The Bell Tower

New Journal 56 – The Bell Tower

Note: The free 1.7gb digital blending megapack is still available!

I’ve been immersed in a room of darkness and silence as I record more of my cityscape tutorials today. Apologies for not including more in the written part of my journal. With the exception of yesterday’s trip to Durham cathedral, we haven’t had much time for an adventure recently. Hopefully that will change in the next 2 weeks. For now, you’re stuck with just my photos, I’m afraid.

Today’s Photo – The Bell Tower at Durham Cathedral

I felt that this image required a lot more contrast than the photo I published yesterday of Mount Fitzroy. I brightened the windows to the point of almost blowing them out, while creating a vignette around much of the rest of the photo. I decided to illuminate the door in the centre of the image because it was an important aspect of the shot, and it gave the eye something extra to look at after being led to the main window section.

I corrected the image via the Distort and Warp tool in Photoshop.

For me, these types of images are ideal for Photomatix. The details and fine contrast make for lovely viewing and that slightly surreal, floaty feel adds to the ambiance. I more-or-less never use Photomatix for landscapes, and only sometimes for cityscapes, but interior church shots can look awesome when they’ve been tone mapped well.

After Photomatix but before Photoshop adjustments