Of all the images that I took at Buzludzha, this is my favourite, but I almost didn't process it. Well, I did take a quick look at the images in Photomatix Pro, but couldn't come up with anything that I thought would work all that well so decided to leave this view for another time. When Craig posted his version though I decided that it was definitely worth making more of an effort. Initially, I thought I'd aim for a fairly natural interpretation, much as Craig did, but the more I worked on it the more it seemed that an OTT interpretation would work better.
Anyway, it's still a flawed image (there are some tone mapping issues here and there), but as I've already spent at least four hours working on this one I'm not inclined to do too much more to it at this stage.
As always, let me know what you think.
Oh, and the 'show the original' image is the tone mapped image exported from Photomatix Pro, not one of the original exposure sequence.
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter plugins (etc) cropped?
Nice shot(s). I like the color contrast betweent the interior and the outside world.
comment byCarlos Garcia at 05:00 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
Glad you worked on it David. The processing is amazing. Don't know exactly what tone mapping is, but I do like the tones and details that you bring out. What a fascinating building and location!
comment bySonny at 05:10 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
Beautiful shot. I like when you post photos that have many colors.
comment bymikelangelo at 05:13 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
Very nice!! I very much like your result! 10 exposures?! wowzers. Very surreal scene... seems like something out of a video game, to me.
comment byTayab at 05:26 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
That is some bad-a*s* post processing! brilliant
comment byMartin at 05:27 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
I can see why it is your favourite - great processing!
comment byRobertB at 05:27 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
It's a spectacular monument with quite a colourful history. So sad that it is now in ruins. A sign of the times, I guess. I love the image.
comment byjaro at 05:39 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
really amazing...
comment byJonas at 05:43 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
For sure a true Wow-picture! Great work behind the camera aswell as with PS and PMx. Very surreal and dreamlike. Awesome location you guys found.
comment by Chris at 06:18 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
David,
Issues or not...I really love this. Have fun in DXB! See you there in March.
comment by Alexis at 06:36 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
David, please discuss the apparent haze of the "original" -- I mean the photomatix output. How did you get rid of it to produce such a brilliant-looking final version? Thanks!
comment byHanif at 07:21 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
Excellent, perfect process.
comment byTony at 08:24 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
wow
comment byTom C at 09:11 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
David I love this image! Seeing the "original" and then the processed is stunning to say the least. I'm trying to think of the appropriate adjective for this. Sci-fi-ish, perhaps? Otherworldly, maybe?
comment byTom at 09:35 PM (GMT) on 1 November, 2010
Looks amazing! Definitely has a sci-fi, Mars base feel to it.
comment by Matt Bingham at 12:06 AM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
I don't post very often even though I've followed you for years. I guess it's because your quality has been so high and I don't need to say anything. This, however, is my favourite shot for a long time.
comment byEugene at 01:18 AM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
By far the best shot from this series. The tone mapping works really well, and I like the purplish tint of the sky in the post-processed version.
comment byninu at 05:25 AM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
Dave - I have followed your stuff almost daily for years now. I think I have a new FAVORITE photo of all time on Chromasia! Hands down and hail to the god of Photoshop. This in my mind is your best shot period of the entire site. It's my opinion I know but I LOVE this photo. I am totally ordering it from you!
comment byChris at 06:06 AM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
Dave, there is not much more I can say differently from what others before me have already said. Fantastic image, glad you chose to process it and the PP is extraordinary. I like everything about this image, the angle it was captured, the direction of light, the warmth inside the structure, and the colors within the background landscape. Well done! This image alone was worth the trip.
comment by Justin Photis at 09:50 AM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
Gotta add my praise for the shot too because it is so good on a number of different levels. The combination of exposures to capture all the details, the beautiful toning and the strange inside/outside feel of the shot giving it a space-craft feel. Brilliant. JP
comment byChris Yakimov at 02:54 PM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
I love it. There's so much that invites my eye to stick around, and so much that convinces my brain I'm in another world. :)
comment bytrondh at 07:54 PM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
Just fantastic. Really like the warm tones and the mood.
comment byPhilip Jensen at 08:09 PM (GMT) on 2 November, 2010
This indeed remains me of Star Wars! I really love it.
comment by Andrew at 01:13 AM (GMT) on 3 November, 2010
David, this is a very great processing! Would you mind please share your mini-PSD for that??? Please!!! Thanks!
comment byCgzoom at 05:33 AM (GMT) on 3 November, 2010
Four hours working on this one? Well, it was worth the time :) Amazing result!
comment bySakis at 03:26 PM (GMT) on 3 November, 2010
Great HDR!
comment by Michaelcim at 08:14 PM (GMT) on 3 November, 2010
That's 4 hours well spent Dave. I like it a lot, a true DJN.
comment bypasci at 05:04 PM (GMT) on 4 November, 2010
Amazing photo! From another planet...
comment by Martin at 08:43 PM (GMT) on 4 November, 2010
That might be the most impressive PP I've seen. Hats off!
comment byLightningPaul at 12:19 PM (GMT) on 5 November, 2010
Awesome !
comment byJason at 10:06 PM (GMT) on 5 November, 2010
This has to be one of my favourite shots of all time. So glad you processed it and I am insanely jealous of it! Really stunning image and the processing it just perfect :)
comment bydjib at 11:12 AM (GMT) on 6 November, 2010
It looks like a shot from a sci-fi movie. Great shot, it really feels like it came from another planet.
