Ghost Surfers at Oceanside Pier  by taffy

Ghost Surfers at Oceanside Pier

Marnie @golftragic shared a new HDR processing program she thought worked really well, called Aurora so I thought I'd give it a try. I used the Demo mode (free) for a few trials and decided it did particularly well combining the shots while maintaining a realistic look and without halos. I ended up buying it tonight so that I could input into LR and 'finish it up.' It's pretty intuitive and now that I've got it talking to LR, I think I'll like it a lot.
Thank you for the kind birthday wishes (a little early -- not til next week) and Chanukah wishes (yep, we're right in the middle of it). The party Jim 'surprised' me with was great fun, with the surprise being my advisees, faculty friends and Junko!
Gorgeous!
December 11th, 2015  
This is just beautiful. A fav
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful. Lovely colours and reflections.
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful! Such a tranquil atmosphere. I really must research HDR more. I have never done it as initially the HDR pictures I saw I didn't like. Recently though I have seen many pictures that are not what I would typically call HDR.
December 11th, 2015  
The end result is rather cool, it has to be said. What a fantastic pier! Glad you had a fun surprise party.
December 11th, 2015  
Kim
Wonderful processing, so soft and pretty!
December 11th, 2015  
This is so soft and beautiful and not what I would've expected from HDR. Interesting to hear that you did it with Aurora. I checked that out yesterday but it is so expensive for us here with our current exchange rates. But I might just try the free version.
PS, love your tag!
December 11th, 2015  
Gorgeous. Like that blue tone of it.
December 11th, 2015  
Pardon me for asking but what LR stands for in this case.
December 11th, 2015  
@dibzgreasley I thought it was expensive but Marnie @golftragic sent me a link and they are running a sale now. It was still $99.00, but much better than the normal $249 which I would not have spent. It comes with some other stuff - a photobook, some presets, etc., so it made it a little more reasonable. My impression is it will be a useful program, but I've only used it tonight.
December 11th, 2015  
@fearinnocent Sorry Edwin -- it is short for Lightroom, the processing program by Adobe.
December 11th, 2015  
@salza I know what you mean -- HDR can look very fake, but it's great, I find, when lighting situations are tricky and you need to draw from more than one photo to get it to be realistic and what it looked like. This one and Photomatix are useful, I find, for maintaining a natural look. I don't know yet if I prefer one over the other. There is also HDR Efex that is sold by Google now.
December 11th, 2015  
@golftragic -- thanks for the lead! I do like this program! Much to learn about it, though. Can you export photos to it from LR?
December 11th, 2015  
Excellently outstanding again.
December 11th, 2015  
@taffy that's what I thought. I was just making sure if I understood it right :)
December 11th, 2015  
Stunning shot. A fav.
December 11th, 2015  
Sam
outstanding! Instant FAV :)
December 11th, 2015  
Great! A Fav.
Must try your apps. I love the way you follow through on a concept to learn how you can change a photo so well!
December 11th, 2015  
So lovely! The colours, the lines, all beautiful. Fav
December 11th, 2015  
Fantastic! Fav.
December 11th, 2015  
Cool!
December 11th, 2015  
Stunning , FAV
December 11th, 2015  
interesting that the folks on the pier came out solid! I guess it's to do with the angle at which they are moving.
December 11th, 2015  
Lovely shot. The way I get mine in from my HDR program is by importing. Haven't anything that speaks directly except PS.
December 11th, 2015  
Stunning shot.
December 11th, 2015  
This is beautiful Taffy!! I may investigate this once I have got myself set up using LR and PS on the new Mac. I still have to download Nik Efex Pro (hoping I don't have to buy it again!!) Been too busy this week to do much other than try to get to grips with the Mac system. I am missing "right click" that I have on my mouse with the PC. I need to find out how to get to those things. Last night one of my email addresses disappeared from the inbox. I knew I had mail from 365 but I seem to have lost contact with that address although it was all ok the day before yesterday. Party tonight so no time to really investigate. Fav for your lovely image!!
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful image. The colors are just amazing.
December 11th, 2015  
Spectacular! Fav!
December 11th, 2015  
@pamknowler Nik Efex.... when I got my new iMac, I just went to the Nik website put in my email address and it downloaded again. Hope it works for you.
