I was blessed with a gorgeous day outside as my first off this week. Of course, the only thing I could conceivably comprehend doing was photography. So, I packed the camera bag and zipped off in my beat-up old pickup truck to destinations unknown for photographic adventures as of yet undiscovered. After driving around for a while and getting a feel for the day I decided that, according to the cloud formations in the sky, I wanted to revisit my favorite old train bridge located on the western fringes of Arlington to explore new and different photo opportunities in that location. Upon arriving and parking my truck off the beaten path I was pleased to discover an amazing scene awaiting my craft with the camera. The first image below is straight from the camera with the slight exception of a minor curves adjustment performed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Just as a note, I perform curves adjustments on all of my photos. That’s just my style and workflow. The sky and clouds pop with the aid of my trusty Hoya Circular Polarizing filter mounted to the front of my essential landscape tool, the Canon 17-40 mm f/4L.
Below can be witnessed a major deviation for me. Not in subject matter, of course, but in post production and processing. Yes, to the most observant among you, this is an HDR image. This one is different, however, in that it is a fake HDR being that it was created entirely from one single image completely within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Again, here, I used the Canon 17-40 mm f/4L with a Hoya Circular Polarizing filter. I discovered this HDR effect completely by accident – or, to be more exact, by an accidental slip of the hand while adjusting one of the many sliders in Lightroom – and immediately saw the potential. I will be experimenting with this newly discovered processing technique over time, as I definitely have a few ideas for subjects that would directly benefit from this particular HDR effect.
