Playing with HDR

 

Spent the day on the laptop trying out "merging to HDR" on some test images using Lightroom, Aurora HDR 2018 and Photomatix Essentials 3.2.

Think the most successful was still Aurora HDR 2018, and I've been watching a few basic video tutorials to try and get to grips with it rather than keep flicking through a myriad of presets. Think I'm getting the hang of it 🤔 The hardest image from the above was the tree image, shot in the woods the green cast was rather difficult to get rid of, without losing too much green in the background. Not a specific HDR problem but one which would have needed sorting anyway.

I also didn't want to have too much detail in the shadow area of the Dockyard tunnel, the aim of this image is to draw the eye to the other end.

So probably the easiest was the yachts along St Mary's Island!

I've learnt out to utilise the basic panel and then dabbled with using layers to apply certain other filter changes and specifically to certain areas using masks. All concepts that I'm familiar with from using Photoshop but you still have to realise the nuances between how they work in different software.

HDR always intrigues me as a genre in photography, I quite like the semi-surreal options one can produce and whilst my cameras have HDR modes they aren't quite as sophisticated as some of the more professional models, although that said, every now and again, they will surprise me with how well they cope with a high dynamic scene. I suspect my biggest problem is using it when it's not strictly necessary and so the result is somewhat underwhelming 🤣 Mind you, I have also gotten some quite favourable results using it on a single image which is quite good.

Anyway, all this experimentation has kept me busy today as I struggle to fill my days when the weather is not conducive to going out. Which it's not really been for most of my Christmas break from work 😥 And as said break is almost at an end I'm finding the continued wet weather somewhat irritating ☔ It will be even more so if it's raining for my trek into the office next week, at least last New Year I was still fully WFH. Now I'm going to have to drag myself in, to what is likely to be a freezing cold office, all in the name of bums on seats 😠

Visit with Mum

 Today saw me take the opportunity to get out for a walk as it wasn't raining, for once, and take a mooch up to the Crematorium to have a natter with Mum.

Cleaned out the leaves from the memorial and recorded my chat as I usually do in my journal app. Lots of floral tributes everywhere around the grounds, Christmas is obviously a popular time for people to remember their loved ones with flowers and cards. So many tributes around the bottom of Mum's tree that you couldn't even see the number!

Back via Asda where I purchased a new XL dressing gown, nice and big so it wraps all the way around, comes down to my ankles and sleeves which just dip past my wrists - lush. Cold remedies for the daughter which I dropped off on my way home, she was busy playing some online game or something 💻

Walked just over 12000 steps so pretty good although my feet ached something chronic.

Christmas Day!

 

A few images from Christmas Day which started with dinner at The Honourable Pilot for seven, sooo much easier than cooking!

Then back to Julia and James's for presents and later on, some tea.

These are a few of us opening presents, including Annie who managed to open most of the treats and we ended up having to ration them 🤣

These are a few photos taken the next day using the new kaleidoscope filter which my Dad gave me and which I'm holding up in the collage above. It's really fun and easy to use, even in front of a compact camera although it needs careful positioning, but usually it's designed to screw onto the front of the lens. In my case via several step-down rings to bring it down from 77mm to whatever my lens happens to be.

This single image rather better shows the effect, it's certainly going to be a fun addition to the camera bag and not too cumbersome to take out on a day snapping once the correct rings are also added.

Christmas Hair!

 

So this is the new look for Christmas and beyond - at least until the red dye washes out leaving the Ombre behind.

Julia popped down on Christmas Eve around tea-time and she proceeded to trim some off the length before adding the Ombre dye followed by this vivid red semi-permanent dye which had been lurking at the back of the bathroom cupboard for some time.

Looks good though and I'm pleased to have it shorter and more manageable.

Santa Paws

 

Annie waiting patiently to go see Santa 🥰

So Christmas Eve we'd booked Annie in to see SANTA!!!

We went over to Dobbies where a wonderful Grotto had been set up, places for us to let Annie sit and we could take our own photos - there was a gazebo bench and a sleigh 😍

A seating area around another corner allowed us to sit with her and again take some photos before she finally got to meet the Big Man Himself 🎅🏻

This is all of us in with Santa - I think we loved it more than Annie, she is a dog after all and so as long as there's something for her (she got a squeaky boomerang) she was always gonna be happy!

All in all it was a good Christmassy event and we're definitely going to be doing it again 😊