why I love HDR....Annapurna Himalaya trek

[Cathpah]

as annoying as it was to hike around with a tripod, it all paid off in the end when I combined the exposures to see the HDRs. Remember, all this is done on a crappy laptop screen, so I'm sure the colors are off.

MODS: please forgive me for posting more images than what is usually allowed. I'm trying to post this thread while in Nepal...land of unbelievably slow internet and loads of powercuts. trying to get a few shots up while i can.

[Cathpah]

a couple more....

[Cathpah]

last two....I swear.

[kenyc]

Wow, excellent use of hdr with the exception of #2 which seems a bit "over-cooked"

#5 (next to last) is my very slight favorite over the others.

Love 'em!

KAC

[EOSAddict]

I agree.. one of the better 'natural' looking HDR sets I have seen #3 for me has it.

[digidiva]

Wonderful images.

How lucky you are to see such a place first hand.

[Matt Peters]

Brilliant!

[Paul Miller]

Stunning shots. Fantastic.

[zacker]

great... i love them all.... well done!

[Livinthalife]

Great shots! Beautiful scenery!! Sorry bout the crappy internet though!

[csm328]

Amazing pics. Where's the one form the top of Everest?? :)

[TooManyHobbies]

How many shots were you blending together, 3 or more?

[LeoR]

GREAT set of images, Cath. Two thumbs up

[El Duderino]

Incredible scenery.

[curiousgeorge]

Really nice shots but I don't agree they look natural, though the first and the last two come closest.

#1 and #5 are definitely my favourites.

[GoHokiesGo]

Wow, I love #3. The foreground looks like the focus, but then your eyes are drawn to the peaks of the mountains in the distance too, nice HDRs

[3dog]

Those a some great shots. You sure know how to make the best out of your process for HDR.

[chestercopperpot]

4 and 5 for me. they look great.

[Alex_H]

They all look great. Number 1 is my favorite with the clouds or fog at the base of the mountains.

[jcw122]

wow! All of them look gorgeous.

[Glenn NK]

Thanks for sharing these - they really give us a feel for what it looks like.

Very well done.

[Alec Trevelyan]

All great, but that first image just takes the cake. Wonderful!

[rssfhs]

Incredible scenery, but the HDR is a little overdone. To me, they all look kind of fake except the second to the last one, which I really like.

[Cathpah]

How many shots were you blending together, 3 or more?


sadly, was using only 3, even though I was using a 1d2n which was set to 5 exposures for a couple days (finally found a firewire cable at some small shop in kathmandu to change the settings) before I left for the trek where I had only a limited amount of space (which since convinced me to pick up the epson p-5000 to not have similar concerns). Too bad really, I wonder how they would've differed had I had more exposures.

Anyone know if it definitely gives you better results with more than 3 exposures?

[Cathpah]

Amazing pics. Where's the one form the top of Everest?? :)


haha...no thank you. getting taste of very minor altitude (3700m or so) for the first time in a while reminded me of how much I dislike it. I climbed the hard route on Kilimanjaro when I was quite young and had done guide-in-training in the Tibetan himalayas 9 years ago for a big trekking company and decided it wasn't the gig for me....altitude just gets exhausting and old. also didnt want to drag yuppies up mountains for a living and chose college instead. oh well.

[pitabread]

Wow, those are awesome. #3 and 4 are my favs.

[NewattheGame]

Very emotive images of a world far away, maybe the way it used to be. HDR works extremely well in these shots, the only thing that detracts for me is the plastic sheeting in #2. Lose that one please...

[Dorman]

#1 and #4 for me, followed closely by #3. Nice work.

[Lesmac]

I think it's a real pity these were done in HDR, ND grad and normal processing would have achieved a much more pleasing (and natural) series of images.

[Cathpah]

I think it's a real pity these were done in HDR, ND grad and normal processing would have achieved a much more pleasing (and natural) series of images.

actually, the HDR was really helpful. I had ND grads, but because of the layout of the horizon (certainly NOT straight) it made it quite difficult. Moreover, there was a good amount of haze in the background on some of these, and HDR really helped cut through the haze, make the blacks black and the whites white. While i admit that I definitely need to tone down the HDR effect a bit on some of these, I much prefer these to those i took with an ND grad. Aside from that, if I want to dodge/burn any parts of the image, I can actually use the properly exposed other image (underexposed for sky) instead of pushing the limits of dodge/burn.still, thanks for the comment and it's always interesting to have differing opinions.

