I have never known a life like this
Except in my dreams
One kiss and I rose anew
Now I’m alive, I have survived
— Kenny Loggins, “Too Early For the Sun”
Always did like that song. It seemed fitting for this image, considering that I could barely see the dials and settings on the camera when I started out. This was just another one of the brilliant sunrises at Cobscook Bay State Park in Maine.
One might ask, “Say, which HDR program did you use to process this?” In that, there’s an interesting lesson. Although I fed any number of the original 13 frames, in various combinations, into HDR Expose, Photomatix Pro, HDR Efex Pro, and ImageFuser, each one of them had an absolute conniption with the colors, to the point of being unusable. Yet, each individual exposure left a lot to be desired, so none stood on their own as a good image.
Not wanting to sacrifice the image, I ‘farmed’ the best parts from four separate exposures, using feathered layer masks. Aside from that and a little sharpening on the water, there were no other color adjustments, saturation adjustments, curves, or other alterations. I wanted to leave it as SOOC as possible, save for the farming. I like the result, and hope you do, too.
Take time for another cup of coffee before seeing this larger. Click on the image to open a bigger version in a new window.
Rob Hanson Photography Blog 