HDR - What went wrong?

[moracca]

How come my HDR turned out so crappy? I like the original so much better. I played around with the tonal mapping settings, but couldnt get anything worth while
Here's the middle exposure from the Original:

and here's the final HDR composite:

thanks!

 

[abraxas]

Not bad. Try it with a different subject. Push some buttons try some stuff.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Push some buttons try some stuff.

wow, could that be any less worthless?

Your problem is that you didn't bracket enough. In my experiences, 3 images 2 stops apart works best.

 

[RedDevilUK]

i had the same problem when i played with HDR , the final images were not that good? i tried Photoshop and Photomatix... i found that Photomatix worked better for me, but i still wasnt overly impressed

i will try again at some point, but i really do think it helps if you take a picture of something with more colour in it.

 

[Alex_B]

well, you did not get the foreground exposed properly in any of the shots I would suspect.

the sky is best in the middle exposure .. and got worse in the HDR.

 

[d1a1s1]

Ive noticed that more importantly than the bracketing of the exposures, is the composition. There needs to be highlights as well as shadows. Contrasting colors help. I took a lot of pictures of sky/land/horizons but because the overall picture was bright there werent any shodows so the underexposed shot did nothing but cause an overall darkening vise bringing out any shadows. Hope this makes sense. All I know is I STILL havent got a decent HDR shot, but Im learning. It seems easy, especially if you have photoshop or photomatix. With these programs you just click a button but theres so much more that has to be done with the photos themselves.

 

[moracca]

well, you did not get the foreground exposed properly in any of the shots I would suspect.

the sky is best in the middle exposure .. and got worse in the HDR.

I suppose your right. I was not as much worried about the ground though -- There were some ugly buildings and junk under where I shot, so I tried to keep them out of it. I was more trying to get the effect that I've seen in so many other people's hdr shots of the clouds. I wasn't sure why I lost so much detail though. I suppose another part of it could be that this wasnt on a tripod, instead hand held, but stabilized on the ledge of my car window. I was on my way home from work, saw this cool sunset, and figured I'd shoot it when I got home, but as I gut further along, the sun was going down faster than I imagined, and I figured I'd better get the shot while I still can. I need to actually plan it out sometime. I think I only used 1 EV variances between the exposures, so maybe I should use 2 stop differences next time. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[abraxas]

wow, could that be any less worthless?

Your problem is that you didn't bracket enough. In my experiences, 3 images 2 stops apart works best.

Well, it could have dropped off the page without any comment.

 

[gmarquez]

Not bad. Try it with a different subject. Push some buttons try some stuff.

wow, could that be any less worthless?

:scratch: It seemed like two valid suggestions to me.

#1 is valid because not all subjects that *seem* like they should be good HDR candidates, actually *are* good HDR candidates. It not only depends on the dynamic range of the shot, but also how the tone mapping settings and algorithms process the shot. I've had shots with nice bracketing and a very nice dynamic range (with really good detail) disintegrate once I went to tone-map. Also, it really helps to take a picture of a scene that would be interesting even without HDR.

#2 is valid because, again, the tone mapping process is dependent on the settings and the algorithms used. Initially you have to experiment a lot to come up with reasonable outcomes.

 

[moracca]

I tried to experiment as much as I could, but it just wasn't looking right. I think I need better starting images if I have any hope of tone mapping anything decent.

 

[moracca]

I revisited this one in photomatix, and I think it turned out a lot better this time (except for the blurred power lines):

 

[RedDevilUK]

heres one i did

 

[abraxas]

I revisited this one in photomatix, and I think it turned out a lot better this time (except for the blurred power lines):

I like the edit much more. Tone mapping takes some practice and multiple exposures put a lot into a shot to bring out.

 

[rhommel]

you can do a lot more with those clouds.. try saving it in 16bit format on photomatix, then process it in photoshop, duplicate the layer to separate the clouds, then use the high pass filter.. the change the layer mode to Overlay, change the opacity if needed

 

[burtharrris]

You've also gotta remember, those clouds are moving. If you blend 3 shots 10 seconds apart, the cloud formations will be different. When they are blended they will take on a soft look. It's like photographing ocean waves with long exposures.