[Jim G]

Oh my goodness gracious me. The first one and the last four are incredible, imho.. if they were mine I'd definitely be printing them out big!

[TooManyHobbies]

sadly, was using only 3, even though I was using a 1d2n which was set to 5 exposures for a couple days (finally found a firewire cable at some small shop in kathmandu to change the settings) before I left for the trek where I had only a limited amount of space (which since convinced me to pick up the epson p-5000 to not have similar concerns). Too bad really, I wonder how they would've differed had I had more exposures.

Anyone know if it definitely gives you better results with more than 3 exposures?

I don't do much HDR, but I have a friend who does a lot of it with a Nikon and Photomatix, blending 7-9 exposures. His images are amazing. He has stated in presentations of his work that the additional exposures made a difference for him. When he started out he was only blending 3, but as he got better he started using more and liked the results. He's got some hand held HDR's that were impressive too.

[Cathpah]

I don't do much HDR, but I have a friend who does a lot of it with a Nikon and Photomatix, blending 7-9 exposures. His images are amazing. He has stated in presentations of his work that the additional exposures made a difference for him. When he started out he was only blending 3, but as he got better he started using more and liked the results. He's got some hand held HDR's that were impressive too.

7-9? wow! good to know and i'll have to try that out (I had originally upped mine to 5 exposures, but didn't have a chance to play with it much. will definitely be playing with that over the next few days (I fly to bangkok in 2 days).

also, doing handheld hdrs is possible with my 1d2n, but with a nikon? wowzers. i'm not familar with what their fastest camera can shoot at, but it can be tough with a 1d2n, and i know that's faster than any nikon offering...

if you have a link to his site or anything like that, certainly PM me with it.

thanks again for the info!

[aacasel]

these are gorgeous! I love them

[kendickson]

Great work - I love the first image of your second postings. The person in the field is great with the magic light on the mountains

[TooManyHobbies]

7-9? wow! good to know and i'll have to try that out (I had originally upped mine to 5 exposures, but didn't have a chance to play with it much. will definitely be playing with that over the next few days (I fly to bangkok in 2 days).

also, doing handheld hdrs is possible with my 1d2n, but with a nikon? wowzers. i'm not familar with what their fastest camera can shoot at, but it can be tough with a 1d2n, and i know that's faster than any nikon offering...

if you have a link to his site or anything like that, certainly PM me with it.

thanks again for the info!

I don't think he has a website. I'll have to ask next time I see him. This doesn't do his pictures justice, but it is one of his handhelds of Stockholm.

http://www.capcitycameraclub.com/CompetitionPhotos/2006ShawnSoniStockholmHarbor.jpg

[curiousgeorge]

I don't think he has a website. I'll have to ask next time I see him. This doesn't do his pictures justice, but it is one of his handhelds of Stockholm.

http://www.capcitycameraclub.com/CompetitionPhotos/2006ShawnSoniStockholmHarbor.jpg
Do you think that looks natural?

[ErikM]

Fantastic set of images man... well done on the HDR processing. I love these!

[StewartR]

Beautiful scenery of course, and GREAT composition, but I'm afraid I'm in the minority of folk who don't think the HDR approach is necessarily beneficial.

#1 is interesting - there is a really good impressionistic photo in here somewhere... but I don't think this is it.
#2 is just overcooked and luridly unnatural.
#3 looks a little bit unnatural, though it's very attractive all the same - though I can't help feeling that the HDR process hasn't really added anything.
#4 is garish and overdone.
#5 is the best of the bunch. I love the soft lighting effect that you've created (or captured?).
#6 is weird - very contrast on the right but not on the left ... not an attractive effect.

This may sound a bit negative. However, I think there are potentially 4 wall-hangers here (#1, 3, 5 and 6) if the processing were to concentrate more on the ends rather than the means.

And did I say the compositions are great?

