where did I go wrong?

[JLew24asu]

I'm glad there is an HDR section, I had no idea...

what can I do to fix these? :oops: (please ignore the watermark, I was just experimenting with them)

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/jlew24asu/Image0002-1.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/jlew24asu/Image0004.jpg

[canonloader]

What program were you using?

[JLew24asu]

What program were you using?

photomatix

[TweakMDS]

You could try to set light smoothing higher and add a touch of highlight smoothing.

Edit: bonus points for cloning yourself out? Nice job :D

[JLew24asu]

You could try to set light smoothing higher and add a touch of highlight smoothing.

sweet, thanks, I will try that.


Edit: bonus points for cloning yourself out? Nice job :D

I didnt :) if you look close enough and zoom in, you can probably find me :cool:

[canonloader]

To get rid of the halo's, use a higher number on the light smoothing line, the radio buttons. Once you are done in Photomatix though, save as a tiff, then open that in CS3 or another photo editing program and brighten it up, clean up the noise, and sharpen if it if needs it. Photomatix is only the first step. :)

[JLew24asu]

To get rid of the halo's, use a higher number on the light smoothing line, the radio buttons. Once you are done in Photomatix though, save as a tiff, then open that in CS3 or another photo editing program and brighten it up, clean up the noise, and sharpen if it if needs it. Photomatix is only the first step. :)

I forgot to mention I did sharpen and reduce noise in PS4 after photomatix.

but thanks for the tip. I will edit the light smoothing line. :)

[JLew24asu]

ok I tried again...

first attempt
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/jlew24asu/Image0002-1.jpg

second attempt

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/jlew24asu/second_filtered.jpg

[Tomi Hawk]

I like the first attempt alot more. The blue is saturated better .. and, it looks sharper?
ok I tried again...

first attempt
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/jlew24asu/Image0002-1.jpg

second attempt

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/jlew24asu/second_filtered.jpg

[JLew24asu]

I like the first attempt alot more. The blue is saturated better .. and, it looks sharper?

thanks for your input. the only thing I did differently is the smoothing settings suggested above. same sharpening :confused:

[mattograph]

I hate to rain on your parade, but I actually like the first one. The halos don't bother me at all in that type of image.

Now, if you can get the building on the left to keep from falling over..... :)

[Tomi Hawk]

thanks for your input. the only thing I did differently is the smoothing settings suggested above. same sharpening :confused:
I guess because it has a bit more contrast then #2, is why it appears sharper.
Nevertheless, I'm lovin it ..

[anvilimage]

You can layer one of the originals that has the sky "look" that you want and slowly bring it up through a mask. That's what I usually do to fix halos or blown out areas unless I completely clone better parts of the sky....

[canonloader]

I actually liked the original #2 better because of the color in the buildings and it had only a little bit of halo. Halos in any shot just kill it for me though. In the second attempt, after getting rid of the halos, you could dial in more saturation and contrast.

[JLew24asu]

I hate to rain on your parade, but I actually like the first one. The halos don't bother me at all in that type of image.

Now, if you can get the building on the left to keep from falling over..... :)

LOL. you arent raining on my parade at all. I agree with you!! I thought the photo was ok until about 2-3 people (on here) told me this was the worst photo they've ever seen because of *GASP* HALOS!!

[JLew24asu]

I actually liked the original #2 better because of the color in the buildings and it had only a little bit of halo. Halos in any shot just kill it for me though. In the second attempt, after getting rid of the halos, you could dial in more saturation and contrast.

I will give that a try. the photo does look much smoother without the halo'ing but that could be good or bad depending on how you look.....and peoples tastes of course. thanks for your help!

[JLew24asu]

You can layer one of the originals that has the sky "look" that you want and slowly bring it up through a mask. That's what I usually do to fix halos or blown out areas unless I completely clone better parts of the sky....

I'll admit. layering in PS is a little too advanced for me. if you want to show me how, I'd be honored :) but I know its not very easy

[anvilimage]

Layers are a piece of cake, don't intimidate yourself!

Try this: In the Photoshop menu, select "File ->Scripts -> Load Files into Stack..." and select the images that you want to load into a layered image file. You'll see PS go through a few motions and will finally settle on opening an image and you will see one of the images that you selected on top.

Look at the layers palette (if it's not open hit F7) and drag the HDR image that you created to the top. You can turn on and off the layers visibility by clicking the eye symbol next to the layer. You can only edit a layer if it is selected (when it is highlighted) and it helps if it's visbible, too.