comment bydjn1 at 06:42 PM (GMT) on 6 November, 2010
Thanks everyone, it's much appreciated :)
comment byLaszlo at 07:39 PM (GMT) on 6 November, 2010
Fantastic. Just brilliant. One of your best shots ever.
comment bybryan at 04:37 PM (GMT) on 9 November, 2010
great hdr pic love the detail in the background
comment byCharles at 06:59 PM (GMT) on 10 November, 2010
Awesome!
comment byBanii at 10:38 PM (GMT) on 12 November, 2010
I love this picture!
comment byTolga at 02:00 AM (GMT) on 15 November, 2010
Love what you did with the shot.
comment byDaniel Espinoza at 06:03 PM (GMT) on 16 November, 2010
Great perspective. The amount of details is superb.
comment byJem at 05:02 PM (GMT) on 17 November, 2010
This is incredible. Great work Dave.
comment byHazel Edmunds at 08:24 PM (GMT) on 12 January, 2011
love it..
comment byScott Frederick at 12:56 AM (GMT) on 7 April, 2011
Outstanding! If you think this image is flawed then please don't look at my work! :)
Of all the images that I took at Buzludzha, this is my favourite, but I almost didn't process it. Well, I did take a quick look at the images in Photomatix Pro, but couldn't come up with anything that I thought would work all that well so decided to leave this view for another time. When Craig posted his version though I decided that it was definitely worth making more of an effort. Initially, I thought I'd aim for a fairly natural interpretation, much as Craig did, but the more I worked on it the more it seemed that an OTT interpretation would work better.
Anyway, it's still a flawed image (there are some tone mapping issues here and there), but as I've already spent at least four hours working on this one I'm not inclined to do too much more to it at this stage.
As always, let me know what you think.
Oh, and the 'show the original' image is the tone mapped image exported from Photomatix Pro, not one of the original exposure sequence.
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
plugins (etc)
cropped?
Canon 5D Mark II
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
16mm
f/8.0
10 exposures (1/1000 to 0.5s)
manual
n/a
evaluative
100
no
RAW
Photomatix Pro
none
minor
Nice shot(s). I like the color contrast betweent the interior and the outside world.
Glad you worked on it David. The processing is amazing. Don't know exactly what tone mapping is, but I do like the tones and details that you bring out. What a fascinating building and location!
Beautiful shot. I like when you post photos that have many colors.
Very nice!! I very much like your result! 10 exposures?! wowzers. Very surreal scene... seems like something out of a video game, to me.
That is some bad-a*s* post processing! brilliant
I can see why it is your favourite - great processing!
It's a spectacular monument with quite a colourful history. So sad that it is now in ruins. A sign of the times, I guess. I love the image.
really amazing...
For sure a true Wow-picture! Great work behind the camera aswell as with PS and PMx. Very surreal and dreamlike. Awesome location you guys found.
David,
Issues or not...I really love this. Have fun in DXB! See you there in March.
David, please discuss the apparent haze of the "original" -- I mean the photomatix output. How did you get rid of it to produce such a brilliant-looking final version? Thanks!
Excellent, perfect process.
wow
David I love this image! Seeing the "original" and then the processed is stunning to say the least. I'm trying to think of the appropriate adjective for this. Sci-fi-ish, perhaps? Otherworldly, maybe?
Looks amazing! Definitely has a sci-fi, Mars base feel to it.
I don't post very often even though I've followed you for years. I guess it's because your quality has been so high and I don't need to say anything. This, however, is my favourite shot for a long time.
By far the best shot from this series. The tone mapping works really well, and I like the purplish tint of the sky in the post-processed version.
Dave - I have followed your stuff almost daily for years now. I think I have a new FAVORITE photo of all time on Chromasia! Hands down and hail to the god of Photoshop. This in my mind is your best shot period of the entire site. It's my opinion I know but I LOVE this photo. I am totally ordering it from you!
Dave, there is not much more I can say differently from what others before me have already said. Fantastic image, glad you chose to process it and the PP is extraordinary. I like everything about this image, the angle it was captured, the direction of light, the warmth inside the structure, and the colors within the background landscape. Well done! This image alone was worth the trip.
Gotta add my praise for the shot too because it is so good on a number of different levels. The combination of exposures to capture all the details, the beautiful toning and the strange inside/outside feel of the shot giving it a space-craft feel. Brilliant. JP
I love it. There's so much that invites my eye to stick around, and so much that convinces my brain I'm in another world. :)
Just fantastic. Really like the warm tones and the mood.
This indeed remains me of Star Wars! I really love it.
David, this is a very great processing! Would you mind please share your mini-PSD for that??? Please!!! Thanks!
Four hours working on this one? Well, it was worth the time :) Amazing result!
Great HDR!
That's 4 hours well spent Dave. I like it a lot, a true DJN.
Amazing photo! From another planet...
That might be the most impressive PP I've seen. Hats off!
Awesome !
This has to be one of my favourite shots of all time. So glad you processed it and I am insanely jealous of it! Really stunning image and the processing it just perfect :)
It looks like a shot from a sci-fi movie. Great shot, it really feels like it came from another planet.
Thanks everyone, it's much appreciated :)
Fantastic. Just brilliant. One of your best shots ever.
great hdr pic love the detail in the background
Awesome!
I love this picture!
Love what you did with the shot.
Great perspective. The amount of details is superb.
This is incredible. Great work Dave.
love it..
Outstanding! If you think this image is flawed then please don't look at my work! :)
Absolutely crazy!!