I’m so excited about our new HDR Efex Pro 2 that I had to use it for my Filter Friday image this week, along with Color Efex Pro 4 to create this long exposure image of sunset at the beach.

I started with a 3 exposure image series, shot at sunset with a 10 stop Neutral Density filter to allow me to capture longer exposures and give a soft, serene look to the ocean which was really quite choppy that evening.

Here are the original exposures:

I brought these exposures into HDR Efex Pro 2, and utilized the new tone mapping controls to create an HDR image that I was happy with.  Here is the image in HDR Efex Pro 2′s interface:

After merging the images in HDR Efex Pro 4, I brought my new HDR file into Color Efex Pro 4 for a few small finishing touches.  I added Glamour Glow to enhance the softness of the water, Brilliance and Warmth to bump up the saturation just a bit more, and Darken/Lighten Center to focus the viewers eye in the image.

The long exposures combined with the 10 stop Neutral Density filter created an interesting pattern of light refraction and flare.  I chose to enhance this in my image with Color Efex Pro 4, as it added an interesting, ethereal element to my image.  Here is the final image:

© Sara Schneider

Share an image on Google+ and tell us what filters you used, either a digital or glass filter or both, and tag your image #filterfriday curated by +Laurie Rubin. We’d love to see how filters have helped to enhance your images!