HDR Help!

[guzziknight]

I need some help. On some of the HDRs I've been trying, I get ghosting in the clouds. Seems hit or miss. Sometimes it's there, sometimes not. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

Here's an example:

 

[ann]

which program are you using for merging. clouds are always an issue especially in high winds, but some programs are better at merging movement than others.

it also depends on how fast the clouds are moving and how quick your making exposures.

 

[guzziknight]

I've been using Photomatix. Sometimes the clouds are no issue, sometime they're a big issue. Today, they were moving slow, which is why I didn't think they'd be a problem. I try to take the exposures fairly quickly, so I can't imagine they moved all that much. What I'm wondering is if the exposure range is too much, and that's what's causing the ghosting.

 

[Steve01]

Check the box " Attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts".
Beyond that you need to correct what's left in PS

 

[JG_Coleman]

Admittedly, I very rarely encounter problems like this in the sky when merging for HDR.

How long were your exposures? It just seems like there was an awful lot of cloud movement while you were taking your bracketed shots. Or were the clouds really moving that fast? Ordinarily, even at f/22, three bracketed exposures of a relatively bright day shouldn't take more than a second or so in total...maybe two or three seconds tops depending on the breadth of dynamic range you need to capture. For that amount of cloud movement to be occurring, there would have to be some pretty serious wind in the atmosphere.

Were you shooting with a filter? If cloud movement is an issue in a scene you're photographing, definitely lose any polarizers or grad nds (though even with these, I've almost never had such a problem with drastic cloud movement).

I would agree with Steve01 that you're best off trying to get Photomatix to remove the ghosting. But, in this case, the change in shape and location of the clouds is so drastic that Photomatix is liable to interpret them as distinct shapes rather ghosts.

Alternatively, you can try scrapping the exposure which is causing most of the ghosting and merging the faster neutral and underexposed shots. You can then try to simply boost fill light in post. You'll certainly generate more noise that way, and the result probably won't be as nice... but you might be able to avoid the ghosting.

Also, you could pull the result into Photoshop as posted and just try to work at it on the pixel level to remove the ghosting. Not sure how well this would work out, but it's worth a couple minutes of experimentation on a small section to see if success is possible.

 

[guzziknight]

I've used the box "Attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts" in every HDR I've made. It gives me 2 options, for that, and I tried it both ways, neither of which solved the issue.

As far as time between exposures, it's seconds. Just long enough for me to change the EV. There was little wind on the ground, but that doesn't mean it wasn't windy at altitude. It might be a matter of technique. Maybe I need to shoot it high speed with AEB to really shorten the time frame.

I re-did the image using only 2 exposures, like you suggested, JG, and it worked out better. Here is that image:

As I said, I'm still learning this technique. I appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions!

 

[guzziknight]

Also, you could pull the result into Photoshop as posted and just try to work at it on the pixel level to remove the ghosting. Not sure how well this would work out, but it's worth a couple minutes of experimentation on a small section to see if success is possible.

Also, I tried this, but I'm just not good enough with PS to pull this off. You can see where I changed the image, and it doesn't look good. Still need to work on that.

 

[Robin Usagani]

yeah man.. use AEB. That way you wont touch your camera so it doesnt move even a tiny bit. I set the AEB and set it to 2sec delay, it should burst all 3 back to back. OR use a remote.

 

[Bynx]

The big problem I have is the nuclear grass. Ive toned down the colors a bit and lightened the sky.

 

[guzziknight]

I didn't completely work the last image. It was more a test to see if the clouds were OK. But I like what you did with it.

 

[desertdave]

nuclear grass.....thats funny!!

 

[DirtyDFeckers]

Like others said, set your camera to do bracketed shots, then set a self timer or use a remote... You don't want to ever have to touch the camera, no matter what.