Post Your Best HDR Photo

Recent one this week. 3 exposures, merged with photomatix, and some post processing in CS4. Shot with Canon 7D with 17-55 f/2.8 at 17 mm


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one of my friend's own a salon. This was an HDR I did for them out of 3 exposures with post processing in photomatix and CS4. Shot with Rebel XSi with 18-55 kit lens at 18.


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It's been a while since someone posted on this thread, so I thought I would wake it back up. BTW, Love the artistic feel of the Barber Chair, and the Pier is spectatcular.


Here is one I shot yesterday from my hotel room balcony (had to sneak away from a wedding reception to do it)


7 shot HDR +3,+2,+1,0, -3,-2,-1 EV---Sandia Mountains just before sunset.


http://rwilliamsimaging.com/img/s9/v15/p771575146-4.jpg

I love this one. I like this form of HDR. It brings out what it really looked like when you were there.

Great shot Bob! Or shots seeing as that is more technically correct. :)

Thanks Dan

Hey Bob....


Great image. ON the bracketing, did you do it manually on tripod?? I am going to take a stab and say you used your new HDR Efex program for it. The mountains and foreground grass have great detail. Fantastic!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greggf

ON the bracketing, did you do it manually on tripod??

---

Always a tripod, I am no where near steady enough to do this handheld---If your new at this, watch a couple of the videos on the NIK (HDR EFX) webpage. They are very helpful.


Thanks for the comments and good luck, Look forward to seeing some HDR from you.


Bob

That last shot is awesome, Bob! Really beautiful!


Denise

Thanks Denise

Hey Bob. got a few more I

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Took this picture back in 2005 with a canon point and shoot, threw it into photoshop and made 2 more copies, one overexposed, and one under, then merged it with photoshop's HDR merge. Need to go back and touch it up, white balance is off. but I found this on my other computer, so when i get home im gunna do some more processing. Enjoy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greggf

Lets see some more from your repertoire!!!

---

Well Gregg, sorry to dissapoint you, but my HDR"repertoire" consists of the two photos I think you have already seen and one pseudo-HDR that I smithed from a single photo. However, this coming Thursday I have decided to catch the morning light at the Bosque Del Apache and see if my birds (Sandhills) have arrived in force yet. If light is good, I may work on another HDR as well. Hopefully by Friday I may be able to post another---Looking forward to seeing some of your Italy shots. I visited Rome and Naples in 1990 and those earlier postsof yours brought back some very fond memories for me [;)].


Later,


Bob

Tom, Great photo and great HDR. I love this look and this look is the main reason I got interested in HDR---I call it the "Saturday Evening Post" look. Unfortunately, My HDRs are very normal looking, I haven

I was just trying out a few presets in DxO Optics Pro 6.5 so this is only a one photo HDR, not the fantastic real deal HDRlike all the above but thought I'd post it anyway. Since it's a Post Your Best thread and this is my only ...I guess it's my best, worst and everything in between![:P]

A photo I took in July and have posted before ...


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/...775a086b_z.jpg

One-shot HDR from DxO Optics Pro 6.5 preset on HDR "artistic"


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/...2e1eee1d_z.jpg

Very nice Denise!

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Never done HDR before, as the Photomatix trial brand logos may give away. This is a Pseudo HDR image to be honest, EF-S 10-22mm F/11 1/125ISO 100. The picture is more saturated on my computer too, has more zing to it.

I'm trying to learn Flickr a bit, so I'm uploading a bunch of photos. Here's a recent HDR attempt. Definitely not my best. I planned on making a HDR time-lapse, but my patience ran out after 20 minutes of seeing practically no change at all.



http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/...1c958388_z.jpg


5D2 with 24-105 @ 35mm iso-200 f11

I was up in northern Minnesota these last two days on Whitefish Lake near Pine River, it's one of my favorite places to be, and after seeing all of your guys fantastic HDR photos, I figured I'd give them a try. I downloaded Photomatix Pro, and this is what I got.... So here's my first HDR photo.


Canon T1i, Aperture Priority Mode, f/13, ISO 100, shutter speed was variable. Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens. Handheld.





