I have chosen a new Mystery Photo. That last one was a bit too obscure and also my site was down the day I sent out the post.
I hope you like this one better. This time I will tell you some basic info, and I would love to see how closely you can guess my shooting and editing process… before Monday at 9:00pm MST. Then on Monday, between 9-10pm, I will reveal the detailed process with the original(s).

INFO:

I took this panoramic of the famous Mormon Row barn yesterday morning outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Oh, and though I got some fun photos with my iPhone, this was not taken with a mobile device. 🙂  I usually photograph the other Mormon Row barn (there are two quite close together) but this time the tree color and conditions were better at this location. By the way, the colors around Palisades and Jackson are their peak right now, and the colors are great this year!

PRIZE:

I will give away a new piece a camera gear (YN-460 Flash, Sunpak Pistol Grip tripod, or equivalent)to the person who gets the most correct answers between now and Christmastime from my Weekly Mystery Photos.

GUESS:

Now, can you guess my Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO?  Also, please guess how I took the photo(s) and my post production process. Give as many details as you can. Add your comment on this blog post. Just click the “__comments” link above this post. I will reveal the answers Monday night between 9-10pm. Click the image to make it larger. Have fun with this and thanks for participating!

ANSWER:

So here is the process for this panoramic image:
1. NINE IMAGES: I used a tripod to capture 9 images with a DSLR:  3 bracketed photos in 3 different overalapping segments. My ISO was at 100, with a f/18. The shutter speeds were 1/15, 1/60 and 1/250.
2. HDR IN PHOTOMATIX: I blended the three bracketed image on the left side in Photomatix (HDR software), then I did the same for the center group of images, and for the group of images on the right side of the pano.
3. PHOTOMERGE IN PS: Once I had the three HDR images, I used the Photomerge tool in Photoshop to stitch them into the pano you see here.
4. EDITS: I used Content Aware Fill to gaps around out outside edges of the panoramic blend, then saved the .psd. Then I flattened the layers (to avoid the little white cracks created by Photoshop during the photomerge masking, then saved the image as a jpeg. Then I adjusted the white balance (temperature and tint) in Camera Raw and added a burned border to finish it off.

After I took this shot, the light came out and hit the barn, so I did not need to use HDR get the optimal light. Click here to see the much better 3-image pano taken 15 minutes after this shot.

WINNER: JULIE PETERSON – Congratulations!

– Julie had the closest guess. She missed a few things, but assumed I did an HDR bracketed process then a photomerge with edits in Bridge (camera raw). Thanks to all who participated. Please guess again every Friday until Christmas. The one with the highest number of close guesses will win a new piece of camera gear!

Mystery Photo #2 - Caryn Esplin

Leave a comment on this post and guess the shooting process and post production steps.