Do you ever HDR clouds ?

Had storm came over this afternoon so i thought why not try clouds HDR . Since this is my first experience i don't think i did very good but would like some input please of how you would HDR clouds ?

i think what you need to do is to find a better composition first. hdr can really bring out the details of the clouds. i find clouds on its own a tad more boring. by using a decent composition, you can use hdr to bring out some of the drama in the clouds. Thats how i see it.

Here are some of my cloud photos:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/jfchanphoto/6​082271444/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/jfchanphoto/6​417798579/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/jfchanphoto/5​770447558/

Thanks jason for your input ! Great pictures and especially the castle on your flickr page !

I think HDR with clouds does wonders to a picture....always use it for clouds.

clouds look great as hdr, easy to over cook them tho. Composition as said above is needed tho. A straight up shot directly at a cloud doesn't really make for a good pic.

HDR is a very important technique for clouds because those whites are always outside the histogram. Plus the depth that you see sometimes only comes out with tonemapping. Ansel Adams did it with nothing but I need tonemapping! Here are hdr clouds I did recently. Storm front over the Adirondacks.

tmcman wrote in post #14920452
Ansel Adams did it with nothing

If you think Adams did it with nothing, you should read up on his Zone System. It really was the predecessor of modern HDR.

He first thought about how he wanted the end print to look ("visualizing" the print). For instance the famous "Moonrise Half Dome" has the very dark sky precisely because he decided at the time of shooting that he wanted the dark sky so he used a deep red #25 filter to block blue light in the sky and thus darken it in the black & white image.

Then he would carefully meter the scene to properly expose for shadow detail. After shooting for detail in the shadows, he would then very carefully develop the negatives to bring out the highlight detail.

His printing process was similarly intricate and painstaking. He didn't use nothing, and he didn't use magic, he used a carefully thought-out procedure involving lots of equipment. It was a method of capturing HDR scenes with film, and nobody has ever done it better.

Clouds are not inherently outside of the histogram. True, clouds are white and bright when sunlit, but the dynamic range of a scene needs reference. That is, the clouds may be outside of the ability to capture them fully when compared to deep shadows in a canyon or a forest, but may be well within the range of a wide open landscape scene where everything is getting sun and ambient sky fill. If you are shooting the cloud only, then you should probably be able to capture the whole cloud in a single exposure - that is, the dynamic range of the scene in that case is the brightest and darkest tones within the cloud.

One of the issues with HDR and clouds is that a nice fluffy cloud can become transformed into a storm with the application of a couple of sliders in your tonemapping process. I would argue that this changes the mood of the piece, often adversely. Take a look at how clouds have been rendered in paintings, especially those of Turner (see: http://www.guardian.co​.uk …nov/13/turner-science-sun for example), Constable (see: http://www.john-constable.org for example) and for crazy clouds, Maxfield Parrish (just google - he is ubiquitous). Clouds are so important in most landscapes that you should probably pay careful attention to how they are rendered when they appear in your images. There is even a Cloud Appreciation Society! http://cloudappreciati​onsociety.org/category​/cloud-art/

Painters tonemap everything, considering that their output medium has a dynamic range similar to print on paper - take note of how the masters translate indoor scenes with open windows into a convincing rendering that looks natural or fantastic, etc.

Yeah, Ansel Adams didn't just open the shutter and voila. Read "The Camera", "The Negative" and "The Print." He knew the entire process and how to exploit every aspect of it to achieve the final image. He also studied the scene he wanted to capture and patiently waited until the lighting that nature provided was just right for the image he intended to make. He spent a lot of effort visualizing the final image and used every phase of the image making process to achieve that final vision. That is why he is considered a master of his craft, whether you agree with his approach or not.

kirk

IMO cloud HDRs are awesome and doable as long as they're not moving too fast. You of course, need your tripod and a polarizer is always a plus. My best experience has been with BIG TALL cumulonimbi .. some serious texture there.

Dont know how to link these like the one's below from flickr ..http://500px.com/photo​/7234380, http://500px.com/photo​/7232632, http://500px.com/photo​/5294028

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kykhans/7896484​538/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kykhans/7896478​484/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kykhans/7730618​540/

If armageddon is your thing...

alphamalex wrote in post #14927783
IMO cloud HDRs are awesome and doable as long as they're not moving too fast. You of course, need your tripod and a polarizer is always a plus. My best experience has been with BIG TALL cumulonimbi .. some serious texture there.

Dont know how to link these like the one's below from flickr ..http://500px.com/photo​/7234380, http://500px.com/photo​/7232632, http://500px.com/photo​/5294028

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kykhans/7896484​538/
036_7_8_tonemapped-b by kykhans, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kykhans/7896478​484/
012 by kykhans, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/kykhans/7730618​540/
084_HDR by kykhans, on Flickr

The Last picture is wonderful..