HDR Photography issue

osumisan · Dec 16, 2013

I am starting to experiment with HDR photography. Using Photomatix 5.0 and bracketing 5 shots at 1 f/stop intervals. Most of my stacks blend just fine with Photomatix but some, in the sky area, show shapes that were not there in any of the bracketed exposures.

The specific image I am having issues with is one of a ocean pier with lapping water around the base at sunset. None of the bracketed images show the shapes (they look like possibly the pilings of the pier superimposed into the sky) but when combined in Photomatix, they are very much a part of the image. The shapes also have no detail, they are just squares and rectangles. As I adjust the sliders in Photomatix, the shapes become more or less noticeable, but always there.

Anyone else have this problem?

Shooting a Nikon D700, Sigma 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. Exposures ranging from 1/4th of second to 15-20 seconds in the same brackets.

Steve5D · Dec 16, 2013

I cannot begin to adequately express how helpful it would be to see an example of what you're trying to describe...

480sparky · Dec 16, 2013

Steve5D said:
I cannot begin to adequately express how helpful it would be to see an example of what you're trying to describe...

hirejn · Dec 16, 2013

It's possible the software doesn't know what to do with five images that closely bracketed, or you don't. Any DSLR can capture 5 stops of brightness in a single frame so there's little to gain by bracketing five frames in 1-stop increments. Almost no scenes require more than three images, which could encompass up to at least a 15-stop range on most DSLRs (3 images 5 stops apart). Even with your camera's spot meter you can pretty easily tell with a little calculation that most scenes are not 15 stops. The exact bracketing can be figured out with a light meter calibrated to the dynamic range of your camera, such as the Sekonic L-758. What you need to do is figure out the midtone, shadows and highlights and compare it with the dynamic range of the camera, and then shoot to encompass the range of the scene. Everything else is guessing. Once you learn more about HDR and how to actually do it, you'll be able to take fewer images and process them more easily. I'd also recommend Nik instead of Photomatix for more intuitive controls.

osumisan · Dec 16, 2013

Well at the time of post, I did not render any photos that gave me the problem. Here is one that I did that shows my issue. the shadows under the pier are very heavy and the sunrise is very bright. Maybe combine that with the moving water. But for sure, I have no clue what I am doing with Photomatix, thus, posting here for help. check out my image and see if you have had this happen. The problem areas are in the sky, top/right and sky between pilings, lower/left. Thanks in advance!

vipgraphx · Dec 16, 2013

What kind of files are you using? NEF, JPEG, TIFF ? what are the steps that you are using to get them into photomatix? IF you like to post those files I would be more than happy to see if it happens to me as well. Those defiantly look like something is not right.

osumisan · Dec 16, 2013

Here are the 5 images I used. I shoot in RAW (NEF files), import from camera to Lightroom 3, import from lightroom 3 to Photomatix for editing and merging, then back to lightroom 3. Most of the images I have processed turned out great.

480sparky · Dec 16, 2013

Try building the HDR by taking one image out of the stack and see what happens. Take a different image out of each attempt. Maybe it's just one image the software is having problems with.

Steve5D · Dec 16, 2013

osumisan said:
View attachment 62317

That issue has nothing to do with the pylons, and those artifacts don't seem to be on any of the single images. There's something goofy going on in the processing...

vipgraphx · Dec 16, 2013

Those images are pretty small but it worked fine for me. Must be something on your end. Have you updated Photomatix yet?

osumisan · Dec 17, 2013

I had just downloaded Photomatix 5.0 before editing the photo in question. I will look to see if there are any updates but I would think that they would have given me the most recent version on the download?

HughGuessWho · Dec 17, 2013

Steve5D said:
That issue has nothing to do with the pylons, and those artifacts don't seem to be on any of the single images. There's something goofy going on in the processing...

Looks to me like there is an image in the stack that doesn't belong in the group. I see windows on the left. I would recheck the files that you are selecting.

480sparky · Dec 17, 2013

HughGuessWho said:
...... see windows on the left............

Why are they windows? Yeah, they're rectangles. But that doesn't make them windows. Unless you're seeing something the rest of us are missing.

HughGuessWho · Dec 18, 2013

480sparky said:
Why are they windows? Yeah, they're rectangles. But that doesn't make them windows. Unless you're seeing something the rest of us are missing.

Ok, the rectangles LOOK like windows. Regardless of what they are, they don't belong in the image and I am convinced that they are the result of an image being included in the stack that should not have been. Give it a shot. Stack three images to import into your favorite HDR app, and add another that doesn't belong. You will see the same type of artifacts in the the resulting image.

vipgraphx · Dec 19, 2013

HughGuessWho said:
Steve5D said:

That issue has nothing to do with the pylons, and those artifacts don't seem to be on any of the single images. There's something goofy going on in the processing...

Click to expand...

Looks to me like there is an image in the stack that doesn't belong in the group. I see windows on the left. I would recheck the files that you are selecting.

I don't think its an image in the stack that doesn't belong. IT did not do that to me when I processed them. It could be a bug in photomatix though on his computer.

OP try uninstalling the the software and reinstalling.Maybe that will help.