Darren Addy
EF5
So, this gives us an idea of how Photomatix performs when we dial it to "11", but is it also possible to adjust the settings to get you something more realistic (truer to your visual sense of being there)?
Darren Addy
Kearney, NE
High Dynamic Range Imaging
- Thread starter Darren Addy
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So, this gives us an idea of how Photomatix performs when we dial it to "11", but is it also possible to adjust the settings to get you something more realistic (truer to your visual sense of being there)?
Darren Addy
Kearney, NE
This photographer (Nori Ravi) has very nice, not very difficult articles about HDR (CS2), and also highlight recovery using linear TIFF method. And when you're there... browse his galleries, he is an excellent photographer 
Oscar
Oscar
Ryan McGinnis
EF5
Just a heads up that I've done a few more HDR experiments and posted them over at:
http://backingwinds.blogspot.com/
These are non-weather experiments; they're indoor shots of the Nebraska state capitol. However, they give a pretty good idea of some of the things that HDR can (and can't) do.
http://backingwinds.blogspot.com/
These are non-weather experiments; they're indoor shots of the Nebraska state capitol. However, they give a pretty good idea of some of the things that HDR can (and can't) do.
Robert Edmonds
EF5
thought I'd share some pics that i'd recently tried with HDR...
Mike Peregrine
EF5
I also ran my first test images this weekend at sunset in KC. The pics are at home, so I'll post them later. I'm really pleased with the range of stops - that aspect of the photos turned out terrific. But the colors are pretty funky and I'm definitely going to have to do some more looking into the best ways to go about color correction. I used CS2 to perform the merge, which was easy enough. Also used the workflow suggested in the site posted above, using curves to adjust the tonal map. Very clean looking images, but color appears heavy on the yellow in one image and heavy on red in another. Balancing seems pretty tough, IMO. I worked with them for quite a while and never did really achieve a correction that I was happy with. I really think the temptation will be there for this to easily get OVER-used by people in lighting situations that really do not require it, and the result could be some pretty funked out photos. Will be a nice option for heavy contrast scenes, though.
Ryan McGinnis
EF5
You should kick me the info for how you did it -- if you shot RAW, there are pretty easy ways to quickly change the color temperature on all the photos you used to make the HDR. The only thing you have to make sure is to turn off Photoshops 'auto correction' in the RAW toning menu and to make sure you process each RAW image that will be used to make the HDR photo with exactly the same settings. HDR really does have the habit of emphasizing colors, especially in the shadows, where color would normally fade away in the darkness. I can definately give you some big pointers on how to work with the histo curve in the 32->16 bit conversion process -- it's taken me a lot of experimenting, but I think I'm starting to figure it out.
Mike Peregrine
EF5
I experimented with a couple of HDR images on Sunday evening and posted them on my blog here. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, even though they were only a blend of three images. Color stayed pretty natural with them and I didn't need to mess with white balance. The real problem was the wind. There's a bit of shake on the sunset photo, but I have several additional versions where I managed to keep it steady (these were actually hand-held, by the way - using a Canon 17-40L lens). Anyway, once you get the hang of curves, it only takes a few minutes to process each image, which is pretty nice. It takes a while for the computer to trudge through the math when you're dealing with three or more full size RAW images, but I still think it's nice for not having to manage a lot of other workflow. These could probably use some more work by most folks' standards, but just wanted to show them with a bare minimum of PS work. Ryan - I'd definitely like to take you up on your offer for pointers!
Jayson Prentice
EF5
I'm using a sony cybershot, so I'm not sure how well the camera is at doing something like this. And with me just reading about it lately, not sure how well I'm doing it either! But, I attempted an HDR image tonight with a sunset and some railroad tracks, thought it ended up pretty well. But it took some pretty big adjusting to get it to look like 'normal'..
Let me know what ya think on this and if there is something that I may be doing wrong..
http://www.stormcenterusa.com/images/060106HDRSunset.JPG
Let me know what ya think on this and if there is something that I may be doing wrong..
http://www.stormcenterusa.com/images/060106HDRSunset.JPG
Mike Peregrine
EF5
Hey Jayson - just a couple of quick thoughts ...
First, this image is very pleasing in several respects. I like the lines and the low angle, and the sky came out nicely exposed. The issue in my mind comes in more with the foreground, which appears to be underexposed on my monitor.
