This pic, a bit of a cliche to be sure, is the result of several key processing enhancements.

First, it’s five frames blended and tone-mapped using Photomatix Pro.  When I brought the TIFF into camera raw, I was amazed by the register accuracy.  So just the same I went and made some detail / sharpness adjustments in camera raw.

In Photoshop, it required a crop from the original.  I used Topaz — quirky given the memory constraints but still a fine tool — to bring up local contrast to create the texture, and to boost some of the saturation.

I used a mask to reduce some of the overzealous pixel effects, especially on the water.

Surface blur enabled me to remove some of the distracting detail in the surrounding trees.  I really wanted to keep attention on the rocks and water.

Finally, an elliptical selection, quick mask, gaussian blur and fill with black: to produce a bit of vignette around those same tree detail areas.

Enjoy!

Tags: Alps, Alpine stream, synopshots, Switzerland, Suisse, Schweitz

Cathedral of St. Peter, Geneva, Switzerland, originally uploaded by TimDD.

Updated with Giorgos~ generously shared technique for creating that awesomely professional looking drop shadow.

I have begun a marketing advisory gig with a company in Geneva, which will require that I travel there every month or six weeks. This is the view from my room, overlooking the Rhone, at the Ambassador hotel. Taken on my final day in Geneva (last Friday).

Five-exposure HDR, times two, assembled in PS CS3.