Locomotive at Steamtown

[grandad35]

Rahway Valley #15 engine at Steamtown in Scranton, Pa. - one of several engines on display. +2/0/-2 exposures, tone mapped with Photomatix.

[sapearl]

Well, it certainly is HDR... almost like a fantasy shot.

Obviously you put a lot of hard work into it, and thank you for sharing. But the problem with a lot of HDR is lack of full tonal range. This is somewhat flat, lacking any deep blacks, pleasing shadows, contrasting highlights. It shows every single detail, but there is not any real contrasting depth of tones or colors. - Stu

[stargazer77517]

Got to agree with Stu, but on the upside, Great job on controlling the halos and such and a good subject for HDR.

[grandad35]

....the problem with a lot of HDR is lack of full tonal range. This is somewhat flat, lacking any deep blacks, pleasing shadows, contrasting highlights. It shows every single detail, but there is not any real contrasting depth of tones or colors. - Stu

Do you mean something like this (added a curves layer)?

I see what you are saying, but now I'm confused - I thought that the point of using HDR was to keep the shadows visible without blowing the highlights. Part of the sky in the revised image is now blown and parts of the shadows are now black. In addition, my eye could see more detail than is visible in the revised image. When do you keep the shadows visible and when do you take them to black? This shot would have been very difficult without HDR because the sky was relatively bright and the black locomotive gave very dark shadows - the data just fit inside the +2/-2 shots.

[sapearl]

Yes - somewhat. But in all fairness to your hard work, much of what I voiced about HDR is my subjective opinion.

What you say about it is essentially true. Although I've barely ever used it myself, I agree that HDR does give you the ability to preserve and bring back detail that normally may have been lost. It can allow people to create some great art and also what I consider to be photo-illustrations or photo manipulations.

The key thing is that it pleases you, and my subjective opinion just relfects my own taste for higher contrast, deeper blacks and brighter whites. And I also agree with everything that you are technically saying about HDR - it just boils down to taste. The human eye can see - if I recall what somebody told me - a range of about 13 or 14 stops. Film does less than that, and digital and even small dynamic range. The s/w allows us to recreate a lot of that. - Stu

Do you mean something like this (added a curves layer)?

I see what you are saying, but now I'm confused - I thought that the point of using HDR was to keep the shadows visible without blowing the highlights. Part of the sky in the revised image is now blown and parts of the shadows are now black. In addition, my eye could see more detail than is visible in the revised image. When do you keep the shadows visible and when do you take them to black? This shot would have been very difficult without HDR because the sky was relatively bright and the black locomotive gave very dark shadows - the data just fit inside the +2/-2 shots.

[sapearl]

I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but perhaps a picture will speak better than my words. And btw, I feel your image is what I would consider IMO a beautful "fantasy photoillustration," ..... I just prefer heaver contrast and stronger colors.

Here is an example of what I mean. It was shot in glaringly bright sun this past weekend at an old rail yard about 3:15 P.M. There are solid blacks in areas where you can see no shadow detail. But that's ok with me, as I subjectively feel it suits the boldness of the subject. With heavy sharpenning of other areas I feel it nicely comes together, and still renders into a nice tonal range. The b/w conversion is pretty nice too. - Stu

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