Christmas Tree Dilemma

I have a dilemma that I need help with. I modified these three tree pictures and I can't decide which one I like better. So, I want to ask you, which one do you like best?


Above is #1


Above is #2


Above is #3

Please tell me which one you like best either on here or on Facebook.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Each morning, I have the opportunity to drive by the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan. Since it is dark when I leave, I get to see this building with the lights on as the sun comes up. One morning I decided to bring my camera and tripod and sit and wait for some great shots.

And, here they are...


Each one of these is a differnt shot. They are not the same shot processed differently.


This one (above) has a Lomo effect applied to it. I love how it brings out the blue sky.


I thought this one would look cool with some textures applied to it to make it look old.


Finally, this one was actually 3 pictures merged for an HDR effect. I love how it brings out lots of highlights and colors that the normal shot doesn't show. That is exactly why they call it "High Dynamic Range".

HDR, Tilt-Shift and Family Blog is Locked

Well, I finally did it. I locked my family blog. If you want an invite, send me an e-mail or leave a message.

Just for fun, I had some time last night to play with some of my pictures in Photoshop. Here is a picture I took while in Seattle:

It is taken from the Space Needle. I applied a "Tilt-Shift" technique to it so that it looks like a model city. Pretty cool huh?


I really like this one. I took this on a hike up a canyon.

Last year, I had the opportunity to go to Chicago. We had many opportunities to ride the trains while we were there. One night, I had my camera and I shot a whole bunch of pictures on the trains and waiting for trains.


I thought this one turned out pretty cool. Looks like a station on my little model train set. It isn't. It is a real train station.


This is my family's cabin. Pretty cool isn't it? We visit it every once in a while. It needs a little work, but there are lots of memories here!

OK, one last Photoshopped picture:


It is the Salt Lake Temple. I applied some HDR effects to this one and did some tone mapping.

Let me know what you think!

HDR - High Dynamic Range Photos

Today I decided to try my hand at some HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. I think HDR can bring out some VERY interesting effects on some picutres. For those of you who don't know, HDR basically involves taking three pictures of the same scene (on a tripod without moving the camera) and changing the exposire. I use AEB +/-2 and then combined the pictures. There was also some tone adjustment done on these pictures.


I took this picture this morning as the sun was coming up.


This is a picture of my living room. The effects make the pictures look a little surreal.

I would love to hear your comments about these pictures and the HDR style of post processing.