Unified Color Technologies True Vision HDR Photo Contest Phase 2
After months of accepting submissions, we announced the winners for this phase of our "True Vision HDR Photo Contest". Below is a collection of their winning images. We want to thank all participants as well as the panel of distinguished photography experts who judged the contest.
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When Gods Watch1st PrizeAlex BenisonFreestylepentax k10Dsigma 10-20mmI shoot for the University of Colorado, Boulder and I was shooting down on the field during the homecoming game. I noticed that the sunset was about to happen and I thought it had potential to be great, so I called the field manager and we literally sprinted to the roof of the stadium. I got there just in time to capture the most amazing scene, it was truly surreal and only possible to capture the full dynamic range of it with HDR.5 shots at 2EV spacing. I had a tripod for this one, which was essential due to the low light. I had to go back in and do a little manual editing to get the moving crowd and players just right. -
Beach in Garapate State Park1st PrizeMark BristolLandscapeCanon Eos 1DS Mark II.17-40mmBeach in Garapate State Park.3 shots at 2ev spacing fired in rapid succesion. -
Dance Hall Ruins1st PrizeJonathan ZaremskiArchitectureD300Nikon 16-85Dance Hall Ruins, Cambodia.Tripod mounted, 5 one stop exposures. Used full suite of tools. Enhanced the image, to counteract the "flatness" from the cloudy day, by using the local contrast tools which definitely brought some depth back to the image. This probably could not have been achieved to the same degree with other photo editing tools. The saturated reds and greens are very close to the real scene even though the camera did not capture them that well. The selective saturation tools provided for an accurate color restoration. -
On highway in Boulder, ColoradoHonorable MentionAlex BenisonLandscapepentax k10Dsigma 10-20mmThis is on off the highway on my way home from work in Boulder, Colorado. I saw this massive looming supercell thunderstorm while I was driving, in fact, everyone saw it because it was so spectacular. People were craning their necks up to see it while they were driving. I pulled over and grabbed my camera out. the sun was setting behind me so that is where the color and the shadows in the clouds comes from.5 shots, bracketed at 2 stops a piece. I didn't have a tripod, so all the shots were handheld, but the pentax has a nice internal image stabilization feature, and the software helps align the images too. -
Garapata State ParkHonorable MentionMark BristolLandscapeCanon Eos 1DS Mark II.Canon 17-40mm.Garapata State Park CA South of Pacific Grove on Highway 1.3 shots at 2ev spacing -
Evening rays of sunlightHonorable MentionRyan GardnerLandscapeCanon EOS 7DEF-S 18-55 ISEvening rays of sunlight dance through the mist of a recently-ended thunderstorm at the edge of a recently cleared meadow in central Vermont.3 shots, 2 stop bracketing. Adjusted in Lightroom to correct for lens distortion and then merged to HDR in HDR Expose. After that, brought back into lightroom to tone the image to what you see here. HDR Expose was very impressive in its ability to bring the dynamic range of this image into what I was looking for and without introducing strange halos to the image. -
Walt Disney Music HallHonorable MentionAlex MoralesArchitecturePentax K-7Pentax 18-250mm zoomThe is the Walt Disney Music Hall. This was shot during a night photoshoot of the downtown Los Angeles area.This is a 5-shot long exposure HDR processed in HDR PhotoStudio 2. -
TransamHonorable MentionSteve EberhardArchitectureCanon EOS 40DCanon 24-70 LTraveling to San Francisco at night to get some architectural photographs of the city. My midnight adventure was fun setting up with tripod and long exposures with my Canon EOS 40D and my 24-70 lens. This Transam photo took 3 shots bracketed and 3 more to get it all in with a vertical pano.Traveling to San Francisco at night to get some architectural photographs of the city. My midnight adventure was fun setting up with tripod and long exposures with my Canon EOS 40D and my 24-70 lens. This Transam photo took 3 shots bracketed and 3 more to get it all in with a vertical pano. -
Fenway parkHonorable MentionRyan GardnerArchitectureCanon EOS-7D18-55 ISFenway park on game day, calm before the crowds.This was a panorama stitched into a 32-bit hdr file in PtGui then tone mapped in HDR Expose. Each shot was bracketed with 2 stops and overall 39 shots were taken (some of which were cropped out entirely). The final stitched panorama is a 32-bit 11650x4886 file. HDR Expose was able to remove the veiling glare and also bring the exposure into a rather natural looking HDR image without halos or grungy looks. -