[Cathpah]

glad you approve of the composition. :)

I definitely agree that these need to be reprocessed...just did a quick processing on my horrid laptop screen. certainly not a final image.

I must admit, I'm torn on HDR as well. while i love the colors and shadow/highlight detail preservation, I'm (in general) not a fan of overprocessing or huge amounts of photoshop. I'm (again, in general) one who believes if we couldn't do it in a darkroom, maybe it shouldn't be done in photoshop....aside from cloning the occasional powerline.

I am planning on continuing to play with HDRs and hopefully they can be beneficial while still having the photo look more real, than surreal. I think a lot of it is just in my processing, so I have a lot of work to do when I get home. Plus, I still haven't tried hdr's with the actual raw files (just been using the small jpgs) so maybe that would help as well.

thanks for your input and I do hope I can get a few "wall-hangers" when I get home out of these.

edit: don't worry about your comments sounding negative...the best way to build my skills/push myself is with some good honest critique from another talented photographer. Constructive criticism is always welcome...I certainly don't post just to have my ego stroked, and in ways a criticism is more helpful than all the compliments in the world (not that I mind compliments!)

Beautiful scenery of course, and GREAT composition, but I'm afraid I'm in the minority of folk who don't think the HDR approach is necessarily beneficial.

#1 is interesting - there is a really good impressionistic photo in here somewhere... but I don't think this is it.
#2 is just overcooked and luridly unnatural.
#3 looks a little bit unnatural, though it's very attractive all the same - though I can't help feeling that the HDR process hasn't really added anything.
#4 is garish and overdone.
#5 is the best of the bunch. I love the soft lighting effect that you've created (or captured?).
#6 is weird - very contrast on the right but not on the left ... not an attractive effect.

This may sound a bit negative. However, I think there are potentially 4 wall-hangers here (#1, 3, 5 and 6) if the processing were to concentrate more on the ends rather than the means.

And did I say the compositions are great?

[trance108]

these are freakin unbelievable!!!

i now want to try out the hdr, but that is only a small part of what makes these images so amazing.

gorgeous!

[<AkulA>]

Interesting stuff! Kind of has a dreamy effect to it!

[Strayz]

last two....I swear.

WOW great stuff there my faves are #1 and #4

[zippy25]

Wow, I love #1,3, and 5, with #1 being my favorite. I think they look incredible, and would love to be able to reproduce them. Thanks for posting.

[Ballen Photo]

Jeff, These image's are absolutely "GORGEOUS"! I must learn more about the "HDR" process
MODS: please forgive me for posting more images than what is usually allowed. Looks like You're under the 8 image per thread limit to me. :cool:
-Bruce

[Cathpah]

Jeff, These image's are absolutely "GORGEOUS"! I must learn more about the "HDR" process Looks like You're under the 8 image per thread limit to me. :cool:
-Bruce

hey works with me! I thought it was 8 if they're embedded and 2 if they're attachments. Although I don't want to point out my rule breaking again (the mods might make me sit in the corner with the ol' dunce), am I correct that I was indeed naughty with my number of images? if not, that's great.

edit: hey wait! you're a mod (meaning you have the power to make me sit in the corner). Good to know that I have the go ahead to do that in the future.

[Ballen Photo]

hey works with me! I thought it was 8 if they're embedded and 2 if they're attachments.
OOPS! You're right. (I didn't check yours.) :o Posting rules--> http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51022 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51022)
-Bruce

[Cathpah]

OOPS! You're right. (I didn't check yours.) :o Posting rules--> http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51022 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51022)
-Bruce


it's ok...i won't tell anyone if you won't. :p

next time i'll be sure to embed. Nepali internet is ridiculously slow, but now I'm in SE asia for the next 6 months, so it shouldn't be as bad...thai internet was almost scary to me it was so fast--no time to prepare yourself for the next page that will load. ;)

[alexwise]

Beautiful series! That first shot blew me away and now I want to go to Nepal!

[Matatazela]

Fantastic work. Really gives one a sense of being there.

[TooManyHobbies]

Do you think that looks natural?

Since that one was handheld it had a very painterly look to it. He does have ones that look natural. He didn't boost much. That's how bright the colors were that day. I wish he had a website, like I said that one doesn't do him justice.