Adding Life to an Image.

There are times when the scene before you looks much better than the picture you just took.  Sometimes it is an issue of field of  view.  Other times your camera isn't able to capture the dynamic range of the scene as well as your eyes and brain can.  This scene looked flat and uninteresting straight from camera.

This is the merged HDR file.  You'll note the numerous dust spots in the sky.  I realized after this trip that my camera was in desperate need of a good cleaning.  Processing of the merged file consisted of cleaning up all the dust spots, minor straightening, and running through PixelBender's Oil Paint filter.

The oil paint filter is my go to when I'm looking for a more abstract look.  It has several sliders that are very useful in determining how you want the final image to look. 

I knew from the start that this would end up being more of a digital painting than a photograph.  The term digital painting is used very loosely when it comes to this because there are people with the talent to actually paint a scene like this instead of applying a filter.

With an abundance of dead space in the sky it felt like the perfect opportunity to add a poem or verse. Choosing Psalm 119:105 was obvious as the lighthouse provides guidance for ships.

By choosing to stray from reality a little I felt that punching up the colors wouldn't take away from the overall image. 

Technical data for this image. Nikon D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 180mm, iso 200, median exposure 0.8 seconds @ f/14.0