VenturaHonorable MentionEsteban MonrealLandscapeCanon xti18-55mmThis image was taken on the beach in Ventura California. I love the variety of colors and the moon in the top left corner...This image was harder to capture then I thought it would be. It was a really windy day so the mist from the ocean kept landing on my lens and camera so i had to keep cleaning my camera off.took three shots and merged them together in HDR photo studio 2. -
Bryce CanyonHonorable MentionDavid WaldoLandscapeNikon D80AF-S DX Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G EDThis image was taken in Bryce Canyon, UT from Sunset Point. When you approach the canyon for the first time the scene takes your breath away. The variation in colors and textures is just beautiful. This image has a great contrast between the blue sky and the red and white limestone with a band of green trees in-between.For this shot I set my camera to Aperture Priority and used the bracketing feature to get my three exposures used in the HDR image. I used Photoshop to clean up some lens specks before I merged the exposures in HDR Expose. To edit the image I used the tools: Veiling Glare, Shadow/Highlight, Brightness/Contrast, White Balance, Saturation, and Resize. -
Victory Lane in SavannahHonorable MentionJohn AdamsArchitectureNikon D500018-55Taken in Savannah on my favorite street Victory Lane. When you think of Southern Style this is what comes to mind!3 exposures handheld and procesed in HDR PhotoStudio -
Sunset in Clearwater, FloridaHonorable MentionJohn AdamsLandscapeLumix FZ5020-400Taken in Clearwater, Florida during a sunset. I was on the bridge to the beach backed up in traffic watching this sunset unfold, the traffic was backed up, there was no parking and my tripod was at home. Buy the time I had parked illegally and got to the waterfront the sun had gone down. Too accommodate the slow shutter speeds, bracketing and lack of a tripod I balanced my Lumix FZ50 on a rock, set the self timer and hoped for the best. Even at ISO 100 the Lumix was noisy in low light long exposures but despite the limits this is one of m favorite images -;0)3 exposures, processed only with HDR PhotoStudio. -
Crater LakeHonorable MentionAjit GokhaleLandscapeSony DSLR A350 (14.2 MP)Sony lens DT 16-105 (not the kit lens)Crater Lake 1 The weather in the last two weeks of June at Crater Lake is iffy. I could rain or snow and all the trails are not open yet. However it can also provide usual lighting conditions. I waited for two hours, 7 to 9 pm, for the best evening light. The sky was mostly cloudy and the sun hidden. Finally after 900PM the sun briefly came out and lit the clouds. I like the colors in the sky and the water but also the "god beams" in the distance. The snowbank provides a nice contrast in the foreground. Being there in the presence of this stunning lake and the beautiful scenery made it a meditative and calming experience.Three shots at different exposures were made in Aperture priority, RAW format, at F16 to maximize depth of field. The focal length was 26mm (equivalent to 39mm in 35mm format). A Singh Ray warming polarizer was used. A Slick Carbon Fiber tripod with an Acratech ballhead was used. Image editing was done on my wide gamut 24 inch HP monitor that can rotate from landscape to portrait mode. The monitor is calibrated with X-rite’s i1Display 2. I did not use any image editing software other than the HDR Expose to process this image. The RAW images were input to HDR Expose and the following controls were used: Brightness/Contrast, Veiling Glare, Shadow/Highlight, Sharpening and Saturation. In the Veiling Glare I used the tree trunks on the right (the darkest portion) to set the base point. Most other controls were set by visual feel of the image and the histogram. I slightly increased the saturation of this image to make it more pleasing to the eye. I have used other HDR software but HDR Expose gives me more natural colors, avoiding the unnatural "HDR look" from other HDR software. Unlike other HDR software I do not have to process the RAW images first in Camera Raw, saving me time. -
Chevron TowerHonorable MentionDave WilsonArchitectureNikon D90Sigma 10-20mm (at 10mm)This image shows the Chevron Tower in downtown Houston, Texas. It was shot with a super-wide lens from a very low angle yielding a dramatic composition framed by the circular skywalk outside the building.3 brackets -2EV, 0EV, +2EV. All editing performed in HDR Photostudio 2. Adjustments were made to increase image contrast and, obviously, convert to greyscale.
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