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HDR, Exposure blending, et al
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Maybe this belongs in beginners, but these are advanced techniques so I’m posting here.
1) What are the different techniques used to expand dynamic range?
2) What is each normally used for?
3) Are these techniques an artist style or a technical thing?
4) Would I need just one tool to try these? or Do all HDR programs do everything?
Google wound me around in circles. Some urls where I can read about each technique would be nice.
Has anyone seen a contrast and compare article?
thanx,
Ted,
Can’t answer your specific questions, but check out stuckincustoms.com. This was the site that caused my brief interest in hdr, with some great work, tutorials, and also links to some of the other hdr sites out there. I believe there is a hdr blog-ring that has been set up also, and you may find useful info there too
thanx Damien,
I’m reading the site and it will point me in the right direction. It also made me think to ask Wikipedia.
Hi Ted,
I am a fan of HDR work. Sometimes I use a subtle approach where you would not know it has been used and other times I like to go “overboard” to get something different. I use Photomatix to create the HDR and Tone mapping effect and then I might open the jpeg in Camera RAW and mess around with it there.
I have found that sometimes its not possible to take 5 bracketed shots for HDR due to conditions such as Wind, waves etc so what I do is take 1 RAw and then create 5 differently exposed images from this to use in Photomatix for HDR.
I have a Tutorial here http://www.skramshots.com/page7775.html” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
I hope this answers some of your questions.
Mark.
I’m NOT a fan of HDR when it obviously looks like HDR. However, I’ve seen some very good HDR images in club competitions, and the only way you know they’re HDR is when the photographer says so in the discussions afterwards.
Also, there’s a school of thought out there about producing High Dynamic Range images without the use of HDR software through the use of blending multiple exposures or bringing out the maximum dynamic range in an image from a single exposure. I believe these techniques give a much more natural looking image, and ones that are not obviously HDR.
If you do go for HDR software, keep it real, and at all costs keep it so you don’t end up with the obvious halo’s that we see in images all over the web where the HDR is done badly.
My $0.02,
Dave.Can you suggest a product to try, if I am only interested in the natural look?
I mostly use LR. Elements once in the while.
Light room has a pretty good gradient map (or maybe it’s called gradient filter) facility. That will let you darken down the sky, and brighten up the foreground with a couple of gradient maps. You can also do circular gradients for the sun, but that usually ends looking quite odd unless the gradient is very big.
To use this technique well, you need a source image with a good histogram, maybe sightly over-exposed for the sky. you can then recover the sky with the gradient maps.I use Photoshop CS5 and a combination of techniques I learned on the web along with some training from Guy Gowan (http://www.GuyGowan.com).
Using a combination of alpha channels and layer masks, the results can be very dramatic, and very natural looking at the same time.Rgds,
Dave.thanx Dave,
I’ve tried some of that but failed badly.
Tonight I’m going to download Photomatrix and Endure and see what I casn see.
I may have to wait until the doctor let’s me out of the house to go out and shoot some brackets.
thanx again,
Hi Ted,
I think Photomatix is your man. I tried it briefly some time back, and think it is still the gold standard of HDR software. Like most HDR software, reading up on tutorials will ensure you get the best out of it.
I think there’s also some sort of exposure blending/ HDR capacity in Photoshop too, and perhaps Elements, but none seem to be as smooth or user-friendly as Photomatix. Not a bad way to dip your toe in, if you already have the software.
Good luck and have fun!
thanx Damien,
Downloading is on tonight schedule.
Well maybe it will get done :D
I’m going to try several and see what I think.
Anything that intgrates well with LR gets bonus points. Without being a Luddite :) I like to Keep It Simple Stupid
We’re hosting a free HDR Free Shoot on Saturday the 29th of January, all are welcome. Registration link is here: http://www.instituteofphotography.ie/freesessions/hdr.htm” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
Dave
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