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Description
I sat out this morning with the hope of shooting more cityscape images but the morning fog had other plans for me. I settled on Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks. It had been my plan to reshoot it with the new techniques that I have acquired since my last shoot there.

Met with a cold breezeless smack from Jack Frosts as I exited my SUV, I crossed the parking lot to find the perfect prospective. The first location was a bad one, I should have cut my losses and move to a better spot but my OCD would let me, I had to see it through. Still sporting the 18-55 mm Nikkor on this shoot which would prove to be a slight pain in the post-process I find a spot dead center of the main architectural focus. I have to be fast because people are starting to pour into the parking lot.

I set the camera to bracketing for HDR, with a 200 ISO and tungsten white balance and I run through my cycles. It is different this morning because I am shooting my first set of high mid and low images (3 total) and then stepping the camera down to include another 3. I picked up this trick in one of my books. I just have to be careful in doing this because I have to touch the camera; my remote only controls the shutter release. Now I have a 6 image HDR, separated by one stop. Time to head back to the SUV, warm up and drive home to edit.

During the post-process I find that the 18-55 mm has distorted the lower part of the image. All of the vertical lines of the build are off. I have to use the distort tool to correct during the cropping phase of my workflow. I also have to rotate the image a bit to complete the cropping before I get into the cleaning and sharpening phase. Once done I find that the distortion has forced me to crop a bit over ¼ of bottom of the image. I will have to learn to compensate for this in the future or begin using the new technique of shooting panos. Needless to say I have to go back and reshoot.

GEAR
GPS Unit: Blackberry
Tripod
Nikon IR Remote: ML-L3
Nikon D70s
18-55 mm Nikkor

Post Processing:
Photomatix Pro 3.0
Photoshop CS3
Photoshop CS4
Color Efex Pro 3.0
Dfine 2.0
Sharpener Pro 3.0 (Output)

Settings for RAW images:
Date & Time: 1/23/2009 7:26 AM
Exposure program: Manual
Focal Length 18 mm
Max Aperture: N/A
White Blance: Tungsten
Metering mode: Spot
ISO: 200
Noise Reduction: Enabled
Image 470: f/22 1 sec. Exposure bias: -2 step
Image 471: f/22 4 sec. Exposure bias: 0 step
Image 472: f/22 15 Sec. Exposure bias: +2 step
Image 473: f/22 2 sec. Exposure bias: -2 step
Image 474: f/19 8 sec. Exposure bias: 0 step
Image 475: f/19 30 Sec. Exposure bias: +2 step

GPS Location For : Qwest Field/Seahawks Stadium Seattle Washington
Latitude N 47° 35.832'
Longitude W 122° 19.9987'

Weather: Cloudy with areas of fog this morning becoming mostly cloudy this afternoon. Highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. North wind near 10 mph.
Windchill: 33.1 °F
Humidity: 95%
Dew Point: 32 °F
Wind: Calm 0.0 mph
Wind Gust: 0.0 mph
Pressure: 30.09 in (Steady)
Visibility: 5.0 miles
Max UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Overcast 500 ft (Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 145 ft Sunrise at 7:46 AM in direction 118° Southeast by east

Description
I sat out this morning with the hope of shooting more cityscape images but the morning fog had other plans for me. I settled on Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks. It had been my plan to reshoot it with the new techniques that I have acquired since my last shoot there.

Met with a cold breezeless smack from Jack Frosts as I exited my SUV, I crossed the parking lot to find the perfect prospective. The first location was a bad one, I should have cut my losses and move to a better spot but my OCD would let me, I had to see it through. Still sporting the 18-55 mm Nikkor on this shoot which would prove to be a slight pain in the post-process I find a spot dead center of the main architectural focus. I have to be fast because people are starting to pour into the parking lot.

I set the camera to bracketing for HDR, with a 200 ISO and tungsten white balance and I run through my cycles. It is different this morning because I am shooting my first set of high mid and low images (3 total) and then stepping the camera down to include another 3. I picked up this trick in one of my books. I just have to be careful in doing this because I have to touch the camera; my remote only controls the shutter release. Now I have a 6 image HDR, separated by one stop. Time to head back to the SUV, warm up and drive home to edit.

During the post-process I find that the 18-55 mm has distorted the lower part of the image. All of the vertical lines of the build are off. I have to use the distort tool to correct during the cropping phase of my workflow. I also have to rotate the image a bit to complete the cropping before I get into the cleaning and sharpening phase. Once done I find that the distortion has forced me to crop a bit over ¼ of bottom of the image. I will have to learn to compensate for this in the future or begin using the new technique of shooting panos. Needless to say I have to go back and reshoot.

GEAR
GPS Unit: Blackberry
Tripod
Nikon IR Remote: ML-L3
Nikon D70s
18-55 mm Nikkor

Post Processing:
Photomatix Pro 3.0
Photoshop CS3
Photoshop CS4
Color Efex Pro 3.0
Dfine 2.0
Sharpener Pro 3.0 (Output)

Settings for RAW images:
Date & Time: 1/23/2009 7:26 AM
Exposure program: Manual
Focal Length 18 mm
Max Aperture: N/A
White Blance: Tungsten
Metering mode: Spot
ISO: 200
Noise Reduction: Enabled
Image 470: f/22 1 sec. Exposure bias: -2 step
Image 471: f/22 4 sec. Exposure bias: 0 step
Image 472: f/22 15 Sec. Exposure bias: +2 step
Image 473: f/22 2 sec. Exposure bias: -2 step
Image 474: f/19 8 sec. Exposure bias: 0 step
Image 475: f/19 30 Sec. Exposure bias: +2 step

GPS Location For : Qwest Field/Seahawks Stadium Seattle Washington
Latitude N 47° 35.832'
Longitude W 122° 19.9987'

Weather: Cloudy with areas of fog this morning becoming mostly cloudy this afternoon. Highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. North wind near 10 mph.
Windchill: 33.1 °F
Humidity: 95%
Dew Point: 32 °F
Wind: Calm 0.0 mph
Wind Gust: 0.0 mph
Pressure: 30.09 in (Steady)
Visibility: 5.0 miles
Max UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Overcast 500 ft (Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 145 ft Sunrise at 7:46 AM in direction 118° Southeast by east