Waterfall - Playing with HDR

[Gary McDuffie]

I don't do well with HDR, but shot this waterfall last week with plenty of bracketing. Actually, I was there an hour before sunset, and took lots of fixed shots to see where the light would work best.

The first is the only one I have processed normally at this point, and shows the subject in a fairly normal shot. Yes, all are time exposures.
1.
http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v3/p755773455-5.jpg

The next two were done using the trial version of Dynamic Photo HDR. The second has slightly boosted saturation.
2.
http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v1/p837932744-5.jpg

A little more color.
3.
http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v0/p854071609-5.jpg

The fourth was done with Photomatix (trial), and should cater to the people who like the more processed look. I prefer more natural, but to each their own.
4.
http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v4/p770313803-5.jpg

All but the first (natural) images are straight out of the HDR software. They never got loaded in Photoshop.

Feel free, and thanks for any comments. All were shot with the 18-55 and two ND filters to kill the light at ISO 100. Oh, and I used 4 shots. Abnormal exposure spacing.

Added post-processed images. Link (http://photos.garymcduffie.com/p38680674/h2d0c300f#h2d0c300f)

[Duff]

I like #1, because it is an all-natural shot and what I would expect to see if I were shooting it.

I don't know why, but I really like #4. I think it just jumps out and says "Look at me!" I'm not sure it looks HDR as much as just "worked" a lot.

#2 & #3 are great for showing everything, but I would prefer a little more contrast. This is the same issue I run into with my own HDRs. I need to find time to learn to use the software correctly.

All-in-all, great looking shots! I look forward to hearing what others have to say.

[basroil]

Not sure you really needed HDR in this one, not like the scene benefits from extra stops, nor was the original photo that bad to begin with (a bit dark maybe).

Took the liberty of just running your original though photoshop for a few seconds, just gradient filter to increase brightness and contrast at the bottom, then some highlights/shadows to bring up the shadows and drop the highlights a bit.
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/5529/81175443.jpg

The middle HDR ones would look great with a bit of mid level contrast boost, as Duff said, but do look great anyway (though photomatix one just looks a bit odd...)

[kirkt]

THis image appears to be a good candidate for combining the original single exposure with a tonemapped version that brings out a little more local contrast. As said above, I'm not sure you needed the full HDR treatment for this scene. Here is an example of the blend:

http://kirkt.smugmug.com/photos/656414512_JgQqJ-L.jpg

I blended the Photomatix version with about 20% opacity, soft light blend mode, into the original single exposure treatment. I also added a little brightness/curves, and warmed the Photomatix image, as it has that blue cast that often gets amplified or accentuated in Photomatix - the image appears to be taken in the warm light of afternoon, I figured this would be consistent.

The tonemapped images give local contrast boosts, but tend to flatten the natural change in image brightness that starts out bright at the top of the image (the waterfall in full sun) and darkens toward the bottom (the stream and tall grass in shade). This gradient in brightness makes for a nicer image, so that flattening it out causes the image to lose some interesting contrast.

Neat capture, keep it up!

Kirk

[Gary McDuffie]

Gentlemen. Thank you for the comments. Kirk, I've looked at lots of your posts in the past. Love your work for sure.

First, I didn't go to this shoot to get an HDR. It was just an idea after looking at them and thinking I might be able to do something with them that I could live with. Most of my early attempts have looked pretty poor, or at least not satisfactory to me. I agree. This image does NOT lend itself well to HDR.

That said, I was sort of impressed that I was able to run it though both programs and not totally ruin it like I have others. It is something I wasn't ashamed of. :)

I agree with all three of you that it needs more contrast. I added a little, but not enough in the ACR and PS PP work. I thought at the time that I should have done some curves work on it, but I ran out of time and wanted to get at least some comments on them.

Basroil, I agree about the gradient. It is one of my favorite tools. In fact, I tend to use it so often that I think I over use it. It works though, and is easy! Nice job.

Kirk, I really like your blend, and that is a look that I would love to have come up with myself. Nice work. I'm going to spend some time trying to achieve that. Did you use my Photomatix shot, or did you run it on the orignal? Never mind. Ok, I re-read your comment. The sun is in the original. Are you saying the PM version is only 20% opacity, or the original is only 20%?

