1st Post - HDR Photos - (C&C Welcome)

[z06-jim]

This is my first post and also my first attempt at HDR photography.
I’ve included the before (normal auto. exp.) & after (HDR processed) results to give a better idea of the dramatic difference HDR makes. I processed these in ‘Photomatix’ using the tone mapping feature with 3 auto-bracketed exposures from +/-2.
I tried not to get too overly dramatic with the processing, leaning toward the somewhat more natural look
Also realize these need some additional PP work such as the lens flare, etc., and hopefully will learn some of those techniques as I continue plugging along
The pics were taken at ‘Cumberland Falls State Park’ in Eastern Kentucky.
Canon 5D II w/EF 24-105L
C&C is welcomed and appreciated. ….

 

[Jaszek]

WOW great HDR's. The only thing that bothered me is the lens flare which you mentioned.

 

[Jon0807]

Nicely done :thumbup: I like how they're not overly tone mapped. As you and Jaszek mentioned, the only thing that bothers me is the lens flare in the first one but otherwise perfect

 

[sA x sKy]

I gotta say, the first HDR is pretty cool & definitely my favorite.

 

[thestorey]

GAH 5D II I envy youu!
Nice HDRs Very well balanced.

 

[seward93]

Great HDR's. These are the HDR's where you really can't tell that that is what they are!


Good job.

 

[Jeffrey Byrnes]

Time to explore. Find the best possible compositions and apply the HDR to them. HDR is fun. Especially when shooting HDR portraits.

 

[dustinpedley]

what do you mean by HDR?

Pardon my ignorance

 

[Ins3rtNam3H3r3]

what do you mean by HDR?

Pardon my ignorance

HDR stands for high dynamic range, by taking pictures with multiple exposures, one underexposed, one overexposed, and one normally exposed, you can combine them into one picture, that allows for a greater range of color in the picture, which means that previously washed out places have more detail, and so do areas that were previously hidden in shadow, making the picture closer to what you would see with your naked eye.

 

[CraniumDesigns]

pretty sick for first ones. i'm going to hawaii in 9 days for 3 weeks and i plan to take a lot of HDR shots. havent made any yet. i like yours and they dont look overdone at all. nice job.

 

[Jeffrey Byrnes]

Being in Hawaii will be awesome for HDR. Youre lucky! Bring back good photos!!!

 

[CraniumDesigns]

for HDR do you HAVE to take 3 exposures, or can i just take em in RAW? i know u can do it either way, but do u get better results from taking 3 separate pics?

 

[Jeffrey Byrnes]

for HDR do you HAVE to take 3 exposures, or can i just take em in RAW? i know u can do it either way, but do u get better results from taking 3 separate pics?

HDR is a MINIMUM of 3 bracketed exposures. Some shots can include up to 12. Those are some crazy intense photos. But, as for raw. You can still bracket and shoot and produce them in raw. I do not know if Photomatix will take them into the program in raw, you might need to convert to tiff format to bring them into Photomatix.

Here is a useful video tutorial I found and posted on my blog.

LenShare.Com: HDR: A video how to

 

[Chairman7w]

Wow - very impressive!! Nice looking pics Jim!

 

[dustinpedley]

HDR stands for high dynamic range, by taking pictures with multiple exposures, one underexposed, one overexposed, and one normally exposed, you can combine them into one picture, that allows for a greater range of color in the picture, which means that previously washed out places have more detail, and so do areas that were previously hidden in shadow, making the picture closer to what you would see with your naked eye.

Thank you for the explanation i saw an article on this recently in a magazine, can i do this in cs4 Bridge/Photoshop?