DHS T-Bird and Trailer

Desert T-bird and trailer


Film images offer a different texture to a photo. In this retro T-bird photo, I've taken a film image, scanned it, processed it in Photoshop, created two more different digital manipulated exposures (one underexposed and one overexposed) of the photo from the scanned image, and merging those three images into an HDR-like photograph using Photomatix. Finally, I used the tone mapping tools of that program to make final tweaks on it.

Sound a bit technical? It's really not that hard. As a Palm Springs based photographer and author, this is one of the many HDR photos I've created of the Coachella Valley.

This photo has an interesting history in that I took it while touring Desert Hot Springs for some retro photo ops. It was late in 2003--a cool day with high clouds--when I used my Canon Rebel XT film camera to snap the picture.

Every couple of years, as technology becomes more sophisticated, I pull out my negatives and retweak them with the latest options.

The Coachella Valley is a great setting for HDR photography--the mountains, streams, snow, rocks and sand that make up the area's geography. What's more is that there is a film that covers all of the mountains that is a unique shade of red-brown that you can't find in many other places in the world.

Anyone recall the name of this?

Comments