To tell the truth, I don't know which of these I like the best. For nice natural results (where I lean), basroil has it. But for great effect, kirk has it too!

Thanks, guys. I didn't figure these were going to bring many comments, and I think the comments come from a couple of the best. :)

[basroil]

Gentlemen. Thank you for the comments. Kirk, I've looked at lots of your posts in the past. Love your work for sure.

First, I didn't go to this shoot to get an HDR. It was just an idea after looking at them and thinking I might be able to do something with them that I could live with. Most of my early attempts have looked pretty poor, or at least not satisfactory to me. I agree. This image does NOT lend itself well to HDR.

That said, I was sort of impressed that I was able to run it though both programs and not totally ruin it like I have others. It is something I wasn't ashamed of. :)

I agree with all three of you that it needs more contrast. I added a little, but not enough in the ACR and PS PP work. I thought at the time that I should have done some curves work on it, but I ran out of time and wanted to get at least some comments on them.

Basroil, I agree about the gradient. It is one of my favorite tools. In fact, I tend to use it so often that I think I over use it. It works though, and is easy! Nice job.

Kirk, I really like your blend, and that is a look that I would love to have come up with myself. Nice work. I'm going to spend some time trying to achieve that. Did you use my Photomatix shot, or did you run it on the orignal? Never mind. Ok, I re-read your comment. The sun is in the original. Are you saying the PM version is only 20% opacity, or the original is only 20%?

To tell the truth, I don't know which of these I like the best. For nice natural results (where I lean), basroil has it. But for great effect, kirk has it too!

Thanks, guys. I didn't figure these were going to bring many comments, and I think the comments come from a couple of the best. :)

Just means you need to play around more and post a few more variations of that shot for us ;)

[Gary McDuffie]

Just means you need to play around more and post a few more variations of that shot for us ;)

Well, I just made another attempt. This is another run at #3 above. I did some curves adjust for contrast and slight levels, both in ACR only. Saved from PS as jpg. A little smaller to be practical. It may have come out a little over saturated.

http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v0/p846386357-4.jpg\

Thanks.

[basroil]

Well, I just made another attempt. This is another run at #3 above. I did some curves adjust for contrast and slight levels, both in ACR only. Saved from PS as jpg. A little smaller to be practical. It may have come out a little over saturated.

http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v0/p846386357-4.jpg\

Thanks.

Bit over saturated, but biggest issue is the blue and green blades of grass together.Apply a sponge or other artistic filter over the image and it would look like a painting for sure though:D

[Gary McDuffie]

Bit over saturated, but biggest issue is the blue and green blades of grass together.Apply a sponge or other artistic filter over the image and it would look like a painting for sure though:D

But is the contrast handled a little better now? I'm liking this version, but may toss it back in ACR and pull back saturation a tad to suit me. Interesting concept about the texture. Might be worth a shot. Thanks.

[basroil]

But is the contrast handled a little better now? I'm liking this version, but may toss it back in ACR and pull back saturation a tad to suit me. Interesting concept about the texture. Might be worth a shot. Thanks.

contrast seems good. You should probably run it though an HLS channel mixer like the one in LR2 rather than just overall saturation. That way you can bring aqua to green and lower the purple/magenta tones. The yellow is fine, and bringing it any lower may actually make it look odd.

[Gary McDuffie]

contrast seems good. You should probably run it though an HLS channel mixer like the one in LR2 rather than just overall saturation. That way you can bring aqua to green and lower the purple/magenta tones. The yellow is fine, and bringing it any lower may actually make it look odd.

I don't know what HLS is, and I don't have LR. I tried pulling the blue channel down 20 in saturation, 20 in luminosity, and then resaved. Not a lot of difference, but didn't hurt.

http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v1/p685511855-4.jpg

I also tried the sponge and several others. This one is at 70% layer opacity.

http://photos.garymcduffie.com/img/v1/p660288337-4.jpg

Ok..gotta get to bed. I've spent all night on this stuff. Fun, but I need to get up in the morning.

Thanks for all the help, suggestions, critique, etc. More later. These are all up on Zen at full res via the link I gave earlier.