For this photoshoot, I really wanted to use the merge HDR method, so I set my camera to shoot 3 photos, each with different levels of contrast (as it will effect the shutter speed). Then In light room I merged the images together to get a higher dynamic range with the photos. This means the images would look more like what the eye sees (as eyes have every high dynamic range). This would allow me to get images very similar to Ansel Adams who’s images also had life like dynamic range giving a drama packed image. I went to Plemont just before the golden hour so the lighting and contrast would be very powerful. Also, the cliffs are very tall and dramatic, which will help make my image more interesting. Here are some good photos with the editing process:

Photo 1:

I took this image from the side of a bridge, keeping a visualisation on how I want the end photo to look like. I wanted the house to look insignificant compared to the large cliff sides of jersey. The dark and sinister cave below shows that humans don’t have the same power as nature.

I bumped up the contrast to make the scene far more dramatic from the textures of the rocks to the now visible clouds. However, Increasing the exposure too much left the highlights being to over exposed and the shadows being under exposed. I felt like the rocks could do with some more detail so I increased the texture which automatically adjusts certain sections of the image for me.

Photo 2:

Here I combined the 3 images below to increase the dynamic range of my image, each with a different exposure level:

below is the final image after the HDR processing:

I wanted to use visualisation again for this picture. I knew not to take photos with the sun in frame as it can make the image look less exiting if not done on purpose. I also saw some surfers going into the water before taking the photo so I waited for them to get in a nice position before capturing this image. The eyes are brought away from the dark rocks and towards the surfers, placed on the rule of thirds. This means the viewers eyes are always drawn to the surfers (focal point).

I wanted to bring the clouds out more in the photo so I increase the contrast and decreased the highlights and whites. This also gave the rocks some more detail. However, I believe that in photoshop It might be better as I can add detail to the image without the surfers blending in with the sea.