Runaway

by Robert Santafede

Original image, regular exposure

The exposures have been merged in Photomatix Pro, the settings tweaked. Saved and loaded into Photoshop, added a b&w gradient map, adjusted the blend mode. Added a levels adjustment mask to get very heavy contrast and a ‘darker’ feel.

Opened the original regular exposure file again in Camera RAW -> Photoshop, paste as a new layer to the HDR image, change layer blend mode and opacity to dull the colors down some. Adjust as necessary to avoid that “over HDR” look.

I’m sure there are plenty of easier (and better) ways to do this – I had received an email asking about how I edited a previous photo.

With the above said, I still prefer the original, just a b&w version of it! I fall victim to HDR when clouds are usually involved though.

Posted on 2012/04/12 at 06:01 in Architecture & Urbex, Hi-Res, Nature & Landscapes, Photography | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL

Tags: hi-res, industrial, landscapes, photo, photography, train tracks, urban exploration, urbex

36 Comments to “Runaway”

nonoymanga
2012/04/12 at 06:08

Both version are very interesting. Thanks for sharing Nonoy Manga

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/12 at 06:27
  
  Thanks for your comment, Nonoy!
  
  Reply
pixelogist
2012/04/12 at 06:47

its a good original shot to begin with. good processing too.. very nice

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/12 at 08:01
  
  Thanks Pixelogist! Very nice blog you have.
  
  Reply
The Quiet Hedonist
2012/04/12 at 08:35

Great result. I’m just starting to learn more than levels in photoshop, very interesting to hear your process.

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:18
  
  Thank you!
  
  Reply
niasunset
2012/04/12 at 10:39

Dear Robert, the first one it one of your best of… So beautiful and standing so impressive… as if the road will take me too… I loved it so much. As I understand that you take your photographs in RAW, and they all prefer this and advice this BUT, how can you upload to your pc… I live a problem when I take RAW my photographs… I wait for my son, to solve this problem but now, when I read you I wanted to ask you too. I would be glad to hear your help about this. Thank you, with my love, nia

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:20
  
  Thank you Nia! I’d love to help, I hope it’s OK to email you. I will send one and try to help you figure it out.
  
  Reply
  - niasunset
    2012/04/13 at 08:18
    
    Thank you for you too dear Robert, you are so nice, I have received. Have a nice weekend, with my love, nia
    
    Reply
susartandfood
2012/04/12 at 13:01

B&W is so powerful – really nice

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:21
  
  Thank you Susartandfood!
  
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Angeline M
2012/04/12 at 14:30

Really nice dramatic processing. Great transformation.

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:22
  
  Thank you, Angeline! I see you’re using Snapseed. Love that app!
  
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Lois Farley Shuford
2012/04/12 at 14:52

Nice to see the progression, and how you achieved the end result. Great cloud drama!

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:23
  
  Thanks Lois! That’s what always tempts me! 🙂
  
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laviebohemeart
2012/04/12 at 15:19

Great images.. Love the intense colors in the first!

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:23
  
  Thanks Lazaro!
  
  Reply
Carl D'Agostino
2012/04/12 at 20:56

For some reason the B&W screams 1930’s America.

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:25
  
  Yeah, I agree – I got that feeling too. Thanks for your comment, Carl!
  
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stephanielane2012
2012/04/13 at 00:41

Nice composition and processing. I agree the BW looks like 1930’s America. Good job 🙂

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:25
  
  Thank you Stephanie! 🙂
  
  Reply
f-Stops.net
2012/04/13 at 02:32

Nice work on the colors. You can use filters instead of hdr.

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/13 at 05:26
  
  Thanks F-stops. I’ll admit I haven’t played around too much with filters aside from the high pass one. I should investigate more.
  
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  - f-Stops.net
    2012/04/13 at 05:49
    
    Neutral Density filters are useful for high contrast skies/clouds and grounds. I use HDR too, but I’m more inclined to use classic exposure blending. It depend what kind of image I want to do. Anyway, for both tecniques filters are always very useful tools.
    
    Reply
    - Robert Santafede
      2012/04/13 at 06:17
      
      Absolutely! The more techniques, the better. I will definitely check that out.. Cheers!
      
      Reply
Zen and Genki
2012/04/13 at 07:35

Adore shot of train tracks, and your B&W is one of my new favourites – lovely!

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/14 at 05:24
  
  Thank you very much! Very interesting blog, am going to follow along.
  
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darkandbrightart
2012/04/15 at 18:56

Thank you for liking my blog. Love this. I agree with the comments about the 1930s look – I can almost hear old blues music. Your photos are beautiful, so atmospheric.

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/04/21 at 07:09
  
  My pleasure, your photos are excellent! Thank you for your visit and kind words.
  
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Cardinal Guzman
2012/04/17 at 06:55

Cudos for describing your technique.

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seekraz
2012/04/20 at 12:52

Incredible photo(s)…and I enjoyed the science that went into it…thank you for the explanation…although the picture stands alone as wonderful.

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Inspired and pretty
2012/05/01 at 14:14

A wonderful photo, I love it’s dramatic effect and thanks for sharing the recipe !

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jeremyhan
2012/05/02 at 13:05

This is so classy. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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Continuous Light Kits
2012/05/03 at 04:54

We like train and train runway. You post good train line photos.

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mhdriver
2012/05/09 at 01:54

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with black & white. I miss and liked B&W. Good work

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- Robert Santafede
  2012/05/09 at 06:11
  
  Thanks! I really find myself enjoying it more and more. There’s a certain charm to it. 🙂
  
  Reply