HDR photography

[rich p]

The first one looks like a cover picture of a cheap sci fi paperback!

 

[Crankarm]

This is true. Whilst it was done in the days of film, print film can capture a much broader range than slide film, and slide film can capture a much broader range than sensors can at the moment. HDR originally became popular to fill the over- / under-exposed gaps in standard digital photos but, by pushing the process like that image in rich p's OP, it has become a stand-alone technique.

+1

No, that would be because things moved between images.

I know never work with children or animals . Buildings tend not to move.

I do enjoy your posts Norm.

 

[Crankarm]

Used badly it looks crap. You still need to be a good photographer to do good HDR. It's just a tool to help achieve a different effect. In the wrong/untalented/tasteles hands you, you end up with ....

Nice Tollers. Your work?

 

[Crankarm]

No, it's more basic!

The camera takes 3 pictures, in the right order (I think its darkest first) and the software then combines the images.

If theres something in one which isn't in the others you end up with a combination of the something and the absence of it. It's analogous to multiple exposure with conventional silver nitrate film, but for pictures of spooks it's even better because of the tricks the software does.

I took some interior pictures a while back where there were 3 TV monitors going occupying about 1/3 of the field of view, and fortunately checked the results before leaving. Weird doesn't describe it adequately.

Like using the paucity tab at 10% instead of 100% so you can merge a ghostly image into another?

A slow shutter and movement creates ghostly images. If the shutter is open long enough certain objects can be made to disappear. I love very long exposures to get ghostly water effects which I guess is a different effect to that which you are talking about in Photoshop. Layering in Photoshop is just like piling up the negatives for each image one on top of each other, a bit like a sliced loaf, then shining light through them. Switching one layer off to lose one visual effect is like pulling that specific negative out of the pile of negs.

 

[Tollers]

Nice Tollers. Your work?

Aherm.....no!

HDR isn't really my taste and as others have said it's been overused and is now almost a cliche.

Having said that, here is some HDR that I do like

 

[Crankarm]

Aherm.....no!

HDR isn't really my taste and as others have said it's been overused and is now almost a cliche.

Having said that, here is some HDR that I do like

That sky looks like it was borrowed from elswhere and merged with the Eifel Tower to create the image .

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Here is what I ended up with:

I had taken about 12 photos, but could only use 3 since I accidentally bumped the camera

 

[Tollers]

Good on you for giving it a go Sam, not a bad result for a first effort. Shame that you don't have a view of an exotic city skyline from your window. I look forward to seeing how you get on next time and with a different shot.....hopefully involving some shiny carbon racing bike......and a pretty girl

 

[Norm]

HDR isn't really my taste and as others have said it's been overused and is now almost a cliche.

OMFG, I am so +1 with that!

Whilst the three that you initially posted (sunset, Christmas tree and room) all stand out, I can't think of a better word than "over-used". You could get a similar effect by playing with (i.e. screwing up!) the brightness and contrast and a couple of other photoshop filters and it would still look OTT to me.

Having said that, here is some HDR that I do like

Indeed. That is where HDR works well. It would be difficult (impossible?) to have captured the sun coming through the clouds and, more particularly, the church interior with a single digital image.

I know never work with children or animals . Buildings tend not to move.

I have worked with both, and clouds still move. As you can see in Sam's lovely shot, there's some ghosting in the sky in places.

I do enjoy your posts Norm.

Thanks.

I had taken about 12 photos, but could only use 3 since I accidentally bumped the camera

How badly bumped? You might still be able to use software to overlay the images precisely if most of the shots still overlap.

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Okay it turns out there was only 1 picture which was blurring everything, so after removing it, and playing around with photoshop curves (they are tricky!) I got this:

It looks a lot more 'flat' than the other image. Where is is misty in the right of the image, is probably caused by a bright street lamp just out of view.

 

[Crankarm]

Okay it turns out there was only 1 picture which was blurring everything, so after removing it, and playing around with photoshop curves (they are tricky!) I got this:

It looks a lot more 'flat' than the other image. Where is is misty in the right of the image, is probably caused by a bright street lamp just out of view.

I like it, as far as one can tell from a low res image on a forum.

 

[Sam Kennedy]

I like it, as far as one can tell from a low res image on a forum.

I can't tell whether that's an insult or a complement

I have 2 better ones I made in Photomatix, but I need sleep, I'll upload them in the morning when I wake up.

 

[Davidc]

Got the order wrong - its normal, short exposure (dark) long exposure (light).

HDR does have its uses, but I'm not a fan of the technique for normal pictures.

If I need a picture to illustrate a set of instructions its good as everything shows up well. Its very good for dealing with interior photos when only natural light can be used or the scene's too big to light sensibly.

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Okay I've been playing around a lot more, and have a much better understanding of how it works.
Here's my album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16358&id=1847394479&l=c3697e07ce

Most of them are pretty basic, but I like the clouds one with all the colours

 

[Tollers]

Had a look...and i think you're really starting to get the point. I'm very impressed at your effort and hope you'll continue. They're much better than your first effort.....

However.....IMHO, HDR is a tool to be used only at certain times. It can be great when there is a real sense of dynamism or foreboding, or even better when its just used to subtly reveal detail in photos that would have otherwise been impossible due to low light.

I stand by my bike, pretty girl, church comment!