I credit all my amazingly helpful and supportive Twitter pals for my better vision and (hopefully) improved HDR technique over the past few months. The online community that I now consider myself a part of has been an absolute game-changer for me…I now find myself more motivated to not only go out and shoot, but to really search for that special shot and make it my own. The countless tutorials and workflow tips have been invaluable and I can’t thank this wonderful HDR community enough…you guys ROCK!
This photo was taken inside the Crystals shopping area which is part of the City Center complex. The giant skeletal wooden sculpture that serves as both piece of art, dining room and security desk just begs to be photographed…and I’m pretty lucky to have walked away with this shot. About 5 minutes after I fired off these brackets, I was found by security and told I was not allowed to use my tripod in the mall. I asked him if I could shoot handheld…the answer was no. Boo to Vegas security. At least I got one usable set of brackets!
]]>While we were there, I opted go without my tripod so all of my brackets were handheld…this wasn’t too much of a problem since it was the middle of the day and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was ridiculously hot (especially for a Canadian ;)) and I forgot to bring sunscreen, so I was madly rattling off brackets in the scorching heat hoping I could get what I wanted before my skin was burned to a crisp. I managed to get a few passable shots given the time of day…here’s one for your enjoyment.
]]>The picture below is a set of 3 handheld brackets of the amazing ceiling installation in the lobby of the Bellagio. All the glass sculpture is done by Dale Chihuly and you can find a few more of his masterpieces around Las Vegas…they really are quite stunning.
]]>To be fair, this was only one of two times I was told I couldn’t use my tripod in any of the hotels in Vegas, and the vast majority were more than welcome to accommodate me. But it’s those few bad experiences that stick with you. So…if any of you have some good tricks for getting in under the radar or how to approach security about permission to shoot I’m all ears!
One very early morning (4 AM) while staying at the MGM Grand, I went downstairs and explored as much of the hotel as I could before it got too busy. Eventually I made my way down a long corridor past the pool and ended up in the conference center which is absolutely enormous! We definitely don’t have hotels with conference centers like that here in Calgary. After snapping a few brackets in the main lobby area I made my way upstairs to where they have some of the smaller conference rooms…and stumbled into this really cool lounge type area. Anyway, enough rambling. Here’s the shot:
]]>The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, Lightroom for color, contrast, clarity, spot removal, Photoshop for layer masking and a bit of smudging, Noiseware for noise control.
]]>The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, Photoshop for some masking, Lightroom for catalog, color correction, sharpening, and Noiseware to finish it off.
]]>The ambiance and decor in Fiamma is absolutely amazing and made for a wonderful place to propose. To make sure Brei would be surprised, I got her into the restaurant under the guise of me getting the chance to photograph the place. I won’t tell the whole story here, but I will show you the spot in which I proposed:
The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix with a few tweaks in Lightroom.
I’d like to give a special thanks to Jeffery Metcalf (the assistant manager of Fiamma) who granted me access to the restaurant after hours.
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