HDR photography

[dannyvrod]

Hi, this was my first attempt at HDR photos. I did like the colours added to the clouds/sky but i don't think it made much difference otherwise. Nevertheless, the faint image of birds and the trail of one goose in the photo was an intersting (but unintended) affect.

Anyone have any experience with HDR? Some tips for an amateur?

Thanks!

http://www.moviephotoforums.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Island_HDR.jpg

[Michael Hetrick]

Whats HDR?

[dannyvrod]

High Dynamic Range ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

Putting several (in my case 5) photos together of different exposures. I set the camera to 'Aperature' mode, and go from +1.7 exposure to -1.7. This changes the shutter speed, but keeps the aperature constant so as not to alter the depth of field.

The desired affect (from wiki) ...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Trencin_hdr_001.jpg

... was not reached!

[dannyvrod]

After looking at these two pics ... its obvious my subject leaves something to be desired!

[LAVrod]

HDR is pretty cool but IMO, looks overly processed.

Mike, all you have to do is bracket a bunch of shots (3 or more) for the same subject and blend them together to bring out the depth of all the exposures.

[Michael Hetrick]

Looks like a screen shot of a video game. Cool!

[pegdragger]

HDR is amazing. I am going to buy the software and start doing it as well. I have a few I did, but the trial software put their watermark on them.....The falls pic is a little on the dark side.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h65/Mhenry74/DSC_0135_6_tonemapped.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h65/Mhenry74/Tonemapfalls.jpg

[dannyvrod]

Pegdragger ... if you have PS, there's a 'Merge to HDR' function built in ... seems to work pretty well!

[pegdragger]

That is what I used for these, along with the Photomatix HDR Plug in.

[texasv-rod]

This one on Wiki is pretty cool!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Colour_Explosion.jpg

[LAVrod]

here is one I did a year or so ago. I haven't tried it again since. It is hard to line up for the crisp look in the clouds especially with the clouds moving.

PS: Notice the dust on my sensor,which i realized after the photo.

http://www.moviephotoforums.com/photopost/data/2/thumbs/HDR_01.jpg (http://www.moviephotoforums.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=771)

[LAVrod]

Good article on creating high quality HDR. http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Post-Processing-HDR-images

[dannyvrod]

Thanks for the link ... I tried again last night under different conditions ... I'll post the photo later ... I found that a little processing in PS after merging the pics produces better results ... nevertheless, I need to keep practicing the technique!

[dannyvrod]

Unfortunately I couldn't upload a .tif file, which (other than .psd) is the only kind of file that PS will save as after merging to HDR.

Max, any way .tif's can be supported here? Anyone have suggestions as to how to convert to jpeg/jpg?

[LAVrod]

Unfortunately I couldn't upload a .tif file, which (other than .psd) is the only kind of file that PS will save as after merging to HDR.

Max, any way .tif's can be supported here? Anyone have suggestions as to how to convert to jpeg/jpg?

flatten the image. then do a save as and select .jpg

[dannyvrod]

Sorry man, I'm new to all this ... "flatten the image" ????

[Michael Hetrick]

How about someone give a quick tutorial on how to do this magic??

[texasv-rod]

From Adobe help:

Keep the following tips in mind when you take photos to be combined with the Merge To HDR command:

Secure the camera to a tripod.

Take enough photos to cover the full dynamic range of the scene. You can try taking at least five to seven photos, but you might need to take more exposures depending on the dynamic range of the scene. The minimum number of photos should be three.

Vary the shutter speed to create different exposures. Changing the aperture changes the depth of field in each exposure and can produce lower-quality results. Changing the ISO or aperture may also cause noise or vignetting in the image.

In general, don’t use your camera’s auto-bracket feature, because the exposure changes are usually too small.

The exposure differences between the photos should be one or two EV (exposure value) steps apart (equivalent to about one or two f‑stops apart).

Don’t vary the lighting; for instance, don’t use a flash in one exposure but not the next.

Make sure that nothing is moving in the scene. Exposure Merge works only with differently exposed images of the identical scene.

[LAVrod]

There are several ways to turn a PSD file into a jpg. One is to flatten the image.

http://www.moviephotoforums.com/photopost/data/2/thumbs/Untitled-1.jpg (http://www.moviephotoforums.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=816)

another would be under the menu/file/save as
or under the menu/file/save for web
These features should be available since the first versions of photoshop.

[Michael Hetrick]

What software is needed to do this?

[LAVrod]

There are different ones, but if you have Adobe Photoshop CS2 or 3 then you already have all you need.

[Michael Hetrick]

Kewl

[Michael Hetrick]

Sorry man, I'm new to all this ... "flatten the image" ????

From Photoshop. Hope this helps. I'm as lost as you.

To flatten an image
When you flatten an image, Photoshop Elements merges all visible layers into the background, greatly reducing the file size. Flattening an image discards all hidden layers, and fills any transparent areas with white. In most cases, you won’t want to flatten a file until you’ve finished editing individual layers.
Make sure that the layers you want to keep in your image are visible.
Choose Flatten Image from either the Layer menu or the Layers palette More menu.
You can see the difference between your image’s layered file size and its flattened file size by choosing Document Sizes from the status bar pop-up menu at the bottom of the image window.

[dannyvrod]

Perfect! thanks! I'll try 'flattening' my images tonight and see if jpg appears as a 'save as ...' option!

cheers

[dannyvrod]

Well, flattening didn't work :s

[LAVrod]

not sure what you are doing that it doesnt work. Make sure you are working in RGB mode and at 8 bit not 16bit.