The Artisan
by gyaban

Comment by OverflowStudios:
Pretty sure this photo earned my first comment on DPC. Still a source of inspiration!

Freedom
by gyaban

Comment by klkitchens:
Awesome shot!

November
by gyaban

Comment by Devinder:
Thanks for the reply, I get that its a starting step. My specific issue is with noise. Even at 100 ISO, i end up introducing more noise with my raw stuff for some reason. i got to look into it i suppose - thanks for the input!

November
by gyaban

Comment by gyaban:

Originally posted by Devinder: I notice you mentioned you HDR'ed the three raws directly and this looks better than what i can muster. Do you think this could come from the difference in programs (Photomatix vs HDR Efex Pro) or is there a secret sauce i m missing?

Thank you for your comment. I don't think the tool you use is that important at all, I'm quite confident saying Photomatix could have been used there (as long as one knows it well enough). Moreover, to my knowledge, these tools do not work directly on RAWs anyway, at best they import 16 bits images out of them and start to work from there (TIFF usually). What is important to know about the processing of that particular image, is the fact the tonemapped HDR resulting image was merely the beginning, not the final result in any case. I simply used the HDR plugin to obtain crispy texture and details on the trunk and foreground, but there are like 30 other processing layers above it, in order to reach this result. In fact, I just used the HDR tool to enhance the dynamic range of my camera, not at all to create some kind of special effect, that was not my point.

November
by gyaban

Comment by Devinder:
Very nice picture.I can't imagine the time the individual leaves might have took.

I find it cleaner to make HDRs of jpegs. I notice you mentioned you HDR'ed the three raws directly and this looks better than what i can muster. Do you think this could come from the difference in programs (Photomatix vs HDR Efex Pro) or is there a secret sauce i m missing?

2001: Art's Space Odyssey
by gyaban

Comment by Lydia:
One of the best part, to me, is that the thumbnail looks like the part on the left is a face staring right at me.

The Artist
by gyaban

Comment by yanko:

Originally posted by gyaban: Originally posted by yanko: I find it interesting that you went to all that trouble to light the earring that way only to then opt for a high contrast processed look which then makes the earring seem like a product of dodge/burn. Do you just like doing things the hard way? :P I believe I had no choice there: if there was some visible bright skin next to the earring, it would have been against the rules to make it completely disappear

You're probably right. It may have been risky but I do know there's been other entries that have passed validation while removing more background. It's just one of those fuzzy areas in the rules.

Message edited by author 2012-03-09 21:43:13.

2001: Art's Space Odyssey
by gyaban

Comment by LevT:
well put together, Christophe! Congrats on another Blue (very fitting color for this image) and another monster score. At this rate, pretty soon you'll reach average score 7. That would be something! :)

2001: Art's Space Odyssey
by gyaban

Comment by bigskyeye:
Congrats, great image

2001: Art's Space Odyssey
by gyaban

Comment by gyaban:

Originally posted by cutout: holy mo a whole pic done without a camera in sight

Not really... cameras were in fact involved, even if *mine* only captured the dinosaur. That said, I agree with you, and I suppose we won't get other challenges that permit using others' photos anytime soon, which is for the best.