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Thanks for viewing!


Check out comalleyphotography.com for more.


- Chris

<span style="font-size: large;"]These aren't necessarily overly stylistic HDR, obviously, but are processed from 3 bracketed shots each just to pull a little more dynamic range into the landscapes. I prefer to hide my HDR as much as possible....


<span style="font-size: large;"]



<span style="font-size: large;"]First shot is from Waikiki at Sunset. Canon 50D, EF-S 10-22 at ISO 100, f8.0, 2 sec, .5 sec, and 8 sec., respectively.


http://www.pbase.com/bryanking/image/136032227.jpg






<p style="text-align: left;"]<span style="font-size: large;"]This next one is the Maroon Bells at Sunrise, near Aspen, CO. Again, setup is 50D w/ 10-22, this time f9.0 at 1/250, 1/60, and 1/15


http://www.pbase.com/bryanking/image/136032228.jpg

5D2 and 16-35mm II lens.


[View:http://community.the-digital-picture...neric/utility/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/...9f081a34_b.jpg Exterior Commercial Photography by freelanceshots, on Flickr:550:0]

There are some really nice images in this thread.


Bryan do you mind sharing your HDR workflow, and in particular how you blend these images. I

William,


I'm glad you like the photos. You can see a few more samples of my HDR stuff in my gallery here: http://www.pbase.com/bryanking/hdr_images


I used to utilize Photomatix, but these were processed in Lightroom and Photoshop CS5. I typically just auto-bracket 2 stops over/under. After importing the RAW files into Lightroom, the only adjustment I would initially make is fine-tuning the desired white balance. After getting that the same for all 3 images, I'll select the three and Edit in HDR Pro in Photoshop. From there it's a matter of finessing the settings to get the look I'm after. Save as a 16 bit TIF, then back to Lightroom. I often find the initial HDR export loses too much contrast, they tend to get a little flat, so lately I've been Autobalancing again in Lightroom and/or bumping contrast, usually pushing the black level up.


Hope that helps. I haven't used Lucus Pro.

Thanks Bryan. Is HDR Pro a plugin, and if so does it work with CS4? The rest seems straight forward. I visited your other photo

William, "Merge to HDR Pro" is actually built-in to CS5. Here's a review that suggests Photomatix is better anyway, so since you already have that, you might just want to keep working with that.: www.stuckincustoms.com/.../photomatix-pro-4-0-versus-adobe-photoshop-cs5s-new-merge-to-hdr-pro


FYI, the HDR from Long Beach that you like was done in Photomatix.

Bryan, Those are great shots. I

Acutally it was the review from

I don't typically use HDR software. My work is done in photoshop and is all hand done with individual selections, layers and multiple exposures some times 6 to 9. I use DDP for the opening and initial preview of the images because its free and does what I need and then PS4 and now PS5 for all other work.


[View:http://community.the-digital-picture...neric/utility/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/...d11f1b33_b.jpg Exterior Commercial Photography by freelanceshots, on Flickr:550:0]

This looks like you might have used PS to keep the vertical line parallel rather than a tilt lens, is that correct. I don't really photograph buildings so this is not really my specialty. I love the balance of the dynamic range. It seems that you have more local control in PS than you do with Photomatix. It gives a very clean image.

Yes, one of the things that is a must is perspective correction and I have not tried the HDR feature is CS5. Another big aspect of outdoor photography is timing the light correctly to help the image look more natural. When I do my 3 day shoots I'm constantly keeping an eye on what's happening outside where many times I'm left running through the hotels with my gear in hand when moments present themselves. Try getting a good exterior shot when it rains the whole time or snows or even foggy. Also very tough to coordinate photos with no people or cars at just the right moments because thats when these places are the most busy. There where many times while doing this project that I wanted to give up and just quit. To date I've finished approx 1700 finished still photos like the ones above which includes many interiors. I have approx 500 gigs of photos taken from 70 hotels from all over the mid south area. Some of the interiors where literally nightmares where I found myself dreaming that I was working all the time. I hate dreaming about work. with that said I really want to buy the 14mm L lens as the 16-35mm on my 5D2 is just a little short of what I need plus I hear the IQ is better since it's not a zoom. With the 16mm I find myself always missing out on just a bit of the overall image because once you perspective correct you loose some of the original image at the top left and right corners. 98
percent of the time I have to redraw these areas which can
get extremely time consuming because I'm picky. Some of these rooms I go into are so small, long and dark with one super bright window at the end where it just wants to make you cry.


[View:http://community.the-digital-picture...neric/utility/http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/...30a533b3_z.jpg small bedroom by freelanceshots, on Flickr:550:0]

Yes I see what you mean. This customer wants a room the size of a postage stamp to look like stadium! I think you've pulled it off too.


Nice lighting as well.

In this instance this shot was from one of the attached bedrooms to a larger suite but still very tight. Most of the time I had to create the lighting in photoshop as most hotels just have a few lamps scattered around the room. We did not carry around any extra lighting as the fast paced shooting schedule just did not permit it. I was counting the days until this project ended but now that its done I miss the steady income. I need a new opportunity to come so I can continue to pay the bills. Freelancing full time is really nice when there is work available.

Those are some great shots, Freelance!! In your above post you talk about going wide...R..than the 16-35. I too, loved my 16-35ll, until I came across this link...


http://www.16-9.net/lens_tests/nikon1424_17mm/nikon1424_17mm1.html


I have the Nikon 14-24...and IT is an awesome lens!! I sold my 5Dll, but I use it on my 1D4, especially for HDR work. If you want wider, than this is the lens to get for FF. It even blows the 14 2.8L ll out of the water.


Anyways, I do like your work.


Gregg

<span style="font-size: medium;"]Here is another landscape from near Aspen. Can you tell it's HDR? I hope not.





<span style="font-size: medium;"]http://www.pbase.com/bryanking/image/136060837.jpg

I also use HDR to balance the light in Architectural / Real Estate shots.... Here's one that had way too much range in the natural light...





http://www.pbase.com/bryanking/image/136061154.jpg

"Content Protected by Owner" How does this work Bryan?

That

Yeah that

EF-S 10-22 I love this lens.

greggf,


I honestly don't know if I could ever own a Nikon product. I am a loyal Canon customer. From my experience working at a newspaper organization where there were 10 photographers 3 people shot with Nikon gear and a lot of their lenses (I think mostly the telephotos) seemed like they were falling apart. Now I don't know what kind of care these guys where giving their lenses but all these guys where long time profesionals. On the other hand I never heard any complaints from the Canon shooters. I also remember a few times being out on assignments where your standing around waiting for the action to start along with the other 7 photographers from around the state covering the same story so you get to talking. I remember like 3 dif people at different times pointing out major issues on their Nikon lenses where they said they very disappointed with the build quality over time that their nikon lenses had. When I pay the 1,000 to 3000 dollars for a lens I want it to stay together and function like its brand new for my lifetime unless it's damaged somehow by me. With that said I would love to have a superwide lens and have it SUPER sharp like the folks are saying about the 14-24 G lens. In all the reviews that I have read they say the Canon 14mm II lens is crazy sharp all over even wide open and its one of canon's best. The review that you posted compares the nikon 14-25mm to the Canon 16-35II which I will agree is good but not great. The original canon 14mm did not get good reviews but the consensus is now that the series II model is leaps and bounds better. Better then the Nikon 14-25 I doubt it but I would hope very close to it. Anyways, with the way business is going right now I'm not spending the 2500 dollars on the 14mm 2 lens anytime soon. I'll probably buy the 5DIII next and then the 14mm if I can stay in the architectural business that is.


Until then I'll wait for this site's owner to do the review on on his Nikon 14-24mm lens as I'm sure he will post all the facts we need for a comparison.

This is a 5 shot HDR, handheld using a 1D3 and the 28-135mm 3.5/5.6 canon lens. This is the lobby of the hotel at the Turnberry Golf Course on the west coast of Scotland. You can see part of the Isle of Craig in the distance (this is where the granite for curling stones comes from)





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