HDR's without a tripod

by shortening my strap and and using a combination of elbows and straining my neck , i think i've negated the need for a tripod at the faster shutter speeds at least.

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Hi Andrew,

All this talk of working sans-tripod...? How many exposures are you combining here? Is it perhaps simply tone mapping that you're doing rather than HDR? Certainly I don't see anything in the images to suggest a particular need for HDR....

The bench in #1 looks a little too "fake" somehow - esp. the "glowing" green on the back boards of the bench - sinister but fake. The barbed wire provides an interesting obstacle to the fields beyond. But the background of the image looks quite normal and suburban. The sky somewhere in between. Doesn't come together as a unified "feel" to me.

#2's really, really good, though getting the top of the pole in would have helped. I like the way the building bulges outwards - was that out of the camera or in post-processing? The dappled brightness - particularly on the roof - works very nicely.

#3 is a bit of a "nothing" shot for me I'm afraid - just doesn't come together.

#4 really needs more ground... cutting into the plants and buildings part way up is a spoiler for me.

Cheers, Tony

tonydee wrote in post #5497469
Hi Andrew,

All this talk of working sans-tripod...? How many exposures are you combining here? Is it perhaps simply tone mapping that you're doing rather than HDR? Certainly I don't see anything in the images to suggest a particular need for HDR....

i was taking 3 shots on av aeb +/- 2.

tonydee wrote in post #5497469
The bench in #1 looks a little too "fake" somehow - esp. the "glowing" green on the back boards of the bench - sinister but fake. The barbed wire provides an interesting obstacle to the fields beyond. But the background of the image looks quite normal and suburban. The sky somewhere in between. Doesn't come together as a unified "feel" to me.

the bench is a victim to my exuberance with the slider

tonydee wrote in post #5497469
#2's really, really good, though getting the top of the pole in would have helped. I like the way the building bulges outwards - was that out of the camera or in post-processing? The dappled brightness - particularly on the roof - works very nicely.

no post processing other than combining the 3 shots and tone mapping.
i agree about the pole, i need to spend more time on my composition.

tonydee wrote in post #5497469
#3 is a bit of a "nothing" shot for me I'm afraid - just doesn't come together.

i like it, but i'm not sure what i was trying to achieve

tonydee wrote in post #5497469
#4 really needs more ground... cutting into the plants and buildings part way up is a spoiler for me.

yep there was a crappy car parked there so i cropped it

Thanks for your honest critique Tony,it gives me food for thought

I love #2. What lens was that and what were the settings besides the AEB on the 40D?

Hi Paul

thanks

I used my only lens

tv 1/125 1/2000 1/500
av 5.6
exp comp -1 2/3
iso 100
focal length 17.0mm

I share tonydee's lack of zeal. They look like Photomatix as opposed to Photoshop.

Doing this without a tripod is possible, but your concentration is geared towards holding the camera rather than good composition.

chauncey wrote in post #5498527
I share tonydee's lack of zeal. They look like Photomatix as opposed to Photoshop.

Doing this without a tripod is possible, but your concentration is geared towards holding the camera rather than good composition.

it's not photomatix, it's Dynamic Photo HDR (DPHDR) by Mediachance

i didn't know there was a photoshop way of doing this.

sorry to have underwhelmed you Chauncey but i'll work on my composition

Good technique to master, there are many occasions that you will not be able to use a Tripod.
Some of the shots on your link work better than those here, altough i agree no2 is best.
Artizen HDR software does have the option to manually re align images which can help with hand held shots, i also don't think the HDR tools in PS are significantly any better than Photomatix, in fact the latter has several advantages. I guess It depends how you choose to use them.

Its good to dare to do something you haven't done before.
And then dare to share it with us!
The length of the grass with a few flowering weeds popping up
in 1 and 3 is intriguing.
I'd like to see more depth down there to really get the 3d nature of it.
Don't know how. Its just what I think when I see it.
That cross has a lot of potential with those few colored weed flowers...
Good shooting.

tmcman wrote in post #5507615
The length of the grass with a few flowering weeds popping up
in 1 and 3 is intriguing.
I'd like to see more depth down there to really get the 3d nature of it.
Don't know how. Its just what I think when I see it.
That cross has a lot of potential with those few colored weed flowers...

Yes - well spotted! #3 in particular could be a great shot from a much lower angle. Also need to avoid putting the cross overlapping the tree in the background... counter-intuitive but necessary to think about this while framing shots.

Tony

I like #2 and #3 alot.

I like #2 a lot, with 2 exceptions, I'd have captured the entire pole in the photo and I've have moved that orange cone long enough to take the shots.

Nice work!

I like them all alot, but I am an HDR freak!

Great shots!

Every time i come back to catch up on this thread i like 1 and 3 more.
tmcman is bang on in what he says about the weeds and grass, the sky and bench back have gone pear shaped in 1 and the sky in 3 but they both have potential to be good keepers.
Could be worth re PP

I do this frequently. With dynamic Photo HDR, you can align or rotate each image in the stack to get them to line up correctly. You still have to hold very steady though as it can take a long time to get them lined up with the software if you don't do your part when you take the shot. Very nice shots by the way, and I like the realistic processing.