I didn't make it out to get any pictures during Austin's famous South By Southwest (SXSW) festival this year and as it winds down this weekend, I thought I should at least post something to commemorate it.

Every year SXSW seems to get bigger and bigger and when things like that get bigger and bigger they become more and more of a pain in the arse.  While the festival may be great for the local economy, it makes it especially difficult to get around town.  Most of the locals are just glad when it's over, I think.  That's the vibe I got from the sign at Doc's Bar and Grill on South Congress when I went shooting one morning back in 2013 just after SXSW ended.  I think they were glad to see it go.  It was the same in Park City, UT when we went there last month.  The locals were very happy to see the Sundance Film Festival end.  These things just get too big.

So this shot is not an HDR, but it is a blend of two brackets... One shot at -1 EV and another at -3 EV.  I then put them together using a gradient mask in Photoshop to darken the sky but keep the main building well lit.  I then did a little more masking on the sign to darken it a bit for detail and got rid of a few spots on the camera lens as it was a little misty during the shot.  Lastly, I made some vignette tweaks with Nik Color Efex 4 and here you see the final product.

 
Exif data:

Camera - Nikon D700
Lens - Nikkor 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0
Focal Length - 18mm
Aperture - f11
Exposure - 10 secs
Exposure program - Aperture priority AE
ISO speed - 200
Exposure bias - -1 EV
Tripod -Yes
HDR - No
# of brackets - 2