Natural Looking HDR

boerewors wrote in post #14346475
ok so do you load bracketed raws or do you turn them into jpegs first? and if i turn them into jpegs can i edit each to taste one or should i do a direct from camera conversion?
also how do you guys meter for the situation? i am usually a manual shooter, so to now use AV move got me thinking again.
thanks

I don't know if my HDR workflow is standard or not.

1. Load 1 or more raw, unedited photos into PhotoMatrix (Most often 3 bracketed shots taken in AV mode, but that is not necessary).

2. Adjust levels to get it to as close to ideal possible.

3. Save as full size 16 bit tiff

4. Make further changes as needed in your photo editor of choice.


I have not tried to edit a raw photo before loading it into PhotoMatrix, depending on the photo editing software, I suspect it might not pick up the non-destructive edits.


As far as metering, Each shot is different. I do normally use the 'bracketing feature' of the 7D. This shot, however, was shot in manual. One shot is, as I recall, about 5 or 6 stops away from the middle shot, which is 1 stop away from the 3rd. In retrospect, the sky is still blown and I regret not doing a forth in order to have gotten a blue sky.

boerewors wrote in post #14347132
...sounds like it can be done in manual mode by merely rolling the shutter speed wheel (on a tripod of course). i would trust this a hell of a lot more than going AV mode and getting screwed up metering for the zero exposure. thanks for sharing

By using software like PhotoMatrix, that has an 'alignment' step, a tripod is not needed. I have taken quite a few hand-holding. When doing so, I still put the camera in 'bracketing' mode and 'high-speed drive' and fire off 3 as quickly as possible. This shot was was handheld, using in camera bracketing and high speed drive.

thanks for the info... i feel a bit of a turd because i still have not had the opportunity to make any bracketed images yet. i guess i will practice of something daft tomorrow just for the sake of learning

You can play with PhotoMatrix for free. You can download a fully functional demo system to see see if you like it or not. Everything works, but the output image includes a watermark. Good news though, if you get some shots that you like and want to keep, once you purchase the package, you can load your trail images (and the settings that you used) and regenerate it without the watermark.

Here's a few more images from the trip out to Colorado... I love it out there!!! I really need to move!!

IMAGE LINK: http://www.jamielinkph​otography.com …870028&k=pRqRM5​N&lb=1&s=A

IMAGE LINK: http://www.jamielinkph​otography.com …128358&k=Dc5mmj​H&lb=1&s=A

IMAGE LINK: http://www.jamielinkph​otography.com …285619&k=B83qRw​G&lb=1&s=A

IMAGE LINK: http://www.jamielinkph​otography.com …434530&k=rjBfzG​f&lb=1&s=A

@ Akrobatiks: wow those images are great and show no signs of haloing. were they done in photomatix? the last image of the stars looks like you used flash and also looks like a single exposure. is that really bracketed exposures?

Don't forget, you can AEB while in manual mode too.

here is my first attempt on not really anything interesting:

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

boerewors wrote in post #14358950
here is my first attempt on not really anything interesting:
i had issues with ghosting on the tree leaves and am not sure how to deal with this one?

I'm not at home, so my terminology will be off..
One of the first views of the merge PhotoMatrix gives you is a anti-ghosting feature. In that view, you can highlight the ghosted area and choose which of the component images you want (primarily) to come through thereby removing the ghosting. It does a really nice job. I have done a few images where I effectively used PM to merge 3 shots by basically marking each section of a picture as ghosted and choosing the one of the three that I wanted to see in that shot.

This shot, for example taken in direct sunlight.. it had trees, water (both of which I wanted from different shots) also the one cliff face was in direct sun, the other in the shade. I used the anti ghosting feature for 80% of the shot.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/44350103@N05/6​154192838/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/44350103@N05/6​154191666/

boerewors wrote in post #14355930
@ Akrobatiks: wow those images are great and show no signs of haloing. were they done in photomatix? the last image of the stars looks like you used flash and also looks like a single exposure. is that really bracketed exposures?

Thanks!! I process all of my images manually in photoshop using layer masks. The night image is a single long exposure however I processed it twice then blended both processed raw's in photoshop using Layer masks, so it is in a sense, "HDR"...

Akrobatiks wrote in post #14359760
Thanks!! I process all of my images manually in photoshop using layer masks. The night image is a single long exposure however I processed it twice then blended both processed raw's in photoshop using Layer masks, so it is in a sense, "HDR"...

i believe it must be time consuming

boerewors wrote in post #14359977
i believe it must be time consuming

It used to but not really anymore... I have the process pretty much down so It takes me about 15 minutes per image, maybe less...

Akrobatiks wrote in post #14360218
It used to but not really anymore... I have the process pretty much down so It takes me about 15 minutes per image, maybe less...

would love to get a tutorial from you. your images look very natural. do you mask your layers by painting them in or by quick selection?

Jamie, your shots are great. Thanks for sharing. They don't look like HDR at all. So you don't use Photomatix at all? You are just blending in the various bracketed shots in Photoshop right?

Repeat after me. There is no R in Photomatix.

boerewors wrote in post #14363098
would love to get a tutorial from you. your images look very natural. do you mask your layers by painting them in or by quick selection?

digital_AM wrote in post #14363158
Jamie, your shots are great. Thanks for sharing. They don't look like HDR at all. So you don't use Photomatix at all? You are just blending in the various bracketed shots in Photoshop right?

I blend each image using Layer masks in CS5... Its the only way to get that totally natural looking final image IMO. The other way to do it would be to process the image in photomatix first and then remix the originals back into the tonemapped output using layer masks, but I find that I get better results skipping the photomatix step...

For instance, the following HDR image is composed of 3 exposures and blended manually in photoshop with layer masks to build my base file. I then process the image using levels, curves, add a bit of texture, and sharpening until Im happy with my final output....

"Mt. Princeton Chalk Creek"

One of the many rivers in the San Isabel National Forest, Chalk Creek runs directly through the tiny town of Mt. Princeton Colorado. In the distance, the peak of Mt. Princeton the mountain is visible, which is one of the Colorado 14er's. In Mountaineering, a 14er is a peak that is greater than 14,000ft in elevation. The state of Colorado is home to 53 of the 547 fourteeners in the world, but the importance of fourteeners is greatest in Colorado, which has the majority of such peaks in North America.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.jamielinkph​otography.com …369194&k=FV93Th​f&lb=1&s=A