This is a timelapse video I filmed last summer in Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park. A seven days hike gave us some very beautiful scenery, as always. This used to be my favourite place on Earth. It’s paradise for hikers, climbers and nature-lovers.
In this video I could experiment with some plugins to try and give it an HDR look. I shot everything with GoPro Hero4 Silver, protune on with flat colours. When I edit, I always do very simple colour grading. With this project I spent hours to fine colour grade every shot.
I found that I had to step back form the screen from time to time, because my eyes got used to the super saturated colours and contrasted lights. And actually, this translated in an increasing fairy look as the timeline advanced. Finally, when I finished grading the last shot I had to start again to try and balance the first ones with the last ones.
Now, when I look at the final work, I don’t see unreal colours. I can’t remember how they were before I boosted them. Reality is more than HDR, so we might as well exaggerate technical images to try and relieve the original paradise.
But wait. No, there is no substitute for nature.