Photomatix...The ultimate HDR software.

[Swift]

Just wanted to give my praise to this majestic program.

http://i19.tinypic.com/6gmdso1.jpg
Too bad my kit lens is so soft! :p. (Please post some good alternative wide angle lens...Thanks)

The three exposed photos I put into Photomatix:
http://i7.tinypic.com/4zms7rr.gif

Working on a polar panorama right now with a bunch of exposures.

[joegolf68]

Very nice, I love the effects of Photomatix.

[_GUI_]

You exposed the most exposed shot a bit too much, that's why you got some parts of the clouds blown. Probably 1 less f-stop in exposure in all 3 shots would have sufficed.

[Swift]

Good point, was wondering about that. I had my bracketing to -2 0 +2, will follow your advice next time.

[Cathpah]

Good point, was wondering about that. I had my bracketing to -2 0 +2, will follow your advice next time.

if you're bracketing only 3 shots, I reccomend that you bracket 1 1/3 stops apart, and underexpose your center exposure by just a hair and that should help quite a bit.

oh, and if you're interested...here's a couple threads I posted from HDR's i've taken during my travels through S and SE asia:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=364916
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=331509

all done on my laptop and FAR from color correct, but they'll have to do until i go back home in december. if you want to see more hdr's check my website (see sig)

good luck with your venture into HDR...it's a ton of fun and it doesn't have to look fake/cooked at all, as long as you do it right.

[Swift]

My gosh, simply fantastic Cathpah! Awesome site too.

My camera can only bracket 3 shots, or can it bracket more!!??

[ItsMike]

My camera can only bracket 3 shots, or can it bracket more!!??

You can manually do it.. Use "M" Mode and Experiment.. I have seen shots of people using 5 exposures and it does look pretty cool.

[Swift]

Yes, manual. Doing that kind of budges the camera though. I used a remote shutter release and it took all three shots right after each other, simply pressing a button. That way I didn't have to worry about moving the camera when I go to reduce the exposure or increase. It's also more time consuming...=P

[Cathpah]

My gosh, simply fantastic Cathpah! Awesome site too.

My camera can only bracket 3 shots, or can it bracket more!!??

thanks for the praise swift

unless you have a 1d, your camera can only bracket 3 shots in one button press. However, if you underexpose all three shots, then use exposure compensation to over expose the next set of three....you get a total of 6!
:p

play around with it and get a feel for when you need to concentrate on over exposing and when you need to do more underexposing. one big determining factor is how much sky you have in the frame.

last thing, to prevent your photo from looking too cooked, open it in PS and a quick levels/curves adjustment should help quite a bit.

[Glenn NK]

Just wanted to give my praise to this majestic program.Too bad my kit lens is so soft! :p. (Please post some good alternative wide angle lens...Thanks)

Quite a few of us on this forum have the Canon 17/55 f/2.8 IS USM and really like it. I commented on another thread about this lens that "if I had to choose only one landscape lens, it would be the 17/55."

[nutsnbolts]

I heard this was nice.