DECEMBER 2007 Photo of the month contest....

[boneaddict]

IDK Coon...don't put your shot down, I really like the coloring of your shot.  A very natural look.  Elk mans is AWESOME and I wouldn't take anything away from it,ITS AN INCREDIBLE PICTURE  but its almost so vivid it looks photshopped or enhanced.  For those of us who like a natural look, yours is tops. 

ps thanks for the note #10

[huntnphool]

"ITS AN INCREDIBLE PICTURE  but its almost so vivid it looks photshopped or enhanced."

Incredible is an understatement Bone but I agree with you on the photoshop, there is no doubt about that, not that I care, I would like to find out how he does it though I have photoshop CS2 but I havnt figured out how to enhance pics that good.

[M_ray]

M-Ray, he has some even nicer pics on his website. Looks like you just saved $4.00, he charges for that pic

Hell I'll give him the 4.00 for that picture! come to think of it I'll also give Bone and all the other mods 4 each just so I don't have to look at your ugly mug all of January!

[Elkman]

Here how its done.
http://flyingpanther.wordpress.com/hdr-tutorial/
http://www.free-css-templates.com/photoshop-webdesign-tutorials/the-best-hdr-tutorials/

Here's what I use.
http://www.hdrsoft.com/

[hogsniper]

Heres my contribution....you guys are too good at this....im just an amature....

[huntnphool]

Great info Elkman, very informative, thank you very much. I cant wait to try some of those technique's.

Hogs, nice pics, nothing wrong with those.

M-B, I hear ya, after all, we are going to have to endure your *censored* eating grin all month

[popeshawnpaul]

The HDR photos look almost too good to be true.  You can actually do something similar to this manually in photoshop and I've been doing that for years.  The goal is to essentailly individually select all the like toned areas and individually adjust them to one standard exposure.  For example, if you select just the sky, you can darken and contrast it so that it's perfectly exposed.  Then you can choose the foreground and individually adjust the levels.  I started taking HDR photos a few months ago and found out the doing it manually in photoshop is not as effective as doing it with HDR.

For me, although it doesn't look like a standard photo, I believe the HDR images like the ones Elkman does are actually closer to how my eye perceives the image in real life.  People say it looks fake, but for me it looks more like how I imagined the scene.  Here's why...your eye has much more dynamic range than does a camera sensor.  When you look at the Mt. Rainier picture scene in real life, the foreground is visible to you and your eye adjusts down your pupil when you look into the bright sky.  If Elkman had taken only one shot of that scene, the foreground might be too dark and he would lose detail.  But in real life Elkman could see that detail, so why is it fake that he combined images to reveal the foreground and a high dynamic range? 

I admit it doesn't look like standard photography we are use to.  Taking shots that way is almost too good to be true, but that's not bad in my book.  In the future, I would image all our point and shoot cameras will have this technology built in where it takes and brackets three simultaneous photographs and stitches them together digitally, giving you one nice photo on the other end.  Now, if someone is pushing up the saturation slider in photoshop that is a different story.  I see that all to often and I admit it is hard not to do.  However, it's your "art" and if that's how you want your art to be portrayed who am I to say it's wrong.

[wackmaster]

Here my entries

[big fatt]

Heres my photos,had a really good year.Shot wed. at 12:35 and back to the truck on thur.4:30.Purgatory style baby.Long way in and a long way out.

[big fatt]

hey i found another photo to add if i could

[big fatt]

i took this pic 4 days before the season started (archery) in Boston harbor area 25 yard shot just a few days to early.This area is where you will find me in the late season, praying.

[big fatt]

12-18-07  at about 1:30 pm 12 yard shot he still lives for know due to private property

[scoyoc5]

nothing special im just getting started..

[coonhound]

I like the frost on the pines, by the way you should take that camera up and take some pics of the slides you told me about.  I'd like to see how bad my late season standby looks.

Coon

[Black Ghost]

12-18-07  at about 1:30 pm 12 yard shot he still lives for know due to private property

That is DNR property, testing products to reduce damage done by deer. That's a bruiser, they also have some whitetails in there too.