Desert HDR

kdog

This is the road where Aaron and I came across those rattlesnakes doing the nasty we recently posted shots of in Wildlife. The area is really beautiful in a way that's hard to capture in a single frame. So I tried an HDR. Thoughts?

Ric Grupe

Love it!

You are right, though, a more panoramic image is necessary to capture the true awesomeness of a scene like this. It also needs a much larger size to be fully appreciated.

Awais Yaqub

You got great sky there ! loved the HDR

dlplumer

Nice. How did you avoid the banding artifacts that I always get on my skys with Photomatix? Did you use Photomatix? How many exposures?
Blah blah blah?

CatOne

Well, the light is crap. It's mid-day light, with tons of contrast. So an HDR image will bring it back so you can get all the colors and range in a single image, without blowing anything out... but the light is still crap

kdog

Ric Grupe wrote:

Love it!

You are right, though, a more panoramic image is necessary to capture the true awesomeness of a scene like this. It also needs a much larger size to be fully appreciated.

Hey Ric, thanks for commenting! I was getting worried there for a while. :uhoh

I really should have said "hard to capture in a single exposure", rather than "frame". Sure, pano is always better. An HDR pano would be an interesting challenge. But baby steps first, I'm still just learning HDR.

kdog

Awais Yaqub wrote:

You got great sky there ! loved the HDR

Thanks, Awais. If you like it, I like it.

kdog

dlplumer wrote:

Nice. How did you avoid the banding artifacts that I always get on my skys with Photomatix? Did you use Photomatix? How many exposures?
Blah blah blah?

Hey Dan,

I haven't used Photomatrix, but was seriously thinking of trying it. (See my Dynamic PhotoHDR rant in my signature). However, that's discouraging that you're having banding issues with it.

The shot has 5 exposures at one stop intervals, which was probably overkill. I used both a trial version of PhotoHDR (even though I paid for the full version which I never got), and "CS3 Merge To HDR". Both were fairly equivalent, and both needed touch up in CS3 afterwards, which makes me wonder if I did something wrong. Thanks for checking in.

-joel

kdog

CatOne wrote:

Well, the light is crap. It's mid-day light, with tons of contrast. So an HDR image will bring it back so you can get all the colors and range in a single image, without blowing anything out... but the light is still crap

Thanks for the input, CatOne. I always value your input, except for this time. Just kidding.

Yup, I knew the light was crap and that was the whole reason for doing the HDR. So if I made the shot just a little better, then it was worth it. I really need to get out into the desert in the sweet light hours, so thanks for reminding me of that.

Cheers,
-joel

anwmn1

kdog wrote:

Thanks for the input, CatOne. I always value your input, except for this time. Just kidding.

Yup, I knew the light was crap and that was the whole reason for doing the HDR. So if I made the shot just a little better, then it was worth it. I really need to get out into the desert in the sweet light hours, so thanks for reminding me of that.

Cheers,
-joel

Woo Hoo that means camping trip! :ivar

Cause I ain't getting up at 2 am to drive 2 hours to meet you and then another hour bouncing around from your off road driving just to then hope for a nice sunrise.


I like this a little bit because you were able to save the sky.

SteveF

Certainly an interesting place.

Your HDR treatment is excellent, in that it doesn't look like an HDR, which in my mind is the goal.

kdog

Thanks, Aaron (I think ).

Actually doing an HDR of that shot was your idea, so I'm glad you like it.

We'll be camping soon enough on the way out to the Moab shootout. Looking forward to that.

Cheers,
-joel

kdog

SteveF wrote:

Certainly an interesting place.

Your HDR treatment is excellent, in that it doesn't look like an HDR, which in my mind is the goal.

Thanks, Steve. I'm a big fan of your work.

-joel