HDR techniques

[penfolduk]

Morning everybody,
I was wondering if anybody knew of any HDR tutorials as I would to have a bash at this as I have seen some cracking results on here!


Phil

[tim]

Get photomantix.

[scrumpy]

Here's one. Just waiting for some better weather to have a go myself.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml

Good luck

[Picture North Carolina]

Here's one on photomatix:

http://petemc.net/hdr-guide/

And one on CS2:

http://backingwinds.blogspot.com/2006/10/how-to-create-professional-hdr-images.html

/Dan

[penfolduk]

Cheers for that will try some time

[davidcrebelxt]

[quote=CannedHeat;2393531]Here's one on photomatix:

http://petemc.net/hdr-guide/


Thanks for the link... on this... I tried Photomatix once, but was lost... this walkthrough was great. In about 10 minutes I recovered a snapshot I took over the summer of my son that I had shot in RAW which I could never get quite right... (even in raw conversion I could never balance out) and that was using the tone adjustment in photomatix and not the better detail setting. (Detail setting puts watermarks unless you register... tone adjustment doesn't.) I thought I had done a good job recovering the original shot (my wife even framed it) but I just printed the one from photmatix and it just blows the other one away.

Makes me want to look through my Raw files and see if I can do anything similar to the first example on that website. Thanks again.

[foxbat]

Here's one on photomatix:
http://petemc.net/hdr-guide/
The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that. If you're shooting nature and you want your scenes to look natural then I'd recommend that you read this (http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm). Register if you have to, those guys know their work.

[Picture North Carolina]

The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that. If you're shooting nature and you want your scenes to look natural then I'd recommend that you read this (http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm). Register if you have to, those guys know their work.

That is a debate that has filled this forum many times. People either like or dislike the tone mapped look. That is why I provided two links in the post. The CS2 link was for more natural photos. However, although I have not had time to look at pete's upgrade to his tutorial, as I understand it he has expanded it to include processing natural looking photos so the link was provided. /Dan

[Picture North Carolina]

The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that. If you're shooting nature and you want your scenes to look natural then I'd recommend that you read this (http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm). Register if you have to, those guys know their work.

BTW, thanks for the link. I had not known of that site before. I have struggled to get natural looking hdr landscapes and this site will be helpful. /Dan.

[davidcrebelxt]

The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that.


I actually kind of liked the look of the photos... but yes, if overdone it loses its appeal (Kind of like the whole Matrix stop-motion special effects.) If someone were to do that with ALL their photos they would look horrible... yet I think further down on the page he even addressed that fact, and provided more natural looking images.

I like it as an artistic choice to use once in awhile... just like ANY filter, for example. But I do agree, if your goal is to document nature "as it looks" those went too far... yet if that's your goal, you'd be careful not use any mist, fog, cloning, healing, or half of the other tools we have in photshop, right?

[Miyagi-san]

The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that. If you're shooting nature and you want your scenes to look natural then I'd recommend that you read this (http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm). Register if you have to, those guys know their work.

awesome website, thanks for the link!

[penfolduk]

Cheers everybody thought you might like to see the outcome of one first attempts using the methods above.

Phil

[celter]

The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that. If you're shooting nature and you want your scenes to look natural then I'd recommend that you read this (http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm). Register if you have to, those guys know their work.

They look unnatural because we are used to the low dynamic range in photos. Actually when we see this scenes in real life we see them more like a HDR image. In the nest couple of decades we will maybe have cameras that can capture a wider dynamic range and the LDR images of today will look awful.;)
Personally I like these HDR photos when the alternative is a burned out sky or a lot of dark areas without any details.

[Atlasman]

They look unnatural because we are used to the low dynamic range in photos. Actually when we see this scenes in real life we see them more like a HDR image. In the nest couple of decades we will maybe have cameras that can capture a wider dynamic range and the LDR images of today will look awful.;)
Personally I like these HDR photos when the alternative is a burned out sky or a lot of dark areas without any details.

I agree.

Here is my first attempt at HDR imaging.

http://www.josephferrari.com/HDRImages/general.htm

It has transformed lifeless images into rich, vibrant tones.

I think this is the future of photography.

Joseph

[Tsmith]

I agree.

Here is my first attempt at HDR imaging.

http://www.josephferrari.com/HDRImages/general.htm

It has transformed lifeless images into rich, vibrant tones.

I think this is the future of photography.

Joseph

Nice job on those Joseph.

[Scottes]

Nice job. I particularly appreciate the fact that you managed to leave the final HDR images very life-like - not oversaturated like some people do HDR.

[cgratti]

Nice job. I particularly appreciate the fact that you managed to leave the final HDR images very life-like - not oversaturated like some people do HDR.
I appreciate the cartoon look, although I like the natural look also.

[joegolf68]

Cheers everybody thought you might like to see the outcome of one first attempts using the methods above.

Phil

Stunning, I love it. Yes, there is the debate for and against. I crack up though with people who say it is not natural and they want their pics to look totally like the scene they shot, and then they go to Photoshop and touch it up completely. Lol. I know, there is a difference, but all pictures are changed somewhat from what we naturally see. I just bought Photomatix and love it, although I have had few chances to play with it, and it has a long learning curve, for me.

[davidcrebelxt]

Joseph,

Good job...

I agree too that there is a place for the artistic pictures too, but I like the lifelike ones too, most people not into photography wouldn't even notice...

By the way, what technique did you use. Single RAW file, or bracketed exposures?

[petemc]

The photos in that link look dreadful to my eye. They are un-natural and look like cartoons, no scenes on earth look like that. If you're shooting nature and you want your scenes to look natural then I'd recommend that you read this (http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm). Register if you have to, those guys know their work.

In my defense Infra-red shots don't look natural, and the world isn't black and white either.

[PhotosGuy]

Alternative: Take a look at this thread for how to use a Layer Mask to selectivly lighten/darken part of a pic: Airport runway shoot (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=117950)

[Atlasman]

Joseph,

Good job...

I agree too that there is a place for the artistic pictures too, but I like the lifelike ones too, most people not into photography wouldn't even notice...

By the way, what technique did you use. Single RAW file, or bracketed exposures?

Thanks.

3 shots, manual focus, manual bracket, 1 stop +,-. I used Photomatix to import raw files (no post) and generate HDR and tone map. Final images were brought into Photo Digital Professional for slight sharpening and desaturation.

[JoesLdy]

Ahh I am so glad there is a thread for this... what great timing. I just found out about this process last night about 2am and have been dying to learn more!

Thanks for the tutorials posts all- just what I needed!

[I Simonius]

Cheers everybody thought you might like to see the outcome of one first attempts using the methods above.

Phil

WOW - heavy flashback man!:lol: :lol: :lol: