First HDR attempt

[johnc24]

Hi all

I borrowed this image from a friend and put it through photomatix

I went a bit far on the whole process but its different!

what do we think??

[LensBaby]

I think that is sooooo cool! I love the real bright 3D looking HDRs
Nice job

[gjtoth]

I think I gotta try that! Nice job, John!

[Snappers]

Nice work John. I love the effect in the clouds.

[coffee]

I Love It. Hdr?

[jerryph]

Most definately HDR and done in Photomatix, most likely.

I like that lightly "cartoony" effect. You did that from a single picture or 2 or more bracketed pics?

I've had the program a while but never tried to do more than tonemap. Interesting test!

I hope you don't mind me placing my test here in this thread? I used 1 RAW image, converted it into 5 TIFF files of -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 exposure levels, generated one tonemapped HDR and played with the sliders a touch.

Original, untouched "before":
http://www.proudphotography.com/forum/gallery/files/1/0/0/0/sm_hdr0.jpg

After:
http://www.proudphotography.com/forum/gallery/files/1/0/0/0/sm_hdr1.jpg

Its the sky and the shadows in the snow that gets to me the most... makes the snow look as if it was so much dirtier. I'll work on it some more once I get more time to play.

Thanks for posting an interesting pic that piqued my interest!

[johnc24]

hi jerry

I did it from a single photo.
I had a stab at one or two more as I am still practising with it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21384213@N02/2401681662/sizes/l/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21384213@N02/2400973669/sizes/l/


both shots taken from my balcony so theres no real "eye candy" im afraid

regards
John

[LensBaby]

WOW I think you have the HDR down pat. I love your photos! All of them are so nice. Very unique! Color is great.

[jerryph]

John, if you really want some really amazing results, learn how to bracket. Yes you can take 2 pics and brighten one, but the data is not the same.

Those high end HDR pics that really make us drool are pics that were very careully worked on after using 3-10 pics of the same scene in 2-9 different exposure levels.

What I like about your HDRs is that you have a gentle hand with the HDR effects. There are some out there that are so heavy that they look less realistic and too cartoonish for my tastes.

[LensBaby]

Strong HDR does look to cartoonish. I don't really care for that unless it is supposed to look like a cartoon. I like the way Johns are just so soft and light. They turned out very nice.

[dkippen]

John - these are wonderful. I love the one with the tractors. Now that it's getting warmer (except for this weekend), this is something I'd really like to try doing the bracketing as Jerry mentioned.

[johnc24]

Hi all

I went out on my balcony (again!)

This time I had my tripod and timer so there would be no mistake with image alignment or anything like that.

I think its a very nice image in terms of sharpness and clarity.
I think a different photo subject might prove very fruitful with this method.
Unfortunately the clouds had vanished in the time it took me to grab my tripod so no cloud detail im afraid.I wish there was, it would have greatly improved the image I think

Normal image with a shade of tone mapping

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2403391151_cc3c750759_b.jpg

Image with a bit more mapping

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2403416025_078e17057d_b.jpg





Let me know what you think please

Regards
John

[LensBaby]

Nice! I like the one with more mapping. I think it gives the buildings a Tuscany look to it.

[sanzia]

John, if you really want some really amazing results, learn how to bracket. Yes you can take 2 pics and brighten one, but the data is not the same.

Those high end HDR pics that really make us drool are pics that were very careully worked on after using 3-10 pics of the same scene in 2-9 different exposure levels.

What I like about your HDRs is that you have a gentle hand with the HDR effects. There are some out there that are so heavy that they look less realistic and too cartoonish for my tastes.


Jerry, have you ever played around with 'faux' HDR? The effects are just as stunning....but it involves making 5-10 copies of the same image on your PC, stripping off the Exif data, and then setting the exposure for each image in Photoshop, and then taking them all into Photomatix and giving them the .HDR treatment.

It's fun for any that wish to try it.

Sanzi

[sanzia]

Hi all

I borrowed this image from a friend and put it through photomatix

I went a bit far on the whole process but its different!

what do we think??

I love this! It looks like a painting to me. Well done! :)

Sanzi

[jerryph]

Jerry, have you ever played around with 'faux' HDR?

"faux", a french word for fake or false... lol. Yes, the little that I have played with HDR, most are based from a single pic than ones I exposed via bracketing.

Sure, it works, but if you use 2+ pictures taken at different exposure values (thats all braketing is, and easy way to get the same pic multiple times with under and over exposed selections), thats where you start getting even more interesting results.

There are tonalities that are captured when you bracket that are not there when you have one set pic and manually adjust exposure via software and the results show it.

[Snappers]

Does the information not exsist when you use Raw?

[jerryph]

Does the information not exsist when you use Raw?

It contains info based only on the exposure you took, not anything else.

[Snappers]

Oh ok. Is there any set exposures you should take then or is it just a case of experimenting?

[jerryph]

If you bracket, and then set the "jumps" as being a 1/2 stop and # of pics to 5, you get results something like this:

Pic# -- Exposure difference
Pic# 1 -- 0 (properly exposed)
Pic# 2 -- +0.5 stop brighter
Pic# 3 -- +1 stop brighter
Pic# 4 -- -0.5 stop underexposed
Pic# 5 -- -1 stop underexposed

.. or of course you could do this manually. Set the camera to manual and do the first exposure metered spot on, next 1 click brighter (1 click slower shutter speed), once more for a 2nd level higher on the brightness, then 3 clicks in the opposite direction faster on the shutter speed, take a pic and increase shuter speed 1 more time and take your final #5 pic.

There you go... 5 pictures, 5 different exposures, all ready for your HDR. You could do it with 3, 5 or 10 if you want!

[Snappers]

I'll try to give it a go this weekend if it does not poor down.