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This was shot durring Thanksgiving of 2008 in Great Falls Virginia/Maryland
1D MarkIII, 24-105mm, Flashpoint Tripod, (at 45mm, 1/6sec, @ f13, @jpg 6)
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Here's one of mine... It was done with Dynamic Photo HDR.
large version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2455908074_8b45b820a3_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/...4749f2ca54.jpg
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"]This thread and the HDR photos intrigued me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] I downloaded Photomatix and am beginning to play around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] For my first effort, shown below, I just sent the 3 RAW files right into Photomatix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Does anyone do any processing on the RAW files before processing in Photomatix?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] I was tempted to play with the color temperature to balance the tungsten and outside light better, but then I thought I should let the software do its thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] Any guidance? (The photo was done with a 30D and the <span style="mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; border: windowtext 1pt; padding: 0in;"]EF-S 10-22mm.)
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"]<span style="mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; border: windowtext 1pt; padding: 0in;"]
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"]<span style="mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; border: windowtext 1pt; padding: 0in;"]http://i.pbase.com/o6/62/861962/1/10...jm.HDRwide.jpg
Ok, seeing all these really nice HDR images has made me want to try it myself. Being a portrait photographer (who's constrained by subject movement and the 50D's 3 shot AEB), it's been rather challenging. However, I was doing a shot of my grandmother painting the other day using strobes, but I pulled the strobes and shot a couple of AEB shots of her to try an HDR image. This was the result:
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Not fantastic, but I tried not to go too over-the-top with it. I'll probably try some shots buildings once it starts warming up and using more images (by manually adjusting the exposure compensation).
TheRoff, you should not allow certain tonal adjustments to occur. It is recommended that you only do noise reduction, chromatic abberations and white balance. If your image is off on exposure, you can correct all three the same amount. Color temp is okay, too.
You could skip the noise reduction, and use an aftermarket program later on in the final HDR correction, in Photoshop, for example, or Noise Ninja, etc.
Things like brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpening, and a few others are not recommended.
These are further done in the Photomatix program, then polished up further in Photoshop.
At least, that's what the experts recommend.
OK, here's one I did just last week.
http://www.artistlies.com/images/blo...s-090121-1.jpg
I don't know if this is the absolute best, but it is a personal favorite:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeancient/2658907519/" title="Katot by MikeAncient, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/2658907519_254a236be3_b.jpg" width="677" height="1024" alt="Katot" /></a>
Ok... that didn't work out too well... I'll try the other one:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/2658907519_254a236be3_b.jpg
I tried shooting another HDR the other night. Here's how it came out:
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Really great!
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I'm not fond of obviously overtly photoshopped photography to be honest, and for more innocent reasons than the usual boring critics might come up with, whose brains aregenerallystuck in the past; but what has been posted above is simply wonderful. Top stuff!
I work at the Zoological Society of London, and simply can only use more earthly, simple images, simple as that
Being a huge fan of flickr, I ran across this guy's photostream and he has some AMAZING HDRs. Take a look.
Awesome thread, amazing pictures. Michael James (and everyone else) -you have given a master class here and I appreciate it very much. Maloner...all I can say is wow!
Okay, I downloaded the "community" (free) version of Essential HDR, and is it just me, or doesthe appintroduce a ton of noise to the output image? I am an HDR newb...
The process with most of the apps that do tonemapping introduce (amplify) noise to various extents. How much noise will be determined largely by your sensor and ISO your camera was set at. When you use tonemapping to extract more details, the amount of existing noise in your raw image will be enhanced as well.
-Michael James
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So, here is my first try. This one was with the Photomatix free download, which I found to be a little better for me.
I will post this at the critique section as well.
What is the lens that you used?
This is my first post on this forum. There are a lot of great HDR shots posted, so I thought I would add one of mine. I don't know if it's my best, but it's one of my favorites....
I really like that shot and application of HDR. I would love to see "before and afters" of some fo these HDR images. Good job and welcome to the Forum.
Rick
Quote:
Originally Posted by yulia
Sorry I took so long to answer. I used a 17-40L at 17 as close as I could get wihtout missing the small evergreen on the left.
Thanks for all the nice responses.
pnelson3, where was this taken?
I think it's great!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
Alan, thanks for the nice comment. The Avon Theatre is in the heart of downtown Stamford, CT and this picture was taken on a busy Saturday night last summer. I had to wait while cars streamed by to shoot the half dozen exposures for the HDR.
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These were taken with a 40D and an EF-S 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS.
I started out with Photomatix but I now prefer Dynamic Photo HDR as it allows more control over the post processing.
What are other forum members' preferred choice of software for HDR?
Way cool images!
Thanks [H]. All hand held as well. I guess that'll serve me right for leaving my tripod in another continent!
Thought I'd contribute an interior shot or two:
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[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.21.89/Scrivner_5F00_foyer.jpg[/img]
Canon 1Ds with Sigma 17-35 f/2.8-4 EX HSM
Electrolyte-
Thank you for the kind words regarding the photo of my grandmother...I'm trying to take as many of her as I can so that I capture her exactly how I want to remember her. ;-)
Rob, that kitchen shot....it looks like I'm standing right in the kitchen, it looks so natural. HDR imagery does a great job on this shot.
Michael James,
I am extremely interested in your shots of the interiors. I think they don't come across as surreal, but maybe "better" than real. I understand that your realtor clients don't necessarily appreciate this, and I understand why, but as an amateur, and one who would do this kind of work for my company, I am very interested in understanding how you do this.
I appreciate your odysseywith trying to own high-end lighting, too, and I admire your ability to excel despite technical hurdles. I would like to use natural light anyway, so this is the path I would choose, even though I also want to learn how to use umbrellas, etc., in the future.
Would you mind if I contacted you privately to discuss your techniques?
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFiGuy1
I don't mind, but I also don't have a solution/workflow that lends itself to email or otherwise. I get a lot of requests both online and offline to share my approach, apps and workflow (from capture to final output).
I would create a DVD or training CD if I had the time, but thankfully this workflow has created a name for myself and I have been slammed shooting real estate for over a year. I haven't had three days off in a row since 2007 and believe me... I am not complaining about it at all.
I've thumbed through the rocky nook books on HDRI while at Barnes and Noble and none of what they show is my workflow. When I went down this path I didn't have anyone (couldn't find anyone) that was using the techniques and apps for real estate. I'm sure they were out there somewhere, but I couldn't find them online or off to pick their brains. And I couldn't find any courses that taught the subject either.
I do want to create a training product that would show step by step how I deal with interiors and mixed lighting issues without using flash, but I just have not had any slowdown to do so. As soon as I do I'll put one together. I've done a lot of video in the past (corporate training vids) so I have experience in that realm as well as screen captures to showcase software. I have the capabilities to teach/show what I do.... just gotta find the time to actually produce it.
Michael James - http://www.digitalcoastimage.com
I would love to see you do it. I would definitely be interested in purchasing that DVD. I may contact you through your website for a few beginner pointers in the meantime.
Do you think that my current EF17-40 Land 40D will be useful in this endeavor? I see that you use FF, and I know just from a short romance with a 5D that it takes some wider shots for sure with my lens.
Top drawer! [Y]
I like the second one the best. It starts in the foreground and seems to go on forever. Great job.
Excellent images. I notice you said you used Photoshop. Are there any benefits to using Photoshop over a bespoke piece of HDR software?
Thanks, everyone. The first was my favorite at first but I like the 2nd a lot more now as well.
Alex, I didn't tag the post correctly - each one was processed in Photomatix off of three bracketed exposures, + and - 2 stops. I did then proceed to play with the generated photo in Photoshop (and Lightroom) to get them a little less aggressively HDR in look.
Great photos, and I love the fact that there is snow in the last one. Great contrast cold and hot.
Maloner, understood. I've been using Photomatix and I agree that it makes the images look too processed. I guess fiddling around in Photoshop would rectify some of the damage caused.
Sometimes what I'll do is blend it as normal in Photomatix, then take the middle exposure and paste it on top as a separate layer, then use whatever blending options make the most sense for that particular photo (it varies a lot). That way you can keep your dynamic range but also restore a more natural look to the photo. I try to get as much of that done in Photomatix itself, but I find that the preview window it shows is not really close enough to the real output to trust it completely.