As a photographer, and especially one who uses HDR, I am always looking for ways to simplify post processing of the photographs I take. I think I have found a solution that suits me in a piece of software called Machinery HDR Effects. Just recently I was re-introduced to this software that previously was not available in the English language. But with the recent release that situation has now been rectified.
So what am I talking about? Take this image:
There are several things I can see wrong with this image. It’s slightly dark and it could do with some more definition in the skies, the animals fur and the background. Normally this is where I would pass it through my HDR software and then spend some time post processing in PhotoPlus from Serif Software. Finally finishing the image by re-sizing it for WordPress.
Machinery HDR Effects has made my post processing a lot simpler. Here’s my final image done almost completely with Machinery HDR Effects. The only thing I did in PhotoPlus was straighten the horizon.
I’m not saying that Machinery HDR Effects is for everyone. It suits me and over the past two weeks I have certainly found that it is simplifying my workflow, so that can’t be bad.
By the way, the dog is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and he was photographed on the beach at Weston-super-Mare, England. His Kennel Club name is Amantra Prince Rupert but we call him Deefer. I’ll leave you to work it out what Deefer means.
As usual, in all my posts I use Zemanta to find related articles to this weeks Weekly Photo Challenge. These are the ones that have been found so far. During the week I will re-visit this post and see how many more Zemanta picks up….
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Dammit Mike, you keep handing me reasons to buy Machinery 2 😀
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Robert, some images work great, some don’t but I’m getting good results from most that I’m trying.
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This photo is really lovely, the dog’s so cute and fluffy 🙂
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He is a cutie, loves people and has his own way of making sure that people pet him in the street. Everyone local knows him…
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NIce work. I use photoshop.I’ve never tried Machinery or PhotoPlus.
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Machinery is new for me. I stopped using Photoshop some time ago and started using PhotoPlus. I prefer it to Elements
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The change that made to the sand in particular is astonishing. I’m not normally a fan of HDR because a lot of the photos I’ve seen which use it look unnatural but this is great!
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I used to make my HDR images look really crazy. Nowadays the 2 main programs that I use, SNS-HDR and Unified Colors HDR Express are almost incapable of creating that crazy, over-saturated look. I have nothing against it but I now prefer that my images have a more natural look. Machinery takes everything a step further. I can get very natural looking, but if I prefer I can go to the extreme…
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How cute! 🙂
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Love the HDR! Thanks for stopping by!
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It really makes a difference Mike – HDR photography intrigues me but it seems I have a lot to learn still to get it working right…
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Jo, I’ve been creating HDR images for years, if you want any help let me know
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Nice dog.
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Great Shot Mike ,very impressive 🙂
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I’m with Jake!
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Looks like he’s waiting patiently for his owner to catch up! Lovely pic.
I also play around a lot with my photos, although I’m completely un-technical. Seem to do most of it by feel, and use GIMP to edit. I see it as an art form, and it’s just great fun.
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Cute dog! Thanks for the pingback.
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Beautiful photo of your adorable dog! And such an amazing difference between the two photos! I use PSE which can be frustrating at times. Thanks for the weekly photo link and the great tips on HDR.
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ooohhh….this puppy is so adorable!
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Simple excellence! You got it all right, kudos 🙂
Love the HDR too…
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what a great angle! and a great result.
thanks for sharing.
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Awesome photo and awesome post! I’m a huge fan of HDR and can’t wait till I can get a decent camera and the software to use it. The difference in the photos is amazing and the dog is just gorgeous. Thank you for sharing how you made the changes.
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amazingly natural result from that program, and an excellent illustration of how effects can be simple, too! (the doggie ain’t bad either! 😉 )
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Oh that cutie little fella!
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hi, Mike – i loved how you transformed the original into something amazing! great job. here’s a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy i bumped into a couple of years ago named Austin: http://yichinglin.com/2009/09/20/reflection-2/, http://yichinglin.com/2009/09/20/quizzical/, http://yichinglin.com/2009/09/20/austin/
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He is georgeous, I just want to hug him. Great photo!
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
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