An Unusual Sunrise (my first HDR also)

[In2Photos]

I went to visit my wife's grandmother this past weekend and the wife and I went to a local beach to catch the sunrise. It was a very clear morning so I didn't expect much. When we got there and set up I noticed the moon and a few stars still out while the sun was beginning to come up. The lights of the pier were still on, but it was still pretty dark and I thought that this might be a good time to try a HDR image. This was made from four exposures. There was some movement, I am sure from me adjusting the exposure, but oh well, it doesn't look that bad at 800 pixels.:p Please don't hesitate to comment or critique, good or bad. I need any advice.

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[Photodawg1]

Lovely! The colors are exquisite. Wish the moon could have been a little bigger, but outstanding as is.

[dgcorner]

Mike, all I'm getting is the picture place holder and a red X. I've tried right-clicking/show picture but nothing happens...

[ghocking]

very nice shot

[chell]

Mike, that looks great. I've seen a few of these HDR images now and I love the mood they create. How on earth do you do them though. I gather from your words that its something to do with stacking differently exposed images? Can you shed any ligth on this for me?

Regards,
Chell

[Photodawg1]

I keep seeing HDR...could someone tell me what that is?

[calicokat]

Very nice pic, wish I was on a beach now actually

[Livinthalife]

awesome! Beautiful, shame the moon isnt larger, but thats not your fault that moon isnt so close. brilliant photo

[Buggbairn]

Great shot Mike :)

Not the usual HDR levels of PP we see, this shot is much more subtle and realistic :)

[chrisvw]

Beautiful. Very nice work.

[Becca]

That's great! Nice job on the HDR.

[In2Photos]

Thanks everyone, I am glad you like it. To answer some of the questions:

Photodawg1: HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Here is a cool article about it. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml

chell: I used the Merge HDR function of PS CS2. There are other ways but this is what I have. Basically I took for different exposures of the same shot. I used M mode, set my aperture and shutter speed for the correct exposure (0 EV) then adjusted shutter speed to capture more images. The neat thing about CS2 (and probably other software) is that after the merge you can turn on as little as 2 exposures or any combination and adjust the white point to your liking (kinda like brightness).

About the moon: It was very close to a new moon so only a small sliver was visible. I also wish it were bigger. Ah maybe next time.:)

[chell]

Thanks everyone, I am glad you like it. To answer some of the questions:

Photodawg1: HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Here is a cool article about it. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml

chell: I used the Merge HDR function of PS CS2. There are other ways but this is what I have. Basically I took for different exposures of the same shot. I used M mode, set my aperture and shutter speed for the correct exposure (0 EV) then adjusted shutter speed to capture more images. The neat thing about CS2 (and probably other software) is that after the merge you can turn on as little as 2 exposures or any combination and adjust the white point to your liking (kinda like brightness).

About the moon: It was very close to a new moon so only a small sliver was visible. I also wish it were bigger. Ah maybe next time.:)
Thank you for that insight. Certainly got to get CS2 since I am still on CS1. Post some more if you have them. I think they're really good.:D

[Photodawg1]

Thanks everyone, I am glad you like it. To answer some of the questions:

Photodawg1: HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Here is a cool article about it. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml

chell: I used the Merge HDR function of PS CS2. There are other ways but this is what I have. Basically I took for different exposures of the same shot. I used M mode, set my aperture and shutter speed for the correct exposure (0 EV) then adjusted shutter speed to capture more images. The neat thing about CS2 (and probably other software) is that after the merge you can turn on as little as 2 exposures or any combination and adjust the white point to your liking (kinda like brightness).

About the moon: It was very close to a new moon so only a small sliver was visible. I also wish it were bigger. Ah maybe next time.:)

Mike...got it. What a great link. Studying it now. Thanks much.

[freddycr]

Great exposition.
I'd crop it on the bottom, like 1/3 (IMO)

Regards

[cfcRebel]

Beautiful capture Mike. I didn't know about HDR until now.:o
Thanks for link. That is a great article. I don't have CS2 but i still bookmark it. I'm sure it'll come in handy should i upgrade my CS to CS2 one day.;)

[Duder]

nice HDR.

For those interested, there are other better applications for producing HDR images, like Photomatix for instance.

[chell]

Mike...got it. What a great link. Studying it now. Thanks much.

Ditto sweetheart. That s a fab link!

[In2Photos]

Thanks Freddy and Pete.

Fee and chell, glad you liked the link. I found it very interesting as well. Definitely a good read for anyone interested in HDR.

[snakefart]

Nice composition - the pier draw me into the image and keeps me looking at it.

Shaun

[In2Photos]

Glad you like it Shaun.

[Dimitri_V]

I can hardly see any movement at that size.
The picture looks great with some pretty awesome pastel like colours.
I think you diserve a well done.

[Jello]

Mike this is an awesome photo, I like it alot...

Trish

[In2Photos]

I can hardly see any movement at that size.
The picture looks great with some pretty awesome pastel like colours.
I think you diserve a well done.

Thanks dimitri. Sorry that I am just now seeing this, I thought it was dead.:)

Most of the movement was around the moon and I did some slight cloning to get its shape back.


Mike this is an awesome photo, I like it alot...

Trish


Thanks a bunch Trish.

[bonzaisushi]

obviously you took this with a tripod right? did you do the bracketing where it takes 3 pictures and different exposures? or did you do it yourself?.... im afraid of me trying this and suffereing from camera shake or moving the camera just that little. if that makes sense.....

That is a beautiful photo by the way!

[In2Photos]

obviously you took this with a tripod right? did you do the bracketing where it takes 3 pictures and different exposures? or did you do it yourself?.... im afraid of me trying this and suffereing from camera shake or moving the camera just that little. if that makes sense.....

That is a beautiful photo by the way!

Thank you.

Yes I used my new Amvona tripod. It is a must for HDR. I did the exposures using M mode on the camera and just adjusted the Shutter speed until I got the exposure I wanted indicated in the VF. Don't be afraid to gove it a shot. Your film is free. It just takes a little time processing and time to set up and take the shots. Give it a try.

[DxHatchback]

i don't know if it's just me, but the horizontal seems to be leaning in to the right side

otherwise, excellent capture

[In2Photos]

i don't know if it's just me, but the horizontal seems to be leaning in to the right side

otherwise, excellent capture

Thanks Andrew. It does seem to be tilted just slightly. I might have to correct that. Luckily the pier breaks the image up so it isn't as noticeable.

[Elisabeth-Ann]

It's really beautiful - can this be done using PS7??

[In2Photos]

It's really beautiful - can this be done using PS7??

No. Unfortunately merge to HDR is a feature of CS2. You might try a stand alone version of an HDR software if you don't want to upgrade. Photomatix (http://www.hdrsoft.com/) is a popular one.

Thanks for your comment.