In order to make parts of an image layered below to show through, you'll need to use a mask. Make sure that the top layer is selected. At the bottom of the layers palette, you will see a button that looks like a gray rectangle with a white circle in it. Click it!

A white box will show up on the selected layer to the right of the layer thumbnail. Click the white box to select the layer mask for editing. If you need to go back and edit the layers contents instead of the mask, just click the layer's thumbnail.

Ok, so this is what gets most people and, again, it's not rocket science so don't be intimidated. When you edit a layer mask, in simplified terms, you are painting on transparency. Think of it as black and white: black is transparent and white is not. Select the brush tool and make sure that black is your foreground color.

Making sure that the mask is selected in the layers palette,painting onto your image won't cause a black streak but will instead "paint" transparency anywhere you click. You can undo this by painting white. To gently bring up detail, I usually set my brush tool's opacity at 20% and the flow at 80%.

Since doing it with different versions of the same image stacked together may not be readily apparent the first time that you try it, practice by creating a new layer below an image and filling it with a solid, bright color. As you paint through the a mask, you will see the bright color underneath.

How do you create a new layer underneath? Select your top layer and find the new layer icon on the layer palette. It is just to the left of the garbage can and looks like a page with a folded corner. Hold down Ctrl (in windows...sorry, I'm not a mac guy. Is it option?) and click the new layer icon. A new layer will appear below the selected layer. Disable the visibility on the top layers to see your new layer and select a bright color as your foreground color. Hit Shift+F5, make sure that foreground color is selected in the drop down menu, opacity is 100% and hit OK. Your new layer should now be filled with the foreground color.

Experiment with size and hardness of brushes combined with opacity and flow to find something that works for you.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions.

-joe

[mattograph]

Yikes! Looks like we lost the op?!?!

[furiousbox]

Layers are a piece of cake, don't intimidate yourself!


Thanks for this. I attempted my first HDR shots over the weekend and was having a heck of a time in PP.
Much appreciated.

[JLew24asu]

Yikes! Looks like we lost the op?!?!

nah, just some peeps on a power trip. :cool: cant keep a good man down

[JLew24asu]

Layers are a piece of cake, don't intimidate yourself!

Try this: In the Photoshop menu, select "File ->Scripts -> Load Files into Stack..." and select the images that you want to load into a layered image file. You'll see PS go through a few motions and will finally settle on opening an image and you will see one of the images that you selected on top.

Look at the layers palette (if it's not open hit F7) and drag the HDR image that you created to the top. You can turn on and off the layers visibility by clicking the eye symbol next to the layer. You can only edit a layer if it is selected (when it is highlighted) and it helps if it's visbible, too.

In order to make parts of an image layered below to show through, you'll need to use a mask. Make sure that the top layer is selected. At the bottom of the layers palette, you will see a button that looks like a gray rectangle with a white circle in it. Click it!

A white box will show up on the selected layer to the right of the layer thumbnail. Click the white box to select the layer mask for editing. If you need to go back and edit the layers contents instead of the mask, just click the layer's thumbnail.

Ok, so this is what gets most people and, again, it's not rocket science so don't be intimidated. When you edit a layer mask, in simplified terms, you are painting on transparency. Think of it as black and white: black is transparent and white is not. Select the brush tool and make sure that black is your foreground color.

Making sure that the mask is selected in the layers palette,painting onto your image won't cause a black streak but will instead "paint" transparency anywhere you click. You can undo this by painting white. To gently bring up detail, I usually set my brush tool's opacity at 20% and the flow at 80%.

Since doing it with different versions of the same image stacked together may not be readily apparent the first time that you try it, practice by creating a new layer below an image and filling it with a solid, bright color. As you paint through the a mask, you will see the bright color underneath.

How do you create a new layer underneath? Select your top layer and find the new layer icon on the layer palette. It is just to the left of the garbage can and looks like a page with a folded corner. Hold down Ctrl (in windows...sorry, I'm not a mac guy. Is it option?) and click the new layer icon. A new layer will appear below the selected layer. Disable the visibility on the top layers to see your new layer and select a bright color as your foreground color. Hit Shift+F5, make sure that foreground color is selected in the drop down menu, opacity is 100% and hit OK. Your new layer should now be filled with the foreground color.

Experiment with size and hardness of brushes combined with opacity and flow to find something that works for you.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions.

-joe

thanks Joe! I have to pick your brain later about this...

[ArcticShooter]

I also prefer your first attempt. Great shooting object :)