Today’s post I’m doing something a little different. I want to illustrate the possibilities that can be hidden within an image during the post processing phase. To illustrate this, I am posting the original image, and a couple along the way, and of course, the final image. The tools I used to manipulate these pictures include Lightroom, HDR Efex Pro, Viveza 2, and Dfine 2. I regularly use these programs throughout my workflow, and have become familiar with their capabilities, however, every now and then I like to experiment and push them, and myself, often having surprising results.

The Original Image

This image was taken last week-end at La Jolla Cove, and struck me because of the position of the sailboat, and the pelican in relation to each other. I knew when I captured it that I would eventually process it, but didn’t have a specific direction in mind. My first attempts at processing lead to disappointment, so I decided to put it aside, let it sit for a few days, and come back to it with a fresh outlook. It’s these types of images that lend themselves well to heavy experimentation, partly because they are a challenge to get off the ground and running – so to speak.

No Post Processing

 A Pass Through HDR Efex Pro

This next image is the first pass through HDR Efex Pro, by Nik Software. This is my goto program when I want to process a single image as an HDR, primarily because of the control it gives when editing on specific parts of an image. My goal with this run-through was to enhance the aqua tones in the wave on the left of the image, as well as bring out the structure in the clouds, and warm up the rays of the sunlight.

Single Image HDR

Drastic Adjustments Using Viveza

I could have easily stopped here, and would have been happy with this image. This is where I stretched my experimental wings a bit, and got crazy with the color. I then took the image into Viveza, and toyed with the colors, and saturation levels to bring out the purples in the sky, as well as bringing out and warming up the oranges and yellows.

Viveza Color Adjustments

Final Adjustments and Noise Reduction

The image above is way to saturated for my taste, especially the sunlight band below the clouds. It also has quite a bit of noise, which also needed to be reduced. So, using Lightroom’s saturation color channels, I pulled back on the oranges, yellows, and purples. I also added a graduated filter to the sky to make some slight global adjustments to the clouds. After that, it was a quick trip to Dfine 2.0 to reduce the noise levels.

The Final Image

From start to finish, this image took a little over 45 minutes to process, I was taking my time, and trying different color combinations before settling on the purplish sky. So, there you have it, a quick review of my workflow.

DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be an advertisement for Lightroom, or the Nik Software products mentioned here. These are my primary, and favorite tools that I normally use.

Use what ever tools you prefer to use, the point here is to keep experimenting, and have fun with the programs at your disposal.