December 11th, 2015  
oooh - Aurora looks fantastic - this has such a gorgeous feel without being over processed. Birthday and Chanukah wishes.
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful!
December 11th, 2015  
Wow, I love this, so moody.
December 11th, 2015  
Incredible shot Taffy, I really like the ghostly images of the surfers. Fav!
December 11th, 2015  
Wonderful composition, leading line, depth, reflections, light
December 11th, 2015  
Beautifully captured. Fav!! 😃
December 11th, 2015  
Beautifully caught and processed, fav
December 11th, 2015  
@pamknowler Right Click is there! The trick is: hold down the 'option' or 'control' key when you click on the trackpad for what you want to do. You'll get a pull down menu of the right click options. (reason for saying option OR control -- I can never remember which one -- so trial and error is how I usually find it!)
December 11th, 2015  
Great composition and light in the sky with the reflections
December 11th, 2015  
A classic and a beautiful image.
December 11th, 2015  
@taffy Thanks I will try that.
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful Taffy! A question....Have you tried the HDR feature in LR? I am not sure what version of LR you have, I think it was added sometime in the past year or 2. I have the CC subscription and it has it. I used twice in the past week and was very happy with the results.
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful effect Taffy. Aurora sounds interesting, but I just can't seem to get to grips with Lightroom and have more or less decided to stick with Photoshop CS6. Plus when I found a problem with Photomatix (it was a glitch between the programme and my camera), the boys there gave such marvellous service, I think I'd feel disloyal if I went to another HDR programme.
December 11th, 2015  
@woodlandsphotog I've heard it was good and need to update my subscription as mine is the older version -- just a year older but no HDR. Thanks for the reminder to take it into the university and get it updated!
December 11th, 2015  
@chrysanthemum I know what you mean re new programs and adjusting. I have three different ones now and it's interesting to see how each does a different 'take' even with adjustments on how to combine. When I get LR updated, it will be four, which is probably entering the absurd category! But I use it so much that I feel I'm sharing my loyalty among them!
December 11th, 2015  
This is so lovely Taffy. An image to soak up. I love it. Fav
December 11th, 2015  
What?? You want to give me another sleepless night!!? Fav.
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful shot. Fav
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful image and composition, great processing
December 11th, 2015  
Fantastic image and amazing effect. I will have a look at this programme as well, I really like the result!
December 11th, 2015  
This is beautiful Taffy, you are so good at these!
December 11th, 2015  
I think it does a nice natural job...but the blown out parts still are. Tricky exposure I'm betting! What is the date of your birthday? Jasmine's is next week as well
December 11th, 2015  
Really gorgeous!!!
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful blues and great reflections in the wet sand.
December 11th, 2015  
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing the program! I think I will check it out
December 11th, 2015  
Really cool long, long line. Fav.
December 12th, 2015  
Incredible picture and perspective. Congratulations on making the Trending Page and the PP. Well deserved.
December 12th, 2015  
The results of the HDR are awesome. Got to have a great subject to start with. Fav
December 12th, 2015  
this deserves many more favs than it has. really interesting
December 12th, 2015  
Very beautiful and a Fav!
December 12th, 2015  
Very nice- I like the soft feel to it. Sometimes the hdr is too stark for me.
December 12th, 2015  
Awesome shot!
December 12th, 2015  
This looks so beautiful.
December 12th, 2015  
@sailingmusic Thanks Myrna! That's very sweet of you to say. I think I may be overdoing the pier shots!
December 12th, 2015  
Hmmm . . . quite a nice image. I'm looking forward to seeing a demo!
December 12th, 2015  
Beautiful shot Taffy
December 12th, 2015  
Absolutely gorgeous! FAV
December 13th, 2015  
Lovely.
December 13th, 2015  
Lovely example of HDR. FAV
December 13th, 2015  
Marvellous Taffy and thank you for all the HDR advice. Another thing on the list!
December 13th, 2015  
FAV! This is spectacular. Great reflection, exposure and composition.
December 14th, 2015  
Wonderful :)
December 14th, 2015  
Nice shot!! I thought I would try Aurora to see which HDR software I liked best before committing to any (besides the one in PS6), but I think it only works for Mac products. There did not seem to be a Windows version...
December 18th, 2015  
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