Welcome To The Daily View

During my daily morning routine of filling the cafe feeders and just checking things out in our back yard I saw another sunrise that I just had to shoot. But I was also feeling a little creative. So taking a risk of today's photo turning out just a bit too different I processed it in HDR using Photomatix. Basically it blends three or more frames that were shot at different levels of brightness to give a somewhat unique result. I tried not to go overboard. What do you think?

Click For Full Size Image

I also did some touch-up in Photoshop.

I am forgoing the technical info and "Before" image today since this was made with different frames at different settings. I don't do a lot of HDR but once in a while I like to play around with it.

And now...

Yesterday's View...

Wednesday March 22, 2017

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Until  next time...

November 11, 2014 - Photo of The Day

Today I would like to take you back to old Valley Forge. Well, not really old Valley Forge. Just Valley Forge in black and white. As much as I love black and white (or monochrome) photography I usually save it for buildings or people. I don't use it a lot for landscape. Today I did though and I think it turned out pretty good.

This was shot with my camera phone in HDR at 21 megapixels and converted to black and white in Photoshop. As usual I tweaked the tones and highlights and did some other minor fixes.

As always thanks for visiting and please come back soon.

Until next time...

November 2, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

And then some...

That's right. Today I will be posting a daily photo and more. I originally planned on two posts but figured this would work too. Let me explain.

Yesterday Kim and I went to the local Verizon Wireless store to have our phones checked out. You see after a recent update both of our phones started having battery issues. Each was fine the day before but after the update the batteries would wear down about half way through the day. This was too much of a coincidence. So anyhow when we stopped by the store and spoke with a customer service representative about it. We also told her that our monthly service rate was way too high and that we would be shopping around in about six months when our contract was up. Well one thing led to another and we ended up with two new phones and a monthly rate that is about $30 cheaper. All of this with unlimited talk and text and a nice data plan. In fact the only thing we had to pay for was a cover for each new phone. Nice!

So here I am with a new phone. It is a Motorola Droid Turbo. And it has a 21 Megapixel camera. So of course I had to go somewhere and try it out. And that is what I did today. And what better place than Valley Forge Park.

The only issue with today's "test run" was the weather. It's not that it was cold but it sure was windy. Which of course made the mid 40 degree temperature feel cold. In fact at times it was downright nasty. But I did it anyway and now I will share some of the results. While you browse please choose one for your own personal "Photo of The Day". How's that sound?

I am sharing some technical details under each photo. Also each one was adjusted in Photoshop. So here we go, the photos.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's HDR setting.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's HDR setting.

16 Megapixels Shot with camera's HDR setting.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's HDR setting. Arch in the background.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's HDR setting. My favorite tree.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's Standard setting. Yes that's my shadow.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's Standard setting. Washington's Headquarters.

21 Megapixels Shot with camera's HDR setting. General Washington watching over his troops.

So what do you think? Here's my take.

Overall I am satisfied with the results. In fact for a phone camera I am very satisfied. As you may have seen I included one photo at 16 Megapixels instead of the standard 21. The camera records in 16 Megapixels when it is set for Widescreen. To tell the truth I really didn't really notice a difference. 

The colors are pretty much correct except that I had to adjust the reds in most of the shots. I also adjusted the highlights to bring out details such as the clouds. Other than that I only did some minor tweaks to correct lighting. Much of this may have been necessary due to the bright sun.

Don't get me wrong. The direct out of camera results were decent. I adjust every photo I shoot no matter what I create it with. As far as I have ever seen there is no camera that can accurately recreate a scene exactly as it is.

So there you have it. I will be testing the video quality soon. There is a setting for the new 4K standard. that should be fun.

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon.

Until next time...

October 25, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Today was a somewhat productive day. I finally made it over to our local library and did a little research that I have been wanting to do. I learned a little more about the subject of a future blog post. Hopefully I'll get it posted sooner than later.

In addition to the library trip we ran our regular errands but also managed to make it over to the Betzwood Picnic Area. Part of Valley Forge National Park. It was such a beautiful day and who knows how many of those we have left this season so I wanted to spend at least a little time outdoors. Of course I had my camera with me. so for today's photo I would like to share this with you.

  

This is looking over the Schuylkill River toward the main part of Valley Forge Park and was created from three separate images and combined using Photomatix HDR software and then adjusted using Photoshop. If you would like to see the original images I will be posting them at the Facebook Group here. If they aren't there when you check please try again in a bit.

That's all for now folks. Be sure to check back soon.

Until next time...