HDR Photo Test

[CreationsCentre]

OK, here's my first attempt at HDR photography:

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5487/zelighthdrdl2.th.png (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zelighthdrdl2.png)

Personally... I don't think it turned out very well. I had to lower the image size because it was too pixelated when bigger. :(

Anyway, let me know what you guys think.

[Pasquale]

Too small for me to make any specific crits.

Is that orange cast natural?

[SimplyArun]

you could have added some more detail to the shadows... maybe just one overexposed shot would have done the trick... not bad nonetheless

the composition isn't great though

[CreationsCentre]

Lol yeah I really did think I screwed this one up... I might give it another try with a different location and subject matter in some better lighting conditions. I htink my ISO speed was set up too high and it wasn't that good quality when all put together. But thanks for the crits anywa, jjust wanted to test out HDR anyway! :)

Oh well... back to the drawing board for me. :(

@ DM: that orange cast was from that lightbulb in that room, yes.

[doctor_funk]

HDR, isn't that when you layer a variety of exposures of the same thing on top of eachother? Wouldn't that be a cool Flash transition for a photogallery if you could somehow simulate the HDR-ifying of a photo?

[CreationsCentre]

HDR, isn't that when you layer a variety of exposures of the same thing on top of eachother? Wouldn't that be a cool Flash transition for a photogallery if you could somehow simulate the HDR-ifying of a photo?

Yeah it is, and it would be cool in Flash. But the HDR process is a very resource intensive one.

[hybrid101]

yesh,would look cool with before and after processing, and i think yeah, HDR photos are supposed to be big

nice shot btw:D

[CreationsCentre]

Lol thanks.

[.ral:cr]

i had myself one: http://cristi.imagin.ro/image.php?g=PLACES/HERCULANE&p=IMG_6199.jpg

[CreationsCentre]

i had myself one: http://cristi.imagin.ro/image.php?g=PLACES/HERCULANE&p=IMG_6199.jpg

Yeah yours turned out nicer than mine. lol :P

[Jeff Wheeler]

Looks decent. Did you do it in Photoshop?

[CreationsCentre]

Looks decent. Did you do it in Photoshop?

Yeah, and tone mapping done in Photomatix.

[hybrid101]

photomatix?:)
i usually do everything in photoshop:P

[CreationsCentre]

Yeah apparently Photomatix is best for tone mapping (e.g. making it look nicer :P) but I put the hdr together in Photoshop, then import into Photomatix.

[sekasi]

HDRs strength is lifting the small details that are normally blocked by low exposure due to the triple to penta exposure. Thats why you should never ever ever view a hdr picture in a low resolution. 1024 is the lowest resolution you should ever consider showing people : )

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/onblack.php?id=518044135&size=Large

Thats taken and edited by one of the best post-processors I know about. He has a good hdr tutorial up att www.stuckincustoms.com

[CreationsCentre]

HDRs strength is lifting the small details that are normally blocked by low exposure due to the triple to penta exposure. Thats why you should never ever ever view a hdr picture in a low resolution. 1024 is the lowest resolution you should ever consider showing people : )

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/onblack.php?id=518044135&size=Large

Thats taken and edited by one of the best post-processors I know about. He has a good hdr tutorial up att www.stuckincustoms.com (http://www.stuckincustoms.com)


This guy's work is amazing!
Thanks for the resolution tip
Thanks for the comment. :P

[sekasi]

You're welcome.

And yeah, photomatrix is what you should go for.

What exposures are you using, and what camera? Do you have a tripod? I'm pretty intimate with the art of HDR photography since my wife is a filmmaker/photographer so I'd be happy to help you out if you want some pointers too.

Photoshop does indeed have a merge to hdr macro, but since it lacks a tonemapping filter you really don't wanna go through ps anyhow.

Good luck and feel free to ask if you wanna know something :)

[CreationsCentre]

You're welcome.

And yeah, photomatrix is what you should go for.

What exposures are you using, and what camera? Do you have a tripod? I'm pretty intimate with the art of HDR photography since my wife is a filmmaker/photographer so I'd be happy to help you out if you want some pointers too.

Photoshop does indeed have a merge to hdr macro, but since it lacks a tonemapping filter you really don't wanna go through ps anyhow.

Good luck and feel free to ask if you wanna know something :)

I've got a Canon EOS 350D, yes I do have a tripod (used it for this photo) and exposures: -2, 0, +2. Oh and any tips would be great, thanks! :)

[sekasi]

-2/0/+2 is pretty standard yeah. If your camera is able, doing a penta hdr is pretty cool too (-2/-1/0/+1/+2).

When it comes to tonemapping, its easy to get carried away and go all out sci fi look with the pictures. Try and focus solely on bringing out small textures / details in the picture first. When you learn to make the picture lift all the hidden details you can move on a bit to color correction and general color effects.

One thing you should try is to take a picture of something that has a brutal texture, like some wallpapers, some tables (wooden tables) or in general anything that has a surface that produces self-shadows. Do a tripod snap and try to tweak photomatrix to bring out the details to the max. It takes practice but once you get the hang of it you can produce some really kick *** shots.

Some general pointers with Photomatrix though;

* If you take the luminosity below 0, you will get that halo-effect. It can sometimes look cool, but it usually makes the picture look faked.
* If you set the smoothing to anything other than “high” you get some very strange coloration and embossing effects that no longer look natural. Avoid.
* The color saturation should be set a little lower than you think. The final version always comes out 10-20% more saturated.
* High luminosity causes noise. If you go this path you will need to deal with the noise in photoshop later on.

And, just for the sake of it, I'll like what I find to be the best HDR picture I've seen to this day. Look closely on the textures of the walls and everything .. it's really spectacular.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/onblack.php?id=204476471&size=Large

Good luck!

[joeold]

really nice tonal range that you have going on. the size does hamper the critique a bit. other than that good first try.

[hybrid101]

my God that HDR photo is amazing. the bughugelabs link. :drool: