First presentable HDR

RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
edited December 11, 2006 in Landscapes
I have been trying and trying to get the hang of high dynamic range processing, but haven't had a whole lot of luck. This is probably the best I have done to date:

110765519-L.jpg

It was three bracketed exposures, shot hand-held, then merged in CS2. I had to do some additional editing to compensate for the movement of the people in the distance, though that was only visible in the full sized version.

C&C always welcome.

Cheers,
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Comments

  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2006
    Looks great. Good detail in the columns and the clouds.
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  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2006
    Bravo Richard!
    I've been playing around w/ HDR for a bit and have run into (I assume) some of the same problems. If it wasn't so cloudy her in the NorthWest (USA) I might have better chances at this as well...
    You can easily tell the tonal range is way more than 5 stops on this shot.
    Good work!thumb.gif
  • SteveFSteveF Registered Users Posts: 466 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2006
    It is easy to an HDR poorly.

    Yours looks great. Nice job.
    Steve
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  • SwartzySwartzy Registered Users Posts: 3,293 Major grins
    edited December 6, 2006
    Great work there Richard
    Yea, HDR....there are tons of bad examples but you've done a real nice job on this.
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  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
    edited December 7, 2006
    Thanks Tristan, SloYerRoll, Steve and Swartzy. There's still a whole lot I don't understand about HDR, especially some of the choices and parameters when converting from 32 bit. Mostly, they come out looking lousy no matter what settings I use. On a good day, I can get something that looks no worse than a single well-exposed frame. I liked this one because the detail in both the highlights and shadows did go beyond what I had been able to do before, and without introducing weird color artifacts. But I really couldn't explain to you why this one worked while the others didn't. ne_nau.gif

    Regards,
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  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited December 8, 2006
    neat photo, richard-
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
    edited December 8, 2006
    gefillmore wrote:
    neat photo, richard-

    Thanks George. Glad you liked it.
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  • Carbon BasedCarbon Based Registered Users Posts: 86 Big grins
    edited December 8, 2006
    Nicely done, I agree with Steve, I've seen alot of HDR that has been "over cooked" and has a weird/fake look to it. I think the best HDR is when you can't tell it's HDR.

    again, Nicely done!clap.gif
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  • erich6erich6 Registered Users Posts: 1,638 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2006
    It has a natural look to it Richard so I think you're doing well. How do you get your shots registered in CS2 when handheld?

    Erich
  • erich6erich6 Registered Users Posts: 1,638 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2006
    Carbon Based wrote:
    Nicely done, I agree with Steve, I've seen alot of HDR that has been "over cooked" and has a weird/fake look to it. I think the best HDR is when you can't tell it's HDR.

    again, Nicely done!clap.gif

    I agree the "over cooked" look can lead to a poorly done image but I've also seen excellent images that I would classify as "over cooked" yet they work ok. Here's a link to a couple of images by gbatistini I saw in the HDR Flickr gallery:

    314921640_536b5f54e8_o.jpg


    281725162_1fad9b17f4_o.jpg
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
    edited December 9, 2006
    erich6 wrote:
    It has a natural look to it Richard so I think you're doing well. How do you get your shots registered in CS2 when handheld?

    Erich

    Thanks, Carbon and Erich.

    Erich: CS2 will do it for you if you check the option "attempt to align images" when you open the files. It works fairly well if nothing has moved in the frame, but wind moving leaves or people walking may create problems it can't solve. The down side is that it adds a lot of time to the processing, so you are better off using a tripod.
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  • CatOneCatOne Registered Users Posts: 957 Major grins
    edited December 10, 2006
    It may be a good example of HDR but I find the picture itself... well... let's say I'm having a tough time trying to find the point of the photo.

    HDR of a boring subject... is still a bit boring? ne_nau.gif
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  • CatOneCatOne Registered Users Posts: 957 Major grins
    edited December 10, 2006
    erich6 wrote:
    I agree the "over cooked" look can lead to a poorly done image but I've also seen excellent images that I would classify as "over cooked" yet they work ok. Here's a link to a couple of images by gbatistini I saw in the HDR Flickr gallery:

    314921640_536b5f54e8_o.jpg


    281725162_1fad9b17f4_o.jpg

    Those are pretty... but they look like a graphic novel.

    Maybe the photographic equivalent of a velvet Elvis or something eek7.gif
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  • erich6erich6 Registered Users Posts: 1,638 Major grins
    edited December 10, 2006
    CatOne wrote:
    Those are pretty... but they look like a graphic novel.

    Maybe the photographic equivalent of a velvet Elvis or something eek7.gif

    The point is that they are pretty. They certainly don't look like a "standard" photograph but do they have to? This style may not work all the time but it is a style; and it is art ; and it is pretty; and it was done with an "over cooked" HDR recipe.

    Erich
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited December 11, 2006
    erich6 wrote:
    The point is that they are pretty. They certainly don't look like a "standard" photograph but do they have to? This style may not work all the time but it is a style; and it is art ; and it is pretty; and it was done with an "over cooked" HDR recipe.

    Erich
    15524779-Ti.gif
    It's not for the photog purist.. But those shots are KILER!
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