Number of shots

WesternGuy · Jan 16, 2011

GeorgieGirl, you have raised some interesting points and I must say that I do agree, particularly with the last bit about challenging what seems to me to have become a sort of a HDR rule. Shoot a three shot -2 and +2 range, pass the shots through software and voila you have HDR.

I think that sometimes we get locked into the thinking where "when all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail". I know I am guilty of this. You have given me and, I hope, others, something to think about as we all move forward in our understanding and learning about HDR and using it in our day-to-day photographic life. I would refer folks that are interested to look at some of Brian Matiash's work as an example of what, in my opinion, is great HDR imagery (one of many I am sure). His portfolio can be found here...

My Portfolio | Brian Matiash PhotoBlog

I would encourage others to post references to HDR portfolios with which they are impressed or want to share with the rest of us. Now I don't want to turn this into a post of posts, if you know what I mean, but if anyone does find an interesting portfolio of what they feel is good HDR, then a brief mention is, in my opinion, more than appropriate for us noobies at this stuff - good examples always give us something to aim for. I will qualify this by saying that there are also excellent examples posted in this forum, which is one of the reasons I joined in the first place...I also enjoy the discussions as well. :thumbup:

Cheers,

WesternGuy

GeorgieGirl · Jan 16, 2011

Western Guy, that sure is some nice work, some very nice work indeed. Thanks for pointing me to it. :thumbup:

WesternGuy · Jan 18, 2011

GeorgieGirl, you are very welcome. I often go and look at some of his work, when I need to feel humble by comparison

. Right now our weather and road conditions preclude much travel and photography (long story that includes things like avalanches across the TransCanada and too much snow in general - closed roads and all that... :grumpy:

, but over the next few days, things are expected to warm up, so I shall see if I can go out again and try my hand at some winter scenes...I may just have to bite the bullet and head for one of our local parks, rather than trying to get out into the mountains, or at least the foothills where there is some decent scenery.

Here is another one that I just discovered tonight, maybe you already know about it, but here it is... HDR Spotting - Gallery of HDR Photos and Community of HDR Photographers

Regards,

WesternGuy

P.S. Can someone point me to the guidelines for posting images on this forum or any other forum on TPF - Thanks.

sixdaemonbag · Jan 18, 2011

Ok, This may be an ignorant question, but after reading through the thread I'm wondering how many folks use the built-in bracketing routine in their camera anyway? Mine can do it, but I think I've used it exactly once, and I wasn't happy with the results.

The caveat here is that I rarely do HDR on anything that isn't static so I have time to manually adjust my stops, where the camera will do it faster automagically.

Thanks.

ann · Jan 18, 2011

many times i do use the AEB mode, but i can do up to 9 stops.

by the way, brian Matisch is doing several free webinair for ONone this month.
If you haven't seen how we uses various software after the merging of the exposures it is amazing and much more than involve than some might image.

You can go to their site and sign up for a variety of sessions. I have no financial connect with ONONE, altho, i do use their software from time to time and enjoy watching Brian work and think.

OrionsByte · Jan 18, 2011

I honestly haven't researched HDR much, though I've attempted it once or twice. I think what the OP was asking (as far as I can tell from what was quoted) was, what is the difference between taking 3 shots that cover the tonal range, and taking 6 or 9 or more shots that cover the total range.

Let's say I have a scene I want to capture as an HDR, so I put my camera in Av and spot metering mode, and determine that I'll need a shutter speed of 1/8 for the darkest areas I want to capture, and 1/125 for the brightest parts. That's a 4-stop range. So what's the difference between taking 3 shots 2 stops apart (1/8, 1/32, and 1/125) and taking 5 shots 1 stop apart (1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, and 1/125)?

How do the results change with more exposures in between the opposite extremes?

I may have to do some experimenting and research. :lol:

WesternGuy · Jan 19, 2011

ann said:
many times i do use the AEB mode, but i can do up to 9 stops.

by the way, brian Matisch is doing several free webinair for ONone this month.
If you haven't seen how we uses various software after the merging of the exposures it is amazing and much more than involve than some might image.

You can go to their site and sign up for a variety of sessions. I have no financial connect with ONONE, altho, i do use their software from time to time and enjoy watching Brian work and think.

Thanks Ann. He is doing some of his architecture and "urban grunge" stuff... for anyone who hasn't seen them they are well worth watching -
IMHO.

For those who are interested, the January schedule for onOne webinars can be found here...Webinars - onOne Software check the ones in blue for those by Brian Matiash...unfortunately, the February calendar is not up yet, but if you are interested, then keep coming to the site and hopefully it will come up soon. Like Ann, I have no financial connection with onOne, but I do use their software from time to time and I really enjoy watching the work that Brian Matiash does - it provides a definite inspiration for me.

Cheers,

WesternGuy