Earlier this year, I went to the Yosemite Half Dome. Back then, I was still more of a hobby photographer, not really taking it seriously, just shooting for fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t shoot a single HDR photo.
Lately, I’ve started using some new editing software like Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4 (now owned by Google). This software far exceeds Lightroom 4.2 in its ability to enhance landscapes. It has great tools like Detail Extractor and Sunlight, which you can use to add brilliance and a nice yellow glow.
Essential for shots like this. The only drawback is it sucks. It has a great interface but is painfully slow and crashes CONSTANTLY. So, editing photos like this can take 1-2 hours.
Sometimes, it can go a little quicker if you already know what you’re going for and have pre-built recipes. This kind of happens naturally since you always want to save your settings before rending, which causes the crashes. Or trick I started doing while using this software is to work on the photos while doing other things. Make an adjustment, watch TV, make another adjustment, and clip your toenails. Actually, I’ve learned to apply some of the processor-heavy effects, render it, and then bring it back in. Makes using it a little better. I am kind of wondering if it is just my computer. I can’t seem to get some other Lightroom plugins to work like any of the Topaz tools.
I posted earlier this year of Yosemite’s Half Dome, but the images were black and white. I didn’t know what to do with them in color or how to enhance them until now.
So here it is, Yosemite’s Half Dome, now in color.
