Mo Devlin  

Superman by Mo Devlin

July 2024 - Superman

About the Image(s)

This is my first submission to the group. I’ve been a member of group #75 Flowers and plants for the past year. My photo style is very eclectic, but I particularly like HDR photos. I see that a lot of your submissions are of landscape and the like. And while I have used HDR with these subjects, I’ve really fallen in love with rusted and decaying object. I live ten miles from Steamtown National Historic park, which has a lot of old rusting rail car. I’ve spent a lot of time there. Sometimes I will plant myself in front of a section of the cars and may not move more than five feet in either direction capturing macro HDR photos of peeling and rusting metal. The attached photo I have titled ⬓Superman⬠because of the colors. It was the first thing that popped to mind when I shot the photos. This is a five exposure image varying setting at +/- .07 in either direction. Nikon Z9 with 55mm macro @f22 starting @1/250th. Photo was posted in Photomatix Pro then finished in Photoshop. A slight vignette was added. I’m looking forward to participating in the group.

This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted

Rick Cloran   Rick Cloran
Hi Mo, welcome to the group. I'm sure you will like it. There is a lot of visual impact in the strong saturated colors and visual design. I think you achieved what it sounds like you were looking for based on your description. That bracket was fairly narrow given the range we find in the current cameras. Was it more the way colors get interpreted in an HDR blend than the need for expanding the dynamic range that led you down that path for this subject? There seems to be some color contamination (magenta maybe) in the deep blacks that might be worth a second look.   Posted: 07/15/2024 20:43:20
Mo Devlin   Mo Devlin
Thanks Rick. I'm an old dog with old tricks. Lol. I rarely change that range. But I see you're point. The Z9 is a great camera. I need to push its limits. I also should prolly dig in to my HDR processor. I appreciate the info and the response.   Posted: 07/16/2024 03:19:38
Don Poulton   Don Poulton
Welcome to the group, Mo. As Rick pointed out, I'm not sure about the need for HDR on this image; it seems to be one that would not need a great variation of brightness in it. Great vibrant color.   Posted: 07/16/2024 21:17:46
Mo Devlin   Mo Devlin
Thanks. I don't use HDR only if it's needed, more so because I enjoy the effect. I shoot a lot of these rust photos. The HDR process brings out color and texture that a single photo, despite the tools, can't touch. Personal choice. I appreciate the comments and look forward to being an active participant in the group.   Posted: 07/18/2024 11:30:11
Bill Buchanan   Bill Buchanan
Welcome to our group. WOW, switching from flowers to HDR. I love the bold colors of your image and the placement of the stripes at the bottom. I'm not sure about the mergers at the bottom left.   Posted: 07/17/2024 17:30:15
Lisa Cuchara   Lisa Cuchara
Welcome to the group Mo!

"I've really fallen in love with rusted and decaying object. I live ten miles from Steamtown National Historic park, which has a lot of old rusting rail car. I've spent a lot of time there. Sometimes I will plant myself in front of a section of the cars and may not move more than five feet in either direction capturing macro HDR photos of peeling and rusting metal."

My main HDR is rusy/old/abandonded and I too have spent hours in front of rusty old cars and trains. Max finds some great rusty and old things too. And you will find this grroves barns and interiors too.

I love the composition and colors and the pop. The colors really work well.

The clipping of the riverts on the bottom does bother me, seems like they should be in or out...

"A slight vignette was added" Seems too much, espeically on the top two corners.

The details you provided are interesting, as I capture HDR less and less as both mirrorless cameras and image editing have better dynamic range. How would this 0.7, 0, 0.7 compare to shadow and highlight adjustments in ACR??   Posted: 07/23/2024 05:46:26
Mo Devlin   Mo Devlin
Where are you located?   Posted: 07/24/2024 13:20:10
Max Burke   Max Burke
A welcome to the group M! I like your work with color, age and subject. There are some good suggestions from our group. They are subtle and will work well based on your likes. I have some good rusty pictures but no HDR at times. I have submitted pictures from a desert car, trucks, school buses, trailers, and much more. It is from a town called Wendell, Idaho. Use a google earth map and look it up and you will be impressed on about a thousand or more on about a 100 acres. I will include a picture of it for all to see. It even has more than you see.   Posted: 07/24/2024 01:51:44
Comment Image
Brad Ashbrook   Brad Ashbrook
Indeed a great image to start with, a lot of impact. Some might consider this the grunge look or just over saturated, or a little bit of both. The colors and title work out very well. I do agree with the rivets along the bottom, I would prefer to see all of them, I think they add. I do agree with Lisa, the vignette might be a bit strong or perhaps even unnecessary.   Posted: 07/24/2024 16:54:22