HDR Building

Maxx RS4 · Mar 21, 2007

Just working with some pics I have, I processed this HDR. I was aiming for more of the cartoon-esque look, by the way.

I wish I knew how to kick back on the noise from processing these :x

ShootHoops · Mar 21, 2007

Very nice. HDR seems to be the new "thing" for everyone. It's just so cool.

JimmyAtlantis · Mar 21, 2007

ShootHoops said:
Very nice. HDR seems to be the new "thing" for everyone. It's just so cool.

I'm honestly not very excited about it. Maybe I just haven't found the perfect use for it yet.

How are you processing your exposures? I like the glow around the building.

William · Mar 21, 2007

HDR is fun! And it works really well on this shot. The HDR and the tree together give it a cool spooky and haunted feeling. Cool shot keep it up!

-Will

Sw1tchFX · Mar 21, 2007

If I turn the lights off will it glow in the dark?

The glow ruins it in my opinion.

xfloggingkylex · Mar 21, 2007

the sky is where all your problems are. The glow is most obvious there, and with the tree comes more problems. On the left of the tree the sky is mostly dark, but on the right side of the tree the sky is a good deal lighter and is very obvious.

avcabob · Mar 21, 2007

While I normally really like the glow most HDR's have, it is a bit much in this one. Though I don't know how to fix it.

LaFoto · Mar 22, 2007

That halo around the building was the first thing I saw and while you wanted to go for that cartoonish look (you could have gone further into THAT aspect of this HDR of yours, I feel), the glow around the building is a bit much. It is distracting... All in all, though, I like your attempt.
Mine never look this good!
I still don't really know what I am doing when I do the Photomatix tone-mapping. Ugh...

Maxx RS4 · Mar 22, 2007

LaFoto said:
That halo around the building was the first thing I saw and while you wanted to go for that cartoonish look (you could have gone further into THAT aspect of this HDR of yours, I feel), the glow around the building is a bit much. It is distracting... All in all, though, I like your attempt.
Mine never look this good!
I still don't really know what I am doing when I do the Photomatix tone-mapping. Ugh...

I could have gone further with the cartoonish look, which probably wouldn't have allowed the haloing effect to be so distracting. But whenever I try to push the cartoonish look a little further, the noise that photomatix creates is just unbearable!

xfloggingkylex · Mar 22, 2007

if the noise is really that bad, run it through some noise reduction software or plugins for PS.

To get that true cartoonish look I think you need higher saturation, to an unrealistic level.

And LaFoto, tone mapping is very hard to get just right. It is basically a free for all mess around until you get it right. At least for me anyways.

Maxx RS4 · Mar 22, 2007

xfloggingkylex said:
if the noise is really that bad, run it through some noise reduction software or plugins for PS.

To get that true cartoonish look I think you need higher saturation, to an unrealistic level.

And LaFoto, tone mapping is very hard to get just right. It is basically a free for all mess around until you get it right. At least for me anyways.

Any noise reduction programs I've used end up taking away a lot of detail from the rest of the image. Any better ones out there?

jtice · Mar 22, 2007

Nice work, I like the look of the building texture.

I just started doing HDR a couple days ago.
My Canon 30D isnt here yet, so I have been processing jpegs, which I doubt it does as well.

I have a really hard time making the results look natural and real.
I do like the wide range it can give you, really brings out out in the shots.
But it gets surreal really fast.
I also have noticed a bad noise problem, or a blurring effect.
I was able to get rid of some of it by reducing the noise and sharpening it some in ACDSee.
But they still are not anywhere close to what I want.

Here is a couple I thought werent too horrible.

I would also like to know what the best noise reduction / sharpening program is.
I know I should learn PS more, but I find it one of the most un-user friendly programs I have ever used.

~John

DblArrow · Mar 22, 2007

"I would also like to know what the best noise reduction / sharpening program is.
I know I should learn PS more, but I find it one of the most un-user friendly programs I have ever used.

~John"

The best is always subjective - that said I use Paint Shop Pro XI and the noise reduction in that is absolutely amazing. Can't compare sharpening though.

jtice · Mar 22, 2007

Thanks for the advice DblArrow,

I have PhotoShop CS, think that compares to the XI version?
I have not really tried ti yet, just been using ACDSee, I will have to try it out.

~John

xfloggingkylex · Mar 22, 2007

Jtice, how many images are you using for those shots?

Maxx RS4 - I havent personally used any noise reduction software, but if you do a search on this forum you can find what people recommend here.