This is an HDR photo from three different exposures. (18mm, ISO 200; 1/80 sec at f/5.6, 1/40 sec at f/4.0, and 1/13 sec at f/3.5, ISO 200)
The gory details: I went beyond merging these together.
- That man was with his daughter. After running the three exposures thru Photomatix, she ended up with one leg. In Photoshop, I cloned her out, along with her shadow in the sand.
- Cloned out numerous specks in the sky. I think they were mainly from seagulls and other birds. There were also some weird (ghosted) objects on the waves, so I cloned those out, too.
- Back in Lightroom, I used the graduated filter to increase the exposure at the top and lower left of the frame.
- Cleaned up noise and artifacts with Noise Ninja.
- I wanted a slight edginess, so I blended a B&W layer at 40% opacity. (I’ve done this a lot before, but was reminded of this technique by Rich Legg. Read “Photoshop Tip: Blend a B&W Layer to add Edginess.” 😉
I’ve never worked so hard on a photo before, but I think it was totally worth it.
All Narfed Up 