Avia Photography

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Columbia, Missouri, United States
Warning, the following ramblings are those of a sometimes sidetracked photographer avoiding accomplishing tasks on her list. All we ask is that if you use one of our photos from here or elsewise, you kindly give us credit. = )

Monday, December 21, 2009

Brian's first HDR attempt

Brian here, had a quiet moment so I thought I'd sneak in a post of my own. Two weekends ago Mallory and I were staying at the Westin in Crown Center, KC with my parents for a little Christmas trip. Directly out our balcony window was the Liberty Memorial, the only memorial dedicated to soldiers who fought in World War I. I must have glanced at it 20 times throughout the day saying to myself "I've got to take a picture of that". It wasn't until we got back to the room that night that it hit me, I'll do an HDR shot!

Now I'll be the first to admit that HDR photography is a bit of a fad (for those of you who don't know, HDR is where you take 3 or more pictures of the same thing, some much brighter so there are less shadows, and some much darker so bright lights can be seen with detail, and then a computer program combines them) but I figured it might be fun to try. I opened the door to the balcony, dragged a small table out with me (the tripod was in the car) and went to work. 30 minutes and many frozen fingers/toes later, here is what I got. The results are pretty cool, I have to admit.

P.S. You may notice there is a horizontal line of lights, just below the smoke, behind the tower. I have NO idea what that is. It was there in some pictures, and gone in others. UFO? If anyone has a guess or an answer, I'd love to hear it.



4 comments:

Silver Image said...

the dots are probably a plane's lights flashing across the shot. Maybe keep a stinger missile in the bag for those inconvenient moments ;-)

Anonymous said...

The lights look like some sort of reflection from the line of lights across the grass below the wall at the top of the steps. Not sure why they would line up there, but it's a thought.

Anonymous said...

I agree the with the reflection theory and my proof is to look at the picture and draw a line from the end lights on the ground to the end lights of the reflection...they are line up. the horizontal lines drawn on the ground lights and reflections are lining up too. Now look at the sky light reflection....see the lighter area under them, its the reflection of the brighter lights off the wall. so when HDR blending it will show that because the range has been increased. Because this is upside down it proves it is a reflection probably of some unseen layer in the sky...or is it on the sensor, or created by the lens? another way to look at it is the light are pointed upward, so the brightest reflection is opposite the reflecting surface. the other light on the ground are probably the same type but pointe in a different direction hence no reflection...Makes sense to me...Kind of like the Disney effect they do on some of the rides with glass reflections, OK?

Anonymous said...

If you were using a lens filter, I'd venture a guess that those are reflections of the lights on the ground.