Way to cold!

Well I managed to get out and get some pictures today. Let me just tell you wind chill factor is everything! I wasn't outside 10 minutes before I felt like I was a Popsicle.
I did get some neat shot of some waterfalls I have been to before. The ice and snow really changed the whole scene. So I took the pictures and processed them into HDR. Such a cool picture, then I created another one of those Out of Bounds photos from it.

Such a cool technique. I did find that I had to go back to the directions several times.
So it's a good idea to to either bookmark or keep a file of the directions as I know you will need them.

I am trying to get some pictures of smoke so I can do some of those amazing smoke pictures. But I haven't got it figured out yet. So if anyone has any tips or pointers I am all ears.
I have tried a small aperture and a slow shutter but all I get is a fuzzy picture.

I did come across a set of directions on how to use photoshop to make a gradient ND filter effect. Now I haven't tried it yet, but I am going to post it and then give it a try tomorrow.
So here it is. If someone does try it, please let me know how it works and send pictures and I'll post them here.

1) Open the photo you would like to use this on.

2) Press D to set your foreground color to black

3) Create a new gradient adjustment layer in the layers palette (looks like a B&W cookie)

4) Choose the Foreground Color -> Transparent gradient

5) Click the check box on the bottom that says "reverse"

6) Using the Layers palette change the blend mode to "Overlay" (this is from the drop down box that normally says "Normal")

7) Adjust the layer opacity to make the sky look natural.

You can now double click to thumbnail for the gradient and use the slider arrows to adjust how far in to the image the gradient goes.
This site is all about learning either from me to you or you to me. So don't be afraid to speak up if you have a tip.