Does this HDR attempt suck?

[slitherjef]

Should I just toss in the towel? I shot several exposures tonight of the sunset. Used CS3s photomerge because one, I am not sure of photomatix is for me, and if I keep getting unrealistic images, or just can't get something that don't look like my image at 0ev, why even bother?

I got 3 shots for this one, and I guess the clouds where really moving. exposures where
+2
0
-2

http://home.comcast.net/~slitherjef/hdr/dechdr.jpg

Do I just need to take my exposures better? More exposures? It almost seems as if my lighter areas are darker then my darker areas. Things don't seem to blend like I thought they should.

[themadman]

I'll be honest, the PS HDR merge sucks, care to show an image done in Photomatix? I Find with the right settings, many Photomatix images are great.

[kirkt]

The above image needs some work, but it really depends on what you are trying to achieve in terms of a final image. In general, you need to be aware of three basic areas of concern when you shoot a scene with the intention of using a HDR workflow.

1) Acquire your images correctly and appropriately. Take some test shots to determine the luminance/exposure range in your scene that you want to capture. Make sure you take enough exposures to cover this range. Extra images on your card are insurance that you have enough data with which to work during the merge and tonemapping process. As a result of your test images, you may find that your scene doesn't really contain a huge DR worthy of HDR workflow.

2) Chose the proper amount of images from your sequence and merge them correctly. TO aid in the merge, make sure you shoot with a tripod, fix your WB and aperture and vary your shutter speed to get the exposure steps required. Shoot at low ISO (like 100 or 200) so that noise is minimized. You can experiment in the merge process with how many images you merge, what exposure step you use between images, etc. and see what works for your scene. In Photoshop, the gamma curve for your images will be reverse engineered during the merge process (if you shot JPEGs) - if you shoot RAW, just combine the RAW images (consider correcting each RAW for WB ONLY - no other adjustments). Most HDR merge apps can accommodate so small camera movement between exposures, and some movement within the scene (blowing tree branches, etc.) but the best merge will result if you have a nice still scene and the camera position is fixed and steady during image acquisition.

3) Once you have your sequence merged into a HDR dataset, you will have a LOT of data with which to make decisions about how the final image will appear. Experiment. Photomatix and the like are much more user friendly to the beginner in that they have sliders that permit one to mess around and see an approximation of what the various adjustments do, etc. Photoshop is a little less user friendly but possesses a lot of power when it comes to processing a 32bit HDR dataset - I would argue that PS has considerably more options than Photomatix; however, if you are still relatively new to HDR, these options are not really worth much because you really need to know what you are doing to take full advantage of them. Bottom line, there are multiple ways to take all of that HDR data and create the final LDR result - look around the web and study the various kinds of "HDR" images - they are everywhere. Try to emulate the ones you find most similar to the vision you are trying to achieve and try to reproduce the results. Get comfortable with a tool that you can use and then start branching out to others if you find that you need a more complete arsenal if tools to achieve your vision.

In the above image, the sky is clearly the focus of the piece, as the rest of it is really bland. That does not mean, however, that you cannot apply HDR techniques to demonstrate your technical proficiency. The scene contains a wide range of luminance and you can use HDR approaches to capture all of that DR and produce a natural looking result. I am going to guess that if you took some test exposures (put your camera in spot metering mode and aim it at the brightest and darkest parts of your scene to get an idea of the range of exposures you need) you would probably have to take more than -2/0/+2. THere is no hard and fast rule about the number of exposures and the increment between each exposure - as you get more experience, you will be able to judge what is needed to be more efficient. To start out, I would suggest that you shoot from the lowest exposure, in one EV increments to the highest. Put the camera in Manual mode, use timer and mirror lockup on a tripod, and set the WB and aperture fixed. Set the shutter speed to the appropriate value at one end of your exposure range and then shoot, adjust the shutter speed, shoot, etc. Learn the shutter speed equivalents of one EV changes - eg, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500 etc. so that you can breeze though the exposure sequence.

As far as tonemapping goes, use these good exposure sequence images in Photomatix or Photoshop and experiment. Tonemapping is an art, so you need to understand how your toolset affects the final image. Also, don't be bound to the output from Photomatix as your final image - the tonemapped LDR may be just a starting point for more manipulation within PS, or the tonemapped image may be combined with one of the exposures from the sequence to enhance the image, etc. Having a clear idea of the final image helps guide the process.

The above image lacks contrast in the shadows and is blown in the sky - this suggests that your original exposure sequence was not sufficient to cover the entire DR of the scene.

