Peoples Gas Pavilion - HDR One & Out of Chicago Photo Walk
This past Saturday I had the privilege of joining several of Chicago's top HDR photographers and some aspiring newbies for a photo walk down by the lake.  We started at the Peoples Gas Pavilion then headed over to North Ave Beach and the pedestrian bridge over Lake Shore Drive.  We finished the night with good conversation and a beer in hand at Gamekeepers.  As much as I enjoy the opportunity to shoot, I love the social interaction with everyone even more.  Photographers are an interesting breed.  One part intellectual, one part electronics-geek, one part creative genius (or mad scientist), one part ridiculous (after all we did spent the evening outside freezing our butts off just for the sake of our hobby).  Regardless it's always a pleasure to be in the company of like minds and yesterday was no exception.  

This is a close up shot of a portion of the Peoples Gas Pavilion.  Typically I don't shoot up close but there were too many bodies around to get a clean overall angle.  7 shot HDR processed in photomatix and finished off in CS5.  Most adjustments were made using Topaz Remask to separate individual sections of the image from each other.  Each section is adjusted for lighting individually (instead of globally) then filters are applied (Topaz adjust and Nik Color Efex Pro).
hdr photomatix hdrone canon7d nikcolorefexpro3 topazadjust topazdenoise topazremask3 outofchicago