First HDRs

[LoneWolf365]

Alright well quite recently I began attempting to create HDR photographs. I use anywhere from 7-10 different exposures for each image but I feel like I'm lacking in the actual editing. After playing around with photomatix today, I'm able to get some vibrant colors but I still see room for improvement; I just can't seem to do this. If anyone with experience has advice, it would be quite welcomed. Until then, I'll continue to play around and see what I can do.

 

[Josh66]

I haven't really tried any HDR before, but to me these don't look like HDR. I don't really see anything here that could not have been done with a single exposure.

What range are you covering in your 7-10 exposures? If you're only changing the exposure by 1/3 of a stop each time, that's only a 2 to 3 stop range - well within the dynamic range of a single exposure.

 

[Josh66]

I guess what you would have to do is meter the shadows, then meter the highlights. Figure out what the difference is, then cover that range in 1 or 1/2 stop increments.

Like I said - I haven't actually tried this before, but that's how I would do it.

 

[LoneWolf365]

I agree. They arn't nearly as..detailed as many others I've seen. I'm not sure what the stop range for the average photograph is but my exposures are -3.0, -2.3, -1.7, -1.0, -0.3, 0.3, 1.0, 1.7, 2.3. Any further and they are too overexposed or underexposed. I'm using photoshop to merge them but the end result tends to be a bit washed out. Actually, thinking about it, maybe my photographs simply don't have enough contrast. I don't know.

 

[Josh66]

Actually, thinking about it, maybe my photographs simply don't have enough contrast.

I think this is it. Your subject just doesn't have enough seperation between the shadows and the highlights for HDR.


Just an idea-
This will be a boring photo, but it will teach you to do HDR (I think). Set up your tripod in the living room with both the view outside the window and the interior of the room in the frame (lights off, only light in the room coming from the window). Make your first exposure so that whatever is outside your window is properly exposed, and the last one so that the interior of the room is properly exposed (with a few in between). Combine those and you should get a photo in which everything is properly exposed.