HDR Shootout 23.... 9 EVs to work with!

[480sparky]

Not an earth-shattering image, but one with a wide dynamic range.

Download the 9 pix below:

EV -4
EV -3
EV -2
EV- 1
EV 0
EV +1
EV +2
EV +3
EV +4

All shots are tripod-mounted, mirror up, wired remote release... so alignment should not be an issue. There was a slight breeze, so the trees and leaves may not be perfect. Exif data should be included with each image.

 

[Josh66]

Did you post the wrong picture...?


I'm having a hard time finding a difference between the EV 0 shot and the end result (or whichever one you posted)...

edit
Nevermind... I see what's going on now... At first, I thought THIS was the HDR, but now I see that 'we' are supposed to make our own from your files....

 

[Bynx]

This is a great image to illustrate HDR. Anyone who sees this and says they dont like HDR should have their head read and their camera taken away.

 

[480sparky]

........... At first, I thought THIS was the HDR, but now I see that 'we' are supposed to make our own from your files....

Yep. I post the same image the camera tells me is 'correctly' exposed, just to give you an idea of what the scene is so you can decide whether you want to try your hand at HDRing it.

This is a great image to illustrate HDR. Anyone who sees this and says they dont like HDR should have their head read and their camera taken away.

Exactly. I walked into this room and instantly thought "HDR Shootout Time!" I doubt very many people could make this shot work in-camera and produce the same result SOOC. Some might come close in post using raw, but when you have a single shot that contains both pure white and pure black, it's really hard to make it work without HDR.

 

[NateS]

I probably could have gotten similar results with a bounce flash to fill the foreground, but I agree...this is one of those times when HDR can really shine in it's own right.

 

[Balastrea]

Love it!

 

[Bynx]

NateS, had you used a bounce flash you might have given similar results on the inside of the rock room, but would that same bounce flash darkened the sill, lit the forest section a little brighter, and darkened the grassy area all at the same time?

 

[oldmacman]

NateS, had you used a bounce flash you might have given similar results on the inside of the rock room, but would that same bounce flash darkened the sill, lit the forest section a little brighter, and darkened the grassy area all at the same time?

Given the disparity of interior and exterior lighting, you would only need the flash to illuminate the interior and you could set your shutter to expose for the foliage. Not that I hate HDR, it's just not the only way to get this image.
The processing of the image in post 3 is leaning heavily into yellow, even for the foliage, which is not visually pleasing to me.

 

[480sparky]

More to the point: How many would be lugging around the kind of firepower needed to do so?

 

[oldmacman]

More to the point: How many would be lugging around the kind of firepower needed to do so?

I hear you. I'm not saying you will always have the gear with you to compensate for the lighting disparity. What Bynx seams to be saying is that it can't be done as nate has suggested.

I'll play along and show how I would process the image. Now it's coming down to personal taste. I would want to show that it is a little darker inside the stone building:

 

[Bynx]

I see the sill and arch way of stone is now very magenta colored. The grass is very dark lush Irish Green that everyone would like to have but is seldom seen in this area Im betting. The yellowish tone you see in my version I was aware of. But Ive been in similar rooms as this in the past and I feel that the yellowish cast comes from the rocks themselves. If Im not mistaken the colors are fairly accurate. Of course with all our monitors and uploading and dowloading files from here to there and back again we will never agree on color. But sparky should be able to comment on which colors are more accurate from his memory.
And I never said that the lighting couldnt be done any other way than HDR. Im sorry if you mistook what I said. With some elaborate setup you could duplicate the HDR results perfectly. I see the pic has 3 primary lighting areas -- the forest and grass, the strong sunlight on the sill and the shadowed room. You can use the camera to exposure for any one of the three. You can use the flash to bring up a second. But there will still be a third which needs fixing. So is it possible to shoot all three areas with a single flash?

 

[480sparky]

FWIW, here's my take:

Luminance HDR.
Profile 1
Pre-Gamma : 1.000
Mantuik ‘06
Contrast Factor : 1.300
Saturation Factor : 1.400
Detail Factor : 4.000


The green in the EV0 shot is very close.

 

[Dmitri]

My interpretation.

 

[480sparky]

My interpretation.

Link no workee.

 

[Dmitri]

hmmm its an img tag to my photobucket. Weird :\