My HDR photos

pjaye · Jul 20, 2015

I like the first one and the one with the bench. There is something bugging me about the shower and the edges of the pole in the shower on the beach shot. But I know absolutely nothing about HDR so I'm not sure if I just don't like that one or there is something off.

panos_adgr · Jul 20, 2015

symplybarb said:
I like the first one and the one with the bench. There is something bugging me about the shower and the edges of the pole in the shower on the beach shot. But I know absolutely nothing about HDR so I'm not sure if I just don't like that one or there is something off.

Maybe the halos are bothering you. I over do it with processing.

407370 · Jul 20, 2015

I had the impression, in the beginning that noise had to do with the original photo and the exposure. But later I read somewhere exactly what you said about photomatix. I have also noticed that in some cases there is no noise at all or if there is, isn't much. So I think that it has to do also maybe with the exposure? If you know more about the origin of noise in HDR case I would be glad to know also.

Basically all pics have noise to some degree and tone mapping will expose that noise. Tend to be that pics that suit tone mapping will naturally have areas that will generate noise, like blue sky between clouds. Busy pics with lots of small details will still generate noise but it will be less noticeable. Like the example below:

panos_adgr · Jul 20, 2015

407370 said:
I had the impression, in the beginning that noise had to do with the original photo and the exposure. But later I read somewhere exactly what you said about photomatix. I have also noticed that in some cases there is no noise at all or if there is, isn't much. So I think that it has to do also maybe with the exposure? If you know more about the origin of noise in HDR case I would be glad to know also.

Click to expand...

Basically all pics have noise to some degree and tone mapping will expose that noise. Tend to be that pics that suit tone mapping will naturally have areas that will generate noise, like blue sky between clouds. Busy pics with lots of small details will still generate noise but it will be less noticeable. Like the example below:
View attachment 105283
View attachment 105284

Has it got to do also with camera? I want to say that if I had a better one would I also have had better results? From the other hand people who do HDR also mention about noise in tone mapping whatever camera they use...

I'm currently using a Nikon D90.

407370 · Jul 21, 2015

Has it got to do also with camera? I want to say that if I had a better one would I also have had better results? From the other hand people who do HDR also mention about noise in tone mapping whatever camera they use...

I'm currently using a Nikon D90.

Nah the noise is from processing not hardware. Do a bit of pixel peeping in these D810 sample pics Nikon D810 High Resolution Image Samples . The noise inherent in these images will be amplified significantly by tone mapping. These pics will already have been processed by Nikon to show the camera in best possible light.

Its all a matter of degree. My tolerance for heavy processing is nearly limitless, other people criticise you if you crop a pic. Each to their own.

pjaye · Jul 21, 2015

panos_adgr said:
symplybarb said:

I like the first one and the one with the bench. There is something bugging me about the shower and the edges of the pole in the shower on the beach shot. But I know absolutely nothing about HDR so I'm not sure if I just don't like that one or there is something off.

Click to expand...

Maybe the halos are bothering you. I over do it with processing.

Maybe that's it. Like I said, I know nothing about HDR, tried it once, failed miserably. The over processing doesn't both me, but that pole just looks odd.

dennybeall · Jul 21, 2015

IMHO to get HDR you need to take multiple photos with different settings so you capture a wider range of data than you can capture with one photo using the equipment you have. Then when you merge those multiple photos you have one photo with the wider range.
If you just take one picture you just have that range of data, no matter how you play with it and the more you play the more noise.

panos_adgr · Jul 21, 2015

dennybeall said:
IMHO to get HDR you need to take multiple photos with different settings so you capture a wider range of data than you can capture with one photo using the equipment you have. Then when you merge those multiple photos you have one photo with the wider range.
If you just take one picture you just have that range of data, no matter how you play with it and the more you play the more noise.

You are right!
But a raw file has a great amount of information captured so you can 'stretch' it to make a set of copies over and under exposed. It is an accepted technique to make HDR anyway.

But the best is what you wrote.

407370 · Jul 22, 2015

You can edit a JPG to get the desired effect as well as RAW.

panos_adgr · Jul 22, 2015

407370 said:
You dont need RAW to do HDR / Tone Mapping. See below for an edit I did on another thread using JPG:
View attachment 105337

Yes. I've done quite a few HDRs from jpegs also. The first one I posted from Vianna is made from jpeg photos.

panos_adgr · Jul 22, 2015

407370 said:
You can edit a JPG to get the desired effect as well as RAW.

Until now I do HDR mostly by converting RAW files to tif 16bit.

407370 · Jul 22, 2015

Pictures that have heavy processing are not really dependent on source format for the end result. Point and shoot / cellphone cameras are very good in certain lighting conditions and are perfect for HDR / Tone Mapping.

panos_adgr · Jul 22, 2015

407370 said:
Pictures that have heavy processing are not really dependent on source format for the end result. Point and shoot / cellphone cameras are very good in certain lighting conditions and are perfect for HDR / Tone Mapping.

Hmm! A couple of days ago I downloaded two HDR apps for my galaxy s3 phone and I wait for my holidays to do some test shots. Interesting!

Thanks for the support with your advices.

panos_adgr · Jul 23, 2015

Hi again!
I think that I'm solving the noise problem! Here is a new one made of one RAW.

It is again hot in the kitchen cause I love it but not that much.

Cloudy Beach (HDR) by Panagiotis Adamopoulos, on Flickr

Noise is obviously less than other times.

thereyougo! · Jul 25, 2015

I wonder whether someone is being a little provocative. I'm not sure I would call these HDR. Because the aim doesn't appear to be to simply show a full dynamic range in the shot, more to attempt to show surrealism. That would be tone mapping. Personally I'm not a fan. And being perfectly honest I'm not sure they are even hitting the spot as tone mapped images as they (to my judgement) don't really seem to be saying anything. The second one appears to have black and white in the middle of the shot.

The oven is hot, but the cookies still seem half baked to me, and I'm not one for cookie dough ice cream....