“Let the finished file sit on your hard disk for a day or two. Don’t post it right away. I found that when you get back to it a day later, you will discover things that you might want to change, things that you did not discover while you were working on the details of the image very intensely.”
True words to live by if you are doing HDR…
I have also taken to heart Klaus’ idea of doing:
Noise Removal
Sharpening
as early in the HDR process as possible.
I wish I had read or thought about this before!
Anyhow, I just finished posting three images to Flickr and Panoramio, and have many ideas for future captures!
This image is a revisit of one of those captures, where I have incorporated several new software applications (Adobe Camera Raw 6.4.1, Photomatix 4.1 and Adobe Photoshop CS5) and techniques to create this image.
After packing up, and driving further West along Creek road in Glenmoore, I found my next little parking cove, and pulled in.
The breeze from the drive helped, but it too was warm.
From the rear of my car, I gathered my gear, and started to walk back down the road, to find a path down to the creek.
After a 100 feet or so, I climbed over the guard rail, down a small embankment, and stopped at the water’s edge to view my options.
From where I was standing, it was a near perfect 90 degree bend in the creek, so I waded into the warm water and headed up.
As I walked through the shallow water, I could easily see the creek bed rocks.
I continued to walk further and further, until I finally reached a series of trees that had fallen over the creek, resting on the banks.
In my heart, I wanted to continue. I could see deep shade on the other side, but it was too hot to be climbing over any trees today.
Trail Head – West Glenmoore 01 HDR
Heading back down the creek, to near where I started, I exited the water and entered into the woods, seeing a potential short-cut to get further down the creek.
As I walked in through the woods, I kept my eye on the creek, looking for my next shot.
I finally found an interesting area, and setup. I took several captures before taking the one at the top of the page, and it was the sun penetrating the water, revealing the details of the creek bed that I wanted to emphasis.
After a few more clicks on the camera shutter, I looked at my watch, and started back to the car.
There was one last place I wanted to try before calling it a day.
At the car, I put my gear in the back, jumped in and headed further west to the spot that I had stopped and visited the night before.
This time, there was an actual parking lot!
Once again, I gather my gear, and headed to the creek.
As you can see from the first two pictures, this area of Chester County is dry, and the water levels are down several inches.
During my visit the night before, I had taken note of the much large rocks in the creek, and I had been looking forward to doing some exploring with my camera.
Water Cooled at 101° F
With the bigger rocks, it was also fun to bounce from rock to rock, trying to find scenes to photograph.
I was also very apparent how low the water table was by looking at the levels on the larger rocks. In the “Trail Head” image, you can see several lines on the rocks.
I setup and took a number of another shots, including this close-up detail of the top region of a small waterfall, “Water Cooled at 101° F”.
Looking around some more, I made a metal notes on areas I wanted to return to in the cooler Fall days when the tree are in full color.
Once again, I looked at my watch, and started back to the car.
It was also nice to consider that there was a pool at my next stop!
I was very ready to for this!
– Andrew
Notes
All Images were bracket multi-exposure captures into Canon CR2 RAW format
Images were then converted to Adobe Digital Negatives (DNG)
HDR Post Processing was done with Adobe Photoshop CS5
Web images (jpg) were created with Adobe Lightroom 3.4.1
Finally, I got a day to myself to go on a photo-walk!
On my drive out to my sister’s last night to drop off Madison, I got a chance to do some drive-by scouting of the various areas along the Brandywine Creek that I wanted to try the following day.
Later in that night, I spent some time using Google Earth to further explore my options, and also figured out a potential route to the Quarry!
I spent the morning getting work related things out-of-the-way, and finally just after noon, I was walking out the door.
Pow! – The heat and humidity smacked me in the face!
I should have known better – Earlier, when I had been checking Facebook, several friends had already been posting that the weather outside was really bad.
But I did not expect this…
20/20 Vision – On Wednesday morning, when we first looked out the windows, we though we saw fog, but in reality, it was the thick humidity of a new day!
The drive to Marsh Creek Speedway was not that bad, but that because I had ALL the windows down!
At the Speedway… The heat hit me again – Now there was no breeze… and I was closer to water…
I parked the car; gathered my gear; and found the closest entrance into the creek and waded in… I was already wet from the day…
Along the Fence of the Quarry
Even the flowing creek water was warmer than normal…
This was a HOT DAY!
As I moved up creek, I noticed a parked car above me, by no easy path up, so I continued.
After about 150 feet, I found something that looked like a path and followed it up, until I reached a surprising dirt vehicle road.
I headed in the direction of the car, and finally came to an open area, where a light blue car was parked, along with a beach chair and a large thermos container.
Then I noticed an older women dressed in a Security Guard’s uniform, backing out of the car, on the edges of nowhere.
This was odd…
We both said hello, and started to talk about how hot it was.
Turns out she is about to retire at the beginning of August, and she was within her last few days of sitting in the heat!
After some time, I asked her which of the trails lead to the Quarry.
She pointed to one trail, and said that it was the main entrance, but because it was Private Property, there was no access.
She then pointed back down the dirt road I had just emerged from, and said that if I head back far enough, there was a trail that went off to the right.
