House HDR -- Comments?

[mattograph]

First shot at HDR -- Looking into using it for real estate.

Goal of this shot was natural tone mapping effect. The clouds are too moody for a sales shot, but its what I had to work with this evening.

Anyhow, comments appreciated from the experts.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/3422752268_d8898c53b8_b.jpg

[FlyingPhotog]

Exposure on the house and yard looks great.

A little blur in the small tree (I'm sure it moved on you)

The sky however, looks like it's starting to go toward Adams Family IMO.

[mattograph]

Thanks. I took this at 7 eastern -- the slow shutter speeds are obvious.

It was amazingly easy to do, once you get the down low on how to use photomatix.

Thank you, Scott Kelby! :)

[kirkt]

You may also consider blending this image back into one of the exposures to get a little more contrast and pop. Also, the WB seems a little cool. Nice first attempt!

In this edit, I tweaked some things and blended it with soft light back into the image you posted above - I cropped a little as well.

Kirk

[mattograph]

Not sure what you mean about the reblending Kirk, but it sounds interesting.

I did return for another bite at the apple though......

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3310/3422312267_601b045229_b.jpg

[kirkt]

That sky is BLUUUUUUE.

[Tiger_993]

In your last example, the blue sky goes a little beyond realistic I think. Too blue. Otherwise, the image looks really good. Lots of detail and sharp, except for the tree. Do you know exactly when you took these shots in relation to sunset? 20 minutes before? 20 minutes after?

You didn't ask, but I'll offer anyway in case it's useful: for real estate in particular, try to really nail your verticals and get them plumb. That will go a long way towards your images looking more like what I would call "architectural photography" as opposed to just an HDR image of a house. The easiest way to do this is to use an ultra wide angle lens - I use a EF-S 10-22 and a bubble level mounted to your hotshoe. I would set up about where you did for this shot. That's a nice perspective. Use the bubble level to make sure your your camera lens and sensor is on a perpendicular plane to the front of the house, and whal-a! You've got a great looking image, suitable for the cover of Architectural Digest. ;)

Otherwise, you can make some adjustments to your verticals in PS like I did below:

Original image....note how the house leans back away from the street:
http://photos.bryanflanagan.com/potn/1X-3422312267_601b045229_b.jpg

Corrected verticals....fixed the lean. House appears to stand more upright.
http://photos.bryanflanagan.com/potn/2X-3422312267_601b045229_b.jpg

I don't like using the PS repair much because it is literally distorting the image. But it is nice to have in case I botched the original capture by not having my camera in the correct plane.

[mattograph]

@Kirk -- Yes I got carried away on that for sure!

@Tiger -- excellent points all around. You caught me being lazy on this one. I usually try to shoot these perpendiclar to the house, with the camera much closer to the midline of the house, which usually mean racked up on my tripod from the bed of my truck. In this case, though, it was really cold outside, so I ran out, dropped the tripod, and fired five frames.

I corrected a great deal of the angle in PS, but the straight up verticals really distorted the roofline. So I tried to massage it. But, for the money shot, its a bad angle to start with, I do agree.

This was shot about 20 minutes before sunset. You may have noticed a bit of a front rolling in out.....

[Tiger_993]

@Tiger -- In this case, though, it was really cold outside, so I ran out, dropped the tripod, and fired five frames.

I had a feeling it may have just been a "rush job". When it's cold outside I don't care about the stinkin' verticals either ;)

[mattograph]

I had a feeling it may have just been a "rush job". When it's cold outside I don't care about the stinkin' verticals either ;)


Out of curiosity, what adjustments did you make to the vertical. Did you use lens correction in PS?

[Tiger_993]

Just opened the image in CS3, did a select-all, then chose the free transform tool (command T on a Mac), then dragged he appropriate image corner while holding the command key until it looked about right.

[mattograph]

Never tried it that way. Will give that a whirl. Thanks!

[randy.wick]

Just opened the image in CS3, did a select-all, then chose the free transform tool (command T on a Mac), then dragged he appropriate image corner while holding the command key until it looked about right.
You could drag the rulers out to help too.

I think you did a good job avoiding most of the typical HDR pitfalls, such as complete lack of depth and cartoony light blending. But agreed on the sky. Also, the tree is a bit distracting.

Overall nice work :)