First attempt at HDR with PS 6.0....don't laugh..

BuZzZeRkEr · Dec 31, 2007

Ok fine you can laugh...

I'm not exactly too sure what HDR is, but I have seen some incredible results! None of my work of corse.

Basically all I know is that it is a combination of multiple exposures done in particular photo editing software such as PS CS3 or photomatix. With my extremely limited knowledge and zero access to such programs I thought it just might be possible to kind of create an HDR effect using photoshop 6.0 with one exposure.

So I gave it a shot.....the image on the left is the original and the one on the right is my pathetic attempt at HDR

I know the picture is crapy horizon tilted etc...etc..was just a quick snapshot to run some experiments.

Here is what I came up with

SO basically is HDR possible with one exposure in PS 6.0? I know i'm no where close with my example...just curious. Thanks for looking and not laughing too hard.......uh...... :lol:

Offbeat · Dec 31, 2007

HAHA! only joking

I like the picture after processing but it isnt HDR. You should really take 3 exposures of you scene then merge them,you can cheat and use just one exposure but i wont tell you how. You should learn the proper way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging
That should help you understand what HDR is.

BuZzZeRkEr · Dec 31, 2007

Offbeat said:
HAHA! only joking
I like the picture after processing but it isnt HDR. You should really take 3 exposures of you scene then merge them,you can cheat and use just one exposure but i wont tell you how. You should learn the proper way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging
That should help you understand what HDR is.

Well what I did do was take the original exposure and manually adjusted the contrast and brightness and creating 2 additional new layers of the original image. Once I had what was similar to 3 different exposures I layered them adjusting the transparency of every layer. I think that a slight gausian blur on the brightest image might give it that HDR feel, but haven't attempted that yet. Thanks for the link!

soylentgreen · Dec 31, 2007

Technically it is not a true HDR. High Dynamic Range is more than just tweaking the brightness and contrast on one exposure. There really is a 3 exposure minumum. 6 or more is preferred. What you are attempting to do with an HDR is not just punch up the color or what not, but actually add depth in the shadow areas (by overexposing) and in the highlights (by underexposing) the images and merging them to form the final piece. In your test piece, a true HDR will pull detail out of the dark roof tiles and add dimension to the white trim.

BuZzZeRkEr · Dec 31, 2007

soylentgreen said:
Technically it is not a true HDR. High Dynamic Range is more than just tweaking the brightness and contrast on one exposure. There really is a 3 exposure minumum. 6 or more is preferred. What you are attempting to do with an HDR is not just punch up the color or what not, but actually add depth in the shadow areas (by overexposing) and in the highlights (by underexposing) the images and merging them to form the final piece. In your test piece, a true HDR will pull detail out of the dark roof tiles and add dimension to the white trim.

Yeah, this I already know. I never claimed to be processing true HDR just "maybe attempt HDR LIKE" results with a single exposure using out of date software.

So we know we can't get HDR from taking 1 exposure....but hypothetically if we take 3+ more exposures and import and blend the images manually in out of date PS utilites we should be able to achieve true HDR results?

This also brings me to the conclusion that HDR cannot be achieved on fast moving ojects due to the amount of exact duplicate exposures needed.

So I was thinking if there was a way to successfully imitate HDR results with a single exposure you can actually achieve that painting like feeling with moving subjects.......how cool would that be?:thumbup:

Offbeat · Jan 1, 2008

You can do it with one exposure. Shooting RAW will give you abit more flexability and you can basically change the exposure 2 stops each way, then merge them.