She also warned that there had been a lot of snakes reported, and there was a Mountain Biking team using the trails in preparation for an event.
We chatted a little more, and I started back down the vehicle trail.
Quarry Gates – Glenmoore, Chester County, PA
I passed the spot from where I started, and continued walking till I reached the split in the road, and headed right.
The trail started up a hill, and just seemed to continue. After a while, it leveled off a bit, and turn into a young growth area, with no trees thicker then 3 inches.
Then it was back to the woods, and up more hill, and soon begin to see the fence that will be at my side for the rest of my trip.
Finally, I reached a corner, where I stopped and rested, and during my rest, I noticed that there is a gated opening, which a small vehicle might be able to get through.
I also noticed, that someone or some group of people already tried to gain access through this particular gate.
Question – Have you ever knowing crossed a ‘fence’ to obtain an image?
Looking at the gap, I did contemplate trying to crawl under, but with the excessive heat and agility not in my favor, I decided not to pursue this avenue.
After my break, I started back up the hill and finally reached the trail head.
From my previous nights investigations, I knew that this trail led into the main part of Marsh Creek State Park.
Trail Head (North) – Quarry in Glenmoore
As I rested, I listened into the woods for any sounds that might be the mountain biking group, or anything else.
Looking up into canopy of green leaves, I was rather amused to notice, as I drank my water and rested, a group birds circling my location.
I captured a few more images, drank some more water, realized I was three-quarters empty, and started to head back down the hill.
The walk back down the hill was rather uneventful – I did not even see a snake my entire hike!
At the car, I removed my vest, which was already several shades darker from wetness and my tripod, and placed them both in the back of my car, hoping that the air generated by my open windows while driving, might dry the vest off, as I headed to my next location.
With the keys in the ignition, I started the car, rolled down the windows, retracted the sunroof, and aired out the car for several minutes…
Looking at my thermometer in my dashboard, it read 101°F…
and the car had been sitting in the shade…
Off to my next point-of-interest (POI) along the Brandywine on Creek Road!
Updates
2012 July 18 – Nearly a year later, and the temperature is nearly the same… Also in reading my web logs, I have noticed a number of hits that asked the following question:
“Who owns the Quarry in Glenmoore?”
and according to the picture I took last year, as noted in this blog, the quarry is owned by Philadelphia Suburban Water Company in Bryn Mawr, PA, which can be seen in this extreme close-up of the fence.
Extreme Close-Up of the Glenmoore Quarry Fence Sign
Notes
All Images were bracket multi-exposure captures into Canon CR2 RAW format
Images were then converted to Adobe Digital Negatives (DNG)
HDR Post Processing was done with Adobe Photoshop CS5
Web images (jpg) were created with Adobe Lightroom 3.4.1
What is always very interesting at First meetings that start via the internet, is the real person behind the profile icons!
Also helps with not having to create or bring “Hello/My Name Is” name tags!
Anyhow…
We meet at the main parking lot for the mansion at Hibernia County Park, and then drove down the hill toward the “Old Damn” Area, which was already rather full with fisherman.
From the parking lot, we started down the Forge Trail, which follows the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek.
The Kit includes a 0.6ND, 0.9ND and a 1.2ND, and the concept of playing with an additional 9 stops was very intriguing, especially around water!
When the group got to a cleaning next to the water, all the tripods sprung into action, and camera bags flying open in all directions.
110410 Hibernia Park 012
Not wanting to be left out, I started to look for a good entrance point into the water, and then waded in.
It was cold, was not too bad.
On the way back to the trail, I did manage to slip, and dunk my arm put to my elbow in the creek!
My vest did touch the water, but the pocket liners kept everything dry!
I did not need to lose another camera to water, like I did back in college at Watkins Glen (NY) when my Canon A-1’s neck-strap broke.
We continued down the trail toward the small fishing pond, where there were many people enjoying the day.
Stopping at the small little bridge, we spread out to capture the sights around us.
One vary popular subject, was the small little water fall on the down stream side of the bridge.
110410 Hibernia Park 039
From the bridge, we head down Lion Heads Drive and toward “The Wall”.
After a little stop, we found another interesting area, which had a very strange attribute.
As one walked from the road toward the creek, there is a large area that has an intense orange color in the dirt and a blueish sheen.
110410 Hibernia Park 048
Once on the other side of the mess, I crossed a little island, and found a spot.
110410 Hibernia Park 058
We turned around at Cottage #1, and headed back to the parking lot.
When we got back to the small fishing pound, Jason headed directly back to his car via the trail, while the rest of us continued up Lions Head Drive.
We passed the Mansion and headed back down the dirt road to the Upper Damn Area parking lot.
In the parking allot, we chatted some more, and tossed out ideas of where and when the next Meet-Up will be. Details will be Posted on Facebook and Flickr groups.
From there, we went our separate directions.
When I got home, I began to transfer and process my files, and while showing my daughter my new images, I was able to show my daughter these two images, which I quickly turned into a combination “Poster”.
Hibernia County Park (Oct 2010 vs Apr 2011)
All and all, I think folks had a good time!
Thanks to all those folks that came out, and I look forward to our next adventure!
