Emily and Jacob Christmas 2012

I tone mapped this image using Nik Software's   HDR Efex Pro 2 Tone Mapping. I shot the image using camera RAW and I could of ran it through the RAW processor with different results because you have different adjustments. Tone mapping is similar to HDR but using a single image to get a HDR look. My wife wanted an "artistic" portrait to send out with Christmas cards. She did not want me to post this until the Cards were sent out to our friends and relatives. Unfortunatly the lab did not process the prints very well and we did not have a chance to get them out for Christmas. I have essentially tone mapped another image in another post. I did not understand what tone mapping was and went through a lot of extra steps. It is one of my favorite images that I have ever taken. It is of a purple Mercury in the post Pacific Coast Dream Machines Automobiles. I shot for an HDR image, but this was the only image that did not have distracting elements similar to the post Taking Control of the Uncontrollable but I did not shoot extra shots. I was still new to HDR at the time. Tone mapping does not have the same dynamic range as HDR, but it mimics the look. Shooting in RAW allows you to save some of the dynamic range as opposed to shooting in jpeg. RAW format does not compress the data and allows you more leeway with your adjustments.