I'm not sure about the manual settings on your camera. I looked it up briefly but couldn't really tell what all it had as far as manual settings are concerned (so ignore any of this that doesn't apply to your particular camera). For HDR to work, you have to have a camera that offers different levels of exposure or a means of adjusting the shutter speed. You should also be able to shoot in RAW format to allow maximum control over how your image ultimately turns out. Then as you take the shots, you need a minimum of three exposures (though CS2 lets you get by with two, three is better). You need one exposure at or near the recommended exposure for that scene ... then you'll need one a full stop below and one a full stop above that. Better yet, do a range of 7 photos from near black (total underexposure) to near white (total overexposure), with additional shots at one stop intervals. I'd suggest using some of the workflow techniques suggested in this thread. The more you try it, the more proficient you'll become. So far the shots I have tried have been experimental only, and I haven't done a lot with it (so nothing fancy - like you see from ol' Mr. McGinnis). Just trying to get the feel of it. Once you let the program merge the RAW files, you'll have to mix the file down from 32 to a 16 bit RGB file ... and at that point you'll apply smooth S curves to the highlights and shadows to bring out the best in each (this is using CS2 ... I don't know how Photomatix works).
Anyway, those are just my suggestions. Thanks for posting ... Happy shooting! - - -
First, this image is very pleasing in several respects. I like the lines and the low angle, and the sky came out nicely exposed. The issue in my mind comes in more with the foreground, which appears to be underexposed on my monitor.
I'm not sure about the manual settings on your camera. I looked it up briefly but couldn't really tell what all it had as far as manual settings are concerned (so ignore any of this that doesn't apply to your particular camera). For HDR to work, you have to have a camera that offers different levels of exposure or a means of adjusting the shutter speed. You should also be able to shoot in RAW format to allow maximum control over how your image ultimately turns out. Then as you take the shots, you need a minimum of three exposures (though CS2 lets you get by with two, three is better). You need one exposure at or near the recommended exposure for that scene ... then you'll need one a full stop below and one a full stop above that. Better yet, do a range of 7 photos from near black (total underexposure) to near white (total overexposure), with additional shots at one stop intervals. I'd suggest using some of the workflow techniques suggested in this thread. The more you try it, the more proficient you'll become. So far the shots I have tried have been experimental only, and I haven't done a lot with it (so nothing fancy - like you see from ol' Mr. McGinnis). Just trying to get the feel of it. Once you let the program merge the RAW files, you'll have to mix the file down from 32 to a 16 bit RGB file ... and at that point you'll apply smooth S curves to the highlights and shadows to bring out the best in each (this is using CS2 ... I don't know how Photomatix works).
Anyway, those are just my suggestions. Thanks for posting ... Happy shooting! - - -
Ryan McGinnis
EF5
I agree with Mike -- it seems like HDR ought to be able to pull more detail out of the forground. Now, it's possible that you did that intentionally, in which case, disregard -- but if not, then there is either an issue with the shooting technique or with the HDR settings in Photoshop. One thing that I'd want to check is whether or not you're making sure to use the "Local Adaptation" option when doing the downconversion to 16 bit (and make sure you alter the histogram until you're happy with what you see -- if you use gamma or exposure or whatever, you end up with a photo that does not do what HDR does best, which is provide the option of even exposure over all of the photo.
BTW, I've been doing a little experimentation with HDR portraiture. I didn't think HDR portraiture would work so hot, but if you pose people very purposefully like they used to do in the photos from the 1800's (back when film was too slow to do 'snap' shots), you can get some very interesting results. With HDR, it's very possible to be realistic or, as I went with these portraits, very possible to create an emotive/painterly feel. I have a feeling I'm going to be messing around with HDR portraiture a lot more in the near future. I haven't seen much of it done. (Then again, I haven't seen much HDR done at all out there... I dunno why photogs aren't jumping all over this, even if just as a niche fad. It's possible that I'm just over-enamored with it.
)
Mike Peregrine
EF5
wow wow wow! .... and did I mention "WOW?"
I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor. Both of these are amazing - the one on the top has me just completely blown away. There is nothing about it that I do not thoroughly love. The angles, the setting outside the windows, the skin tone ... can you imagine how many wedding photographers have taken shots in that place, able to use the yummy available light, but never able to simultaneously benefit from it AND expose the outside environment (or the nooks and crannies of the place that would have fallen into oblivion)? This is just a trip. This definitely is reminiscent of the portrait sittings for painters ... because I'm sure your subject here had to sit pretty still.
