wow photos

[impete82]

ok .... so i love these photos and curious if anyone knows how they are done..... don't worry i'm not a professional so you dont have to worry about me stealing your cliental, just a hobbiest, for now ;) my cousin said it could be a camera mode or a filter.... they're so sick i wanna reach these one day :) ..... they're almost hd or something, mine come out so "normal" lol

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/2007/06/mocca_crushed_bus_01.jpg
http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/2007/06/cntower_boats_pier_clouds_tall_01.jpg

[pagnamenta]

The images seem to be done using a technique called HDR, high dynamic range. When your camera can't record so many changes in the color range, you lose detail in the shade and you get blown highlights.

Fundamentally, you take multiply shots exposing for different objects and then you put them together using the program of your choice. The key thing is that you need to use a tripod and the objects can't move. If you have the slightest change in position, it's very difficult to get the results you wanted.

[StewartR]

It's perhaps also worth pointing out that these are unusually good HDR images. Most efforts at HDR that one sees look horribly unnatural. Even better-than-average HDR, such as the images of the Himalayas in this thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=331509) can look unnatural. I haven't really tried it myself but I suspect there may be a steep learning curve involved...

[Juan23]

Out of curiosity, would HDR generated photos still have EXIF data attached? Never tried them before.

To me these shots just look like great, really clean shots. Well exposed with good natural light. Maybe upped on the contrast, desaturated a bit maybe in PP. But if they are HDR, they're some of the more "realistic" ones I've seen.

[impete82]

i was soo confused (basically got the idea) but until i searched it understood what you meant...... the technique sounds so surreal ... soooooooooo need to try it out :D much thanks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

[david888lee]

the second picture doesn't look like hdr to me. in my experience, the colors would be a lot more saturated, and those clouds would pop out a lot more.

[StewartR]

Hmmm. On closer inspection they probably are not HDR. Just lots of skillful but conventional Photoshop work.

Here (http://www.topleftpixel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=239) is an account of how the photographer created one of his pictures. It's very interesting.

[sando]

It's relatively simple using a combination of shadows&highlights and also curves with layer masks. I'm always surprised when people dont use these simple tools to draw out the most dynamic range from their images.