First Attempt at HDR

[kap55]

Hi
Just discovered your forum - looks like a great place. I started trying HDR a few days ago and would appreciate any c&c on these.

Thanks.

 

[McNugget801]

I think you need to ask your self what you are trying to accomplish by creating HDR images. I just don't think the scenes you posted would really work well with HDR.

What program are you using to process?

 

[kap55]

I think you need to ask your self what you are trying to accomplish by creating HDR images. I just don't think the scenes you posted would really work well with HDR.

What program are you using to process?

Accomplish? Just trying to create pleasant looking photos. Without HDR I wouldn't be able to have the depth of field I'm able to have in these photos. There is some oversaturation, but it's intentional. I like the effect - at least for the time being.

I'm using Photomatix, followed by PS/CS4.

 

[photo28]

Get Dynamic-Photo HDR... works great (more features than photomatix imo)and very simple. This isn't really a photo that works well for a general HDR. Images with a lot of glare - say a sunset where you want the sun more visible... etc.
You don't want to use the HDR feature to much - it's over used a lot... There's a thread here called The HDR or Not... a sticky.
I played around with the photo - ultra contrast HDR - looks nice with this shot :

I do like the shot though, I see the idea you had when taking this.

 

[McNugget801]

I think you need to ask your self what you are trying to accomplish by creating HDR images. I just don't think the scenes you posted would really work well with HDR.

What program are you using to process?

Accomplish? Just trying to create pleasant looking photos. Without HDR I wouldn't be able to have the depth of field I'm able to have in these photos. There is some oversaturation, but it's intentional. I like the effect - at least for the time being.

I'm using Photomatix, followed by PS/CS4.

HDR to increase DOF... ok.

In photomatix bump your microcontrast up to 10 then use the Microsmoothing to reduce the noise.

But I still dont think these images are going to make a very good HDR shot. You should try shooting some sort of reflection or some dark clouds.... this type of shot is much easier to tonemap.

 

[John Godwin]

I think you need to ask your self what you are trying to accomplish by creating HDR images. I just don't think the scenes you posted would really work well with HDR.

What program are you using to process?

Accomplish? Just trying to create pleasant looking photos. Without HDR I wouldn't be able to have the depth of field I'm able to have in these photos. There is some oversaturation, but it's intentional. I like the effect - at least for the time being.

I'm using Photomatix, followed by PS/CS4.

Eh? How does tonemapping an image increase depth of field?


As for the pictures, I have a couple of issues with them. FIrstly, the pictures don't represent anything that couldn't be done with a single exposure. There is nothing in the scene that is clearly beyond the dynamic range of a camera sensor.

Secondly, the images you posted are extremely uninteresting and contain no central theme or focal element to draw the viewer into the picture.

From what I can see, the HDR process has served only to pull everything out of focus as the software stacked the images. There's a fair bit of ghosting in the foliage and on the ground in the third image.

HDR is tricky because it's so easy to get caught in a habit of turning otherwise bad images into worse ones with some cheap tonemapping. An image simply has to be interesting before you work on it. These aren't.

If you want a good place to start with HDR, where you'll get pleasing results straight away, then start with old things. Old wood, rusty metal, industrial areas with plenty of detail in them etc...

 

[SrBiscuit]

i was going to ask the same thing...how did your HDR'ing change the DOF?

do you mean the depth of color, or tonal range or something?

 

[McNugget801]

HDR is tricky because it's so easy to get caught in a habit of turning otherwise bad images into worse ones with some cheap tonemapping.

This statement should be on a splash screen when opening photomatix.






Maybe next time you should try shooting some reflections under dark clouds. This sort of scene is usually pretty easy to tone map with you can get some excellent results. I think its really best to learn easy stuff first and learn how to make tone mapping work for your images.

 

[kap55]

i was going to ask the same thing...how did your HDR'ing change the DOF?

do you mean the depth of color, or tonal range or something?

DOF was wrong. What I meant was that HDR allowed me to increase the range of detail that would have been available from a single image.

 

[Stormin]

DOF was wrong. What I meant was that HDR allowed me to increase the range of detail that would have been available from a single image.

Just as an honest statement: HDR exists to allow you to increase tonal range in an image where only one image would have left you with underexposed shadows or washed out highlights. The shots you have up look like they were taken during a bright day with very little shadows, so I can't tell what you're trying to bring out that would have been lost with one good shot.

HDR can be a lot of fun, but make sure that you find subjects with a great range of highlights and shadows to really take advantage of the technique...

 

[kap55]

DOF was wrong. What I meant was that HDR allowed me to increase the range of detail that would have been available from a single image.

Just as an honest statement: HDR exists to allow you to increase tonal range in an image where only one image would have left you with underexposed shadows or washed out highlights. The shots you have up look like they were taken during a bright day with very little shadows, so I can't tell what you're trying to bring out that would have been lost with one good shot.

HDR can be a lot of fun, but make sure that you find subjects with a great range of highlights and shadows to really take advantage of the technique...

The foreground of the first couple of images were completely in the shadows - sun was blocked by hills. HDR allowed those details to be seen.

Thanks for your tip - I will try that out.