6-shot panorama taken from Millenium Park - click for 1920px version
The Bean, single-shot HDR from RAW - click for 1920px version
Looking south down LaSalle Street towards the Board of Trade, Chicago. Single-shot HDR from RAW, hand-held.
17-shot panorama of Lake Michigan, Grant Park, Chicago Loop, looking south from 39th floor on Randolph Street. Advisable to view large (1920px)
Chicago at night. You may recognize some buildings from <i>The Dark Knight</i>.. Nikon D70, 2005.
downtown Chicago, by the river and Marina City, IBM building.. b/w conversion.
Taken in 2005, Nikon D70.
looking north from Roosevelt, South Loop Chicago. 3-shot panorama from single-shot RAW HDR. click for 2560px version
Railyard north of Roosevelt, Chicago. Single-shot HDR.
Navy Pier single-shot HDR panorama, Chicago.
Navy Pier single-shot HDR panorama, Chicago. Made from 2 shots.
18-shot HDR (from single RAW) panorama, looking north from the Adams St bridge on the Chicago river.
looking east from South Loop Chicago. 11-shot panorama (no HDR). missed a couple of shots to get a complete pano, I will most likely go back and redo this one - hopefully during more dramatic sky conditions as well.
Of note, the white house towards the center of the picture is the Clarke House, which is regarded as the oldest surviving building in Chicago.
for my single-shot HDR's I just drag a single RAW file into Photomatix, tone-map, save, and that's it. Photomatix takes care of the (pseudo) exposures. It's great because you don't need a tripod (didn't use one for any of these - I did balance on ledges and railings for a few but the majority of these are hand-held) and you don't have to worry about ghosting. I take my camera with me whenever I can, if I see a shot I think looks nice, I snap a few RAWs and then have the option to do a single-shot HDR if the lighting (and scene) seems like it might benefit from it.
Looking North down Michigan Avenue from Randolph Street.
heading to Chicago on 94-West. single-shot HDR
(not HDR)
taken during the filming of Batman: The Dark Knight, Chicago Loop 2007. Single-shot HDR, hand-held.
What you see in the middle with the spotlights surrounding it is the ramp leading to the lower level of Wacker drive - these are the scenes with the trucks going down/up the ramps and the related chase scenes.
Stormy night.. 08/23/07.. facing west from Wacker Drive. Behind glass. multiple exposure HDR (3 or 4), the spots at the top are raindrops on the window..
Looking east from Franklin Street at Delaware at 5AM. Single-shot HDR.
Absolutely spectacular. I have lived here for almost 36 years and not seen some of the views you are showing here. The HDR treatments used are done so tastefully, and in most of the shots truly make for better images. I am assuming you live downtown and can get out quickly when the skies look good. I am curious what the lenses were in some of these. Favorites? The last one, the view north from Adams, and the 2nd Navy Pier shot. That one could only have been better on a Wednesday or Saturday night. Again...incredible work here. Glad you joined. You have made me realize how much better HDR shots can look!
thanks for taking a look - I don't live downtown but I do live close by. I can't get out to the city as often as I'd like but I have found some opportunities. Isn't it crazy how monumentally important "being in the right place at the right time" is?? I still have no grasp of that concept. Sadly I don't "plan" any shots, I just take them when I happen to be in a certain place at a certain time and I feel there is a shot. It takes a LOT of effort to plan! The lenses used for these are (Canon) 24-105 f/4L, 24-70 f/4L, and the standard 18-70 on the D70 shots. I like to use HDR as a scalpel for fine-tuning and enhancing shots, not for blowing them out of reality. I'm glad you noticed that.
Here are some more - click for larger version..
D70, 2005.
note: this is one of my earlier HDR's, it is definitely on the "wilder" side.. intentionally.
It's been said numerous times already, but it deserves to be said again. WOW! AMAZING! These are all marvelous to look at and extremely enjoyable to marvel over. Job well done.