Don't give up! Try reshooting this scene with a better understanding of what you need to make a good HDR dataset and try again. This site has a tremendous amount of very useful information and I advise you to read the tips and tricks section:

http://www.hdrlabs.com/tutorials/index.html

also - here is a link to a thread I posted with a video tutorial showing some of the lesser used HDR tools in PS (CS4).

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=786217

Good luck and have fun! I noticed that you do not have "Image Editing OK" enabled in your user profile, but if you enable it and post a link to your exposure sequence images, I'll take a stab at merging and tonemapping in CS4 to give you an idea of what I can squeeze out of your data.

Kirk
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@themadman

Care to share your thoughts on why the Merge to HDR function in Photoshop sucks? Or do you mean that the tonemapping options within Photoshop are not as intuitive as the sliders in Photomatix? Two totally different things. Photoshop is actually extremely versatile in the combination of exposures into a 32bit HDR dataset, processing of32bit files (using layers and an albeit limited but powerful set of standard processing tools) and tonemapping for output to LDR. If you want the HDRish "look" you can definitely get that from Photomatix much more easily; however, Photoshop is often looked down upon as an HDR tool because it is not as straightforward as the twiddling-with-the-sliders approach used by most in Photomatix. THere is nothing wrong with that approach, but I bring this up because I am curious to find out what, in your experience, sucks about Photoshop's Merge to HDR functionality.

Kirk

[themadman]

Kirk > I didn't mean to offend you. I personal experience was with Photoshop CS2 and pretty much no matter how much I played with the photo, I couldn't really get a good image. It is possible it was just that specific set of photos I was trying to do, I haven't really went back and tried. Been using Photomatix since then and it has provided me with really good results. It is possible the HDR functions have been improved since CS2 or maybe I just was terrible at it. =/

[kirkt]

Dude - not offended at all. I can understand why many may have had a less-than-gratifying experience with HDR workflow in PS. The trick is to get used to working with HDR data, in an app that makes it more intuitive, and then start to get more technical (if that's what you want to do) once you feel comfortable in the HDR process. If you have found a workflow that works for you, great! My post was meant to encourage you to revisit PS, not to make you feel like you offended me - sorry if that's how you took it. I was interested in why you did not like PS for HDR, really, that was all.

Kirk

[kirkt]

Here's an oldie but a goodie of a post with complete CS3 HDR workflow from JPEGs:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=711734

Not the greatest work (I've learned a lot since) but still, shows what can be done with "crude" tools like PS and JPEGs. :)

Kirk

[slitherjef]

Thanks for the input, all.

The sky is the focal point, the hope was to capture the sceen as I seen it standing at the edge of the flood channel. The sky as well as the warm light (which can be seen on the rail). I guess I try it again.

My issue with photomatix is often I get very unrealistic images. Trying to blend exposures, I did not like the result. HDR and trying both options just did not look good. But it could be my exposures them self

[Swift]

Yes it does, way too much shadows.

[fly my pretties]

More than anything, it's quite a poor shot, HDR isn't going to save it.

[slitherjef]

More than anything, it's quite a poor shot, HDR isn't going to save it.

Care to explain a bit more about what makes it a poor shot? My intent is NOT to create art, my intent is to record what I see, in this case, it would be the sky. I understand my foreground sucks as this was taken in the middle of the suburbs. Is that what makes this shot poor?

[Swift]

Could you share with us the 3 images you used.

[fly my pretties]

Care to explain a bit more about what makes it a poor shot? My intent is NOT to create art, my intent is to record what I see, in this case, it would be the sky. I understand my foreground sucks as this was taken in the middle of the suburbs. Is that what makes this shot poor?

Sure. It's lopsided, badly underexposed, and not a very interesting image. The HDR is supposed to create a dynamic range that a normal exposure cannot capture, but this one seems to have even less of a dynamic range than a normal exposure.

[MikeFairbanks]

Fly my pretties is right. The picture isn't very good, but that's okay....you could someday be the best photographer in the world. Any of us can if we study enough, practice enough, etc.

Don't give up yet. You'll do fine. It takes time. I've been working with HDR for half a year and can honestly say I am not good at it, not even close.

But I'm learning and every once in a while every batter will hit a pitch he couldn't see.

But nobody bats perfectly.

[blackpark_46]

i dont know wether my question is out of topic or not...

i have redynamix plugin installed on my PS CS3...this plugin make me capable of making a HDR photo just with an image...does this plugin produce as good as combining several pictures with same scene with different exposure?