Nice nice nice ... and you didn't even clone out the antennas on the horizon. Are you becoming a purist on us? lol
I've got to start trying this some more (though I don't think I'll ever achieve this no matter what I try) ... and by the way, I'm finding TONS of photo blogs with HDR work. Some really interesting photos showing up now.
I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor. Both of these are amazing - the one on the top has me just completely blown away. There is nothing about it that I do not thoroughly love. The angles, the setting outside the windows, the skin tone ... can you imagine how many wedding photographers have taken shots in that place, able to use the yummy available light, but never able to simultaneously benefit from it AND expose the outside environment (or the nooks and crannies of the place that would have fallen into oblivion)? This is just a trip. This definitely is reminiscent of the portrait sittings for painters ... because I'm sure your subject here had to sit pretty still.
Nice nice nice ... and you didn't even clone out the antennas on the horizon. Are you becoming a purist on us? lol
I've got to start trying this some more (though I don't think I'll ever achieve this no matter what I try) ... and by the way, I'm finding TONS of photo blogs with HDR work. Some really interesting photos showing up now.
Jayson Prentice
EF5
Thanks for the comments Mark and Ryan, I think that one of the main things that is stopping the HDR from working great is the camera. Although the person running the camera, might have some problems as well 
I'm using the sony cybershot DSC-P93A, its' a 5.1 megapixel, but it has some pretty good manual settings on it as far as I know of. I can't shoot in RAW though, which is one of the things that I'm going to have to experiment with if I can get my hands on a different camera.
As for the technical aspects of the picture before, I did use the 'local adaption' technique and tried to get the best out of it that I could. I could probably do more work with that and get more out of the foreground, as I said this is just the first one that I've tried and I'm new to the photoshop world as well beings I'm on the low end as far as funding and equipment go. I actually used 7 images if I remember correctly, so that part of the picture was covered. I think the main problem, if you would like to call it that, is the camera not being able to shoot in RAW and the simple fact that it was the first shot that I've tried using HDR and I'm sure with more images that I should be able to use the local adaption feature better.
Either way thanks for the tips and comments, Ryan those are some fantastic photos! Absolutely incredible what you can do!!
I'm using the sony cybershot DSC-P93A, its' a 5.1 megapixel, but it has some pretty good manual settings on it as far as I know of. I can't shoot in RAW though, which is one of the things that I'm going to have to experiment with if I can get my hands on a different camera.As for the technical aspects of the picture before, I did use the 'local adaption' technique and tried to get the best out of it that I could. I could probably do more work with that and get more out of the foreground, as I said this is just the first one that I've tried and I'm new to the photoshop world as well beings I'm on the low end as far as funding and equipment go. I actually used 7 images if I remember correctly, so that part of the picture was covered. I think the main problem, if you would like to call it that, is the camera not being able to shoot in RAW and the simple fact that it was the first shot that I've tried using HDR and I'm sure with more images that I should be able to use the local adaption feature better.
Either way thanks for the tips and comments, Ryan those are some fantastic photos! Absolutely incredible what you can do!!
Mike Peregrine
EF5
Decided to get serious today and go out with the intention of setting some HDR shots up ... I've put them on my blog here. Didn't want to take anything away from Ryan's outstanding images above by posting them directly to the thread. I'm hooked ...
Ryan McGinnis
EF5
Cool shots, Mike! Union Station is incredibly photogenic, isn't it? Every city has something cool the deserves to be photographed -- in your city, Union Station is one of them.
I don't think your last photo is overdone at all. I mean, it's beyond the point that it looks "real", but there is no rule that says that an art print must look "real", only that it ought to look interesting. That photo looks plenty interesting, and HDR does wonders to the foreground. Makes it look like a painting almost. Unless the public sours of HDR's style over the next few years as more people start using it, I can see photos like that being made into posters.
Darren Addy
EF5
I cringe at the thought that someone would not post their photos because they didn't want to take anything away from someone else's photographs, but then this thread has been a little "odd" by Stormtrack standards, what with all of the experimentation with the technique on non-weather-related stuff. Anyway, I just wanted to say that you appear to be a fast study - those shots are excellent. The antique car shot looks very Norman Rockwell-ish to me. Trés cool!
Darren Addy
Kearney, NE
