Consulate of the Sea – Valencia, Spain (HDR)

The story of this photo

View the Before-and-After Comparison to see where this photo comes from!

This is the main room at the seat of the Consulate of the Sea in Valencia, Spain. This is where the important judicial decisions concerning the Mediterranean sea were taken since 1498. Of course, at that time the chairs and the projector have not been in here. 😉

This was quite a tricky shot to process. The original source files were a bit on the dark side and had more noise than usual because I shot with an exposure compensation of -1EV (thought it would be a good idea at that time). So, I had to work with different intensities of noise reduction of different areas of the shot. Still, I like the result.

How it was shot

• Taken handheld [details]
• Three exposures (0, -2, +2ev)
• Camera: Nikon D90
• Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3,5-5,6G ED VR
• Details can be found here

How it was tone-mapped

• Preparation: developed the RAW files with ACR mainly in order to reduce the CA [details]
• Resulting TIF images were then used as input to Photomatix
• Tone-mapping: Photomatix Pro 4.0 (Detail Enhancer)

How it was post-processed

• Post-processing was done in Photoshop
• Topaz Adjust on the entire image to get back the colors and the details [details]
• Topaz Denoise on the entire image (different intensity in different areas) [details]
• Topaz Infocus on the entire image for sharpening
• Saturation layers on the floor, the curtains , and the projector (desaturation)
• Curves layer on the floor (more contrast)
• Saturation layer on the ceiling (toned down a bit)
• Levels layer on the ceiling (more contrast)
• Levels layers on the candleholders and the projector (more contrast)
• Sharpening using the high-pass filter [details]
• Vignette effect using a masked fill layer [details]
• Watermarking

10 HDR Top Tips for FREE!

Join our newsletter to get this eBook and step up your HDR skills today!

Learn more!

You will receive: The free eBook + our regular email newsletter with tips, tutorials, news and product information… all for free!

100% Spam-Free - Easy Unsubscribe