Another from the Old Gas Pump - HDR

Kyle D

I posted an HDR image in the whipping post (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=118146) that didn't go over too well. It lacked context among some other things. Here is another shot from the same day of the same gas pump. Don't be afraid to let me have it.

Exif:
- Nikon D50
- 50mm f/1.8 @ f/22
- 5 exposures ranging from 1/80th to 3 seconds
- converted to tiff in Capture NX2
- merged and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro

Kyle D

I was really hoping for some comments about this, but just like my other gas pump shot I guess I completely missed the mark with my first attempts at hdr.

Jack'll do

Nothing at all wrong with the HDR here, I like that it is not "overdone". I think the subject is just not that eye catching.

baldmountain

I think the bigger issue is that there isn't enough dynamic range in the subject to warrant the effort of HDR. What makes an HDR image interesting is capturing more information than is possible on film or digital.

This image probably would have been better as an HDR image but the kids would not have held still for 3 or more exposures. There is way more range than my poor D50 could possibly capture so I lost detail on the kids, trees and sky. It would have made a monster HDR.

Kyle D

Jack'll do wrote:

Nothing at all wrong with the HDR here, I like that it is not "overdone". I think the subject is just not that eye catching.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I agree, the more I look at it the more bored I become. It was exciting when I first converted it but not anymore.

Kyle D

baldmountain wrote:

I think the bigger issue is that there isn't enough dynamic range in the subject to warrant the effort of HDR. What makes an HDR image interesting is capturing more information than is possible on film or digital.

This image probably would have been better as an HDR image but the kids would not have held still for 3 or more exposures. There is way more range than my poor D50 could possibly capture so I lost detail on the kids, trees and sky. It would have made a monster HDR.

Thanks for commenting. I agree completely, the reason I shot it as an hdr was to try and enhance the texture of the rust and scratches in the paint.

As for your image, it would have looked phenomenal as an hdr. It would have been possibly doable if you had your hands on a machine gun like the D2H, the 8fps might have been able to do it.

jeffmeyers

Kyle D wrote:

I was really hoping for some comments about this, but just like my other gas pump shot I guess I completely missed the mark with my first attempts at hdr.

Kyle: this is not a bad pict. I don't think the HDR is the problem, but it might be. It's either OOF or very noisy. The details of the car are fuzzy. Maybe it's problem with the way the images are aligned in your HDR processing. I'm not sure. But do you see what I mean? When you look closely at that headlight, the details are muddled.

Kyle D

jeffmeyers wrote:

Kyle: this is not a bad pict. I don't think the HDR is the problem, but it might be. It's either OOF or very noisy. The details of the car are fuzzy. Maybe it's problem with the way the images are aligned in your HDR processing. I'm not sure. But do you see what I mean? When you look closely at that headlight, the details are muddled.

I just looked at the full size version at 100% and can't see what you're talking about. Everything looks fine to me. I don't think it's overly noisy or out of focus. If by noise, you mean the tiny little pits in the paint, they are actually on the gas pump. As for stuff in the bulb, I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Could you possibly try and clarify?

jstpeter

Kyle,

IMO this shot DOES cary enough tonal range to make for a good HDR. Your part about using HDR to bring out the rust and textures is right on. I have to agree with Jeff. It seems a tad soft for the HDR to bring to light the details in the textures. You may try to run it through USM and see if this helps. The composition you have here makes this more of an abstract as it is difficult to tell what this is a photo of. Maybe a different composition to give us more sense for what we are looking at. I like how you got in close and tight on the subject but a slightly different compostion maybe would give the viewer more info.

On a side note guys don't be afraid of moving subjects when shooting an HDR. If you have PS you can still combine the images using yoru favorite HDR program and then use use layermasking in PS to reduce any ghosting that occurs. And sometimes having some ghosting or movement in the people will give you a sense of motion that can look pretty darn cool!

Kyle D

jstpeter wrote:

Kyle,

IMO this shot DOES cary enough tonal range to make for a good HDR. Your part about using HDR to bring out the rust and textures is right on. I have to agree with Jeff. It seems a tad soft for the HDR to bring to light the details in the textures. You may try to run it through USM and see if this helps. The composition you have here makes this more of an abstract as it is difficult to tell what this is a photo of. Maybe a different composition to give us more sense for what we are looking at. I like how you got in close and tight on the subject but a slightly different compostion maybe would give the viewer more info.

On a side note guys don't be afraid of moving subjects when shooting an HDR. If you have PS you can still combine the images using yoru favorite HDR program and then use use layermasking in PS to reduce any ghosting that occurs. And sometimes having some ghosting or movement in the people will give you a sense of motion that can look pretty darn cool!

Thanks for taking the time to comment, I truly do appreciate it.

As for the image being soft, I'll run it through USM again to see what I can come up with. Or the other option is I can use the original tiffs I batched from my NEF files with the sharpening set to high instead of batching them with no sharpening and then doing the sharpening at the end. I have my D50 set to capture the raw image with sharpening on high because it helps with seeing if the shot is in focus on the lcd on the camera.

As for the composition, I'll look through the rest of the shots from that day to see if I can find any different angles of this part of the pump. The other option is to see if I can change the crop on this slightly. I normally would have the opportunity to reshoot this gas pump but unfortunately I just sent my D50 back to Nikon for some work and therefore will be camera less for 4-8 weeks. :cry

Also, does this work as more of an abstract shot? Meaning do you think this image would sell as an abstract?

jeffmeyers

Kyle D wrote:

I just looked at the full size version at 100% and can't see what you're talking about. Everything looks fine to me. I don't think it's overly noisy or out of focus. If by noise, you mean the tiny little pits in the paint, they are actually on the gas pump. As for stuff in the bulb, I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Could you possibly try and clarify?

Sorry, I just came back to this and noticed the comments. It seems like others have probably answered your questions.

Let me try to clarify what I originally meant. Maybe "sharpness" is not the issue. Maybe it's not "crisp." I see lots of dots all over. Not just the dots that faithfully capture the rust and decomposition of the metal and paint on the car. Something else. It's distracting. It kinda looks like noise to me. But I don't have access to any of your originals, so I can't really tell. Perhaps every surface is just pitted, like you say. But if that's the case, then it's still a problem. Maybe you sharpened it TOO much and the little pits are standing out. Maybe you used the wrong USM settings. Again, I'm not sure. And I'm not trying to be a nitpicker. Thats just the way I see it.

Kyle D

jeffmeyers wrote:

Sorry, I just came back to this and noticed the comments. It seems like others have probably answered your questions.

Let me try to clarify what I originally meant. Maybe "sharpness" is not the issue. Maybe it's not "crisp." I see lots of dots all over. Not just the dots that faithfully capture the rust and decomposition of the metal and paint on the car. Something else. It's distracting. It kinda looks like noise to me. But I don't have access to any of your originals, so I can't really tell. Perhaps every surface is just pitted, like you say. But if that's the case, then it's still a problem. Maybe you sharpened it TOO much and the little pits are standing out. Maybe you used the wrong USM settings. Again, I'm not sure. And I'm not trying to be a nitpicker. Thats just the way I see it.

Jeff, feel free to nitpick away. If I didn't want my stuff critiqued and get peoples opinion on how to make them better than I wouldn't post it. I really do appreciate all your comments. I'm definitely planning on not only revisiting the original raw images and re-processing them but also eventually revisiting this gas pump once I get my camera back.

In all honesty, if I couldn't handle criticism about my work I would just keep it on my hard drive for my own enjoyment. But I would like to improve both my processing and my photography in general.

So, just say what you think, let me have it. I can take it.