Arriving Snowstorm in Yosemite Valley

            My last upload from this brief visit to Yosemite was the result of processing with Photomatix 4.0 HDR software.  My intention was simple, to preserve more detail in highlights and shadows.  I did the best I could in Photomatix, with some additional post-HDR adjustment in Lightroom.  Despite my intention to use HDR in a subtle fashion, I was asked whether the result was HDR.  Had I failed?

I revisited my images from Tunnel View today to process an entire 157 exposure timelapse of this storm rolling in.  It would be much faster and easier to edit single exposures.  The light changed quite a bit as I captured the storm, so I tried several approaches on several points across the 16 minutes of images captured.

While this particular frame was taken as I was framing the shot and adjusting my camera, just before the rest of the timelapse images, you can see from the result that the non-HDR result has a quality to the light that is hard to beat.

Don't get me wrong.  I've used HDR a lot over the years and at times it has been very useful.  But when we spend too much time on one image, and get thoroughly immersed in its processing, we seem to develop a perceptual tunnel vision and a cognitive blindness to the characteristics and qualities of the result.  It becomes very difficult for us to objectively evaluate our own work.  

This is why I like to process images multiple ways... let the best result win.  But this also illustrates why it's dangerous to rely too heavily on any one tool or technique for postprocessing.  The obvious culprit would be vilify HDR software... we all know someone who will go to great lengths to justify their producing one style of output from their fixed postprocessing approach, even if to the rest of us seeing the same processing artifacts can grow to be like being subjected to polka music day and night.  There's nothing wrong with polka music or HDR, but anything taken to excess can become a bit stale, or even tedious.  

But I don't mean for this to be about HDR.  The real problem was not the tool, but that human perception and cognitive abilities leave us unable to evaluate our own work.  Sometimes there can be benefits, when we develop a "style" that others like, but if it's because we're stuck on one processing approach and the look of that process in one particular tool, lets not pretend that there's any particular artistry or mastery involved.  

I think this lesson can  be applied to any tool, Photoshop, Lightroom, Nik...  Are we stuck on one tool, one approach, one subtle but tool-branded style of output like a one-note band?  We try not to let the processing tool take over and dictate our results, but I think it's hard to objectively answer that question.  

So back to that one frame I previously processed with HDR, I have several options:

1) Start from scratch editing a single frame and ditch HDR
2) Produce an average of the three exposures, then edit it as if it were a single exposure.  This is actually the way I used to use Photomatix for years (a feature that was available in free trial mode), and it can be a very effective approach.
3) Use Photoshop layer masking to take the best areas of the three exposures.
4) Make the best non-HDR edit but then overlay it on the HDR in Photoshop layers and blend the two to get the best qualities of each.

No rush, I don't have an immediate need for that image.  That's actually probably my best approach.  Separating your edits in time removes the veil of tunnel vision, and if a lot of time passes, you'll have different tools, different skills and take a fresh approach.  

Ansel Adams used to go back years later and rework his old images, often producing very different results.  This is no less useful today.  Don't get too attached to any particular result.  Instead, cultivate your curiosity regarding how an image might be treated differently.  Your portfolio of old images can be one of your greatest sources of fresh images, and you may learn a few new tricks along the way as you try new tools and features to optimize past results.  I know that I have a few that I'd like to revisit...

4/21 - I replaced this with a lighter (edited in daylight) version...

Taken on: April 9, 2011

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, f/16.0, 1/80 sec, 35mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:	EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	35mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto bracket
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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