the canyon.

So these four areas were the starting point. I want to point out that before you start working on any image it is a good idea to study it and create a plan for how you want to process the shot. What is your vision for the image. What story are you trying to tell. What are the important details about the image that you want emphasize. Look closely at the shadows and highlights, the color tones within the image, and the contrast. Map out a plan and begin first with your global adjustment for shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. This might include setting a white and black point. Each of these adjustments should be made through curve layers. From there move to more localized adjustments. I always have a dodge and burn layer followed by my color correction layers and if necessary a color burn layer. I also apply a mid-tone contrast layer. I have spoken about this before and it is an important step to pop the contrast within the mid-tones. It is basically a highpass sharpen filter appled to a certain tonal range. The screen shot below shows the number of layers I used to process this shot. I employed a number of Luminosity Masks for shadows, mid-tones and brights followed by more focused adjustment for the background, the fin, and the foreground rock. These are indicated in the “A” set. The “B” shows my Mid-tone Contrast layer and Dodge and Burn. The “C” set is the localized color adjustments.

Everything is accomplished in layers and the file is saved as a layered PSD file. This gives you the most flexibility and allows you to come back and make or change your adjustments. Often when you make your first test prints you will see things that need to be changed and it is easy to go back into the layered file to do this.

Two critical steps I want to point out are the Dodge and Burn and the Color Burn layers. These are powerful, often overlooked, adjustments that can really make an image pop. In my darkroom days I used D+B as a way to lighten and darken values within my black and white prints. It is no different in the digital darkroom today. It is a subtle, painterly process that can impart a remarkable depth to an image. Color burn is another powerful layer where you can bring back color to certain areas within the image. Color burn when used in conjunction with D+B can help you bring out the glow. To see the effect compare and contrast the foreground rock in the RAW file with the final image.

Entrada Toadstool adjustment layers in Photoshop.

As always I want to thank everybody for stopping by today. I covered quite a few items in this one shot. If you have any comments or questions just drop me a note in the comments section. I am always happy to tell you what I did to an image. We are all on a photography journey together and we can only grow by sharing our knowledge.

Bob

Ghosts – Wahweap Hoodoos, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Grand Circle, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Hoodoo, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Utah No Responses »

Jul 242010

Ghosts at Wahweap Hoodoos, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Shot with a Sony α900 and Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/30 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. As a heat wave envelopes West Virginia I am sequestered inside trying to stay cool. Though the weather is not cooperating for photography it is nonetheless a fine time to slow down and revisit some files I have not had a chance to process. This image was shot at the Wahweap Hoodoos, a grouping of eroded Entrada sandstone formations along the Wahweap Wash in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. I came upon these formations and immediately thought of them as ghosts. Not ghosts in the traditional sense of course, but more like early trick or treat days, with a simple sheet pulled over our heads as we headed out to collect candy from our neighbors. The far formation actually reminded me of Cousin It from the Adam’s Family.

There was a beautiful quality of light on this afternoon where the cool blue shadows stood in contrast to the warm reflected light on the canyon walls. The hardened sandstone felt cool to my touch and the wonderful fluting from years of erosion gave each ghost a unique personality. In the quiet of the canyon I spent some time with the ghosts, my ghosts, with my thoughts far away from this place. I don’t remember what was on my mind that day or really how long I was lost to my thoughts. Perhaps it was just the power of being in a special place but I woke from my thoughts free and calm. All thoughts gathered in the folds of my ghosts and washed away. I moved on as the light began to change.

Thanks for stopping by today. Spend some time with your ghosts.

Bob

Rimrock Hoodoo – May Print of the Month

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May 092010

Rimrock Hoodoo. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70, lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f14 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone. Todays post is the May Print of the Month available for sale over on my website at http://roberthclarkphotography.com. To view this image and see the over prints in the 2010 series just click on the Print of the Month Gallery.

This image was shot in an area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument known as the Rimrock Hoodoos. This is the second print I have offered from this location. It is a geologic playground of red Navajo and white Entrada sandstone formations. Photographed in the late afternoon, the photograph features one of the more prominent hoodoos found in the area.

Thanks for stopping by today. Take a moment to view this and other images on my website.

Bob

Badlands Sunset – Grand Staircase-Escalante

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Apr 292010

Badlands Sunset. Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f14 for 3 seconds.

Hi everyone. I am getting ready to depart for a few days to watch my daughter in a big track meet. So I thought I would post an image before head down the road. This shot was taken in the area of the Rimrock Hoodoos in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The site is easily accessible from Highway 89. A short hike brings you to a playground of hoodoos, balanced rocks, and colorful badlands. I spent the better part of an afternoon exploring this area and as I was about to leave late in the evening a wonderful band of wispy clouds moved in. This shot is looking almost due west into the setting sun. I really liked the contrast of the hard barren landscape and the ethereal clouds. I had taken a few shots when the little dark cloud rolled in to the scene. The darker band of foreground rocks leads the eye to the cloud which adds a nice layer of dynamic movement to the shot.

In order to capture this image I used a 4-stop Singh Ray split neutral density filter to compensate for the difference in contrast between the foreground and the sky. The sunlight was somewhat obscured behind the band of clouds on the horizon which helped keep exposure issues to a minimum. The image was processed in Adobe Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

As always thank you for stopping. We will see you again next week.

Bob

Toadstool Hoodoos – April Print of the Month

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Apr 012010

Toadstool hoodoo in late afternoon light, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone. Todays post is the the April Print of the Month available over on my website. The image was shot in the Toadstool Hoodoos, in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This is a fun place to shoot and it is close enough to the road that it offers an easy hike in over gentle terrain. While not very large it is nonetheless packed full of interesting rocks formations and hoodoos. There are two main hoodoo galleries, one with red sandstone, and the other with white entrada sandstone. You can shoot here in the morning or afternoon. To purchase a print please go to the Print of the Month Gallery on my website at http://roberthclarkphotography.com. Images will be printed on 190 MOAB Entrada Bright and signed in the lower left hand corner.

To see more images from this area please visit my Grand Staircase Escalante Gallery on the website.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Wahweap Hoodoos – Tower of Silence

Black and White, Grand Circle, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Utah No Responses »

Mar 132010

The Tower of Silence, Wahweap Hoodoos, Grand Staircase-Escalante. Image shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/90 of a second.

Hi everyone. This image is a hoodoo known as the Tower of Silence, located in the Wahweap Hoodoos found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Hoodoos, such as this one, are formed by a process called differential erosion. In most cases a harder, upper layer, mineral deposit forms a protective cap over a softer underlying layer. The harder material erodes at a different rate than the underlying material. As wind and water erode the softer material under the cap, pedestals form which can become tall columns or posts. The Wahweap hoodoos consist of an almost white Entrada Sandstone (a remnant of ancient sand dunes), capped with a dark brown Dakota Formation deposit (the bed of an ancient seaway). This arrangement is a geologic anomaly as the Dakota Formation should be underlain by another layer known as the Morrison Formation. However, it seems the Morrison Formation was not deposited locally or eroded away prior to the deposit of the Dakota Formation. There is something very human about hoodoos. They stand in place wearing jaunty caps and seem to have a human personality. Walking among them at night is a real treat.

Access to the Wahweap Hoodoos is via an 8 mile round trip hike from Road 327 located behind Big Water, Utah. The hike in is along the Wahweap Wash which is quite sandy and somewhat tiring when carry 30 pounds of camera gear. There are three “coves” of hoodoos. The Tower of Silence is located in the third cove. The best time to shoot is in the morning up through the early afternoon. As the day gets later the sun will move behind a wall of clifts and thrust the hoodoos into shadow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bob