HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography - post your HDR

[svndmvn]

I tried but I couldn't get mines as good as everyone else's (not with the self portrait, I tried taking multiple photos from outside on a tripod with dif exposures, and the HDR looked like a high exposed photo).

have you checked out the tutorial at the beginning of the thread? tried the tone mapping option in photomatix?
as for skin HDRs, they are pretty hard and it is better to start with photos like landscapes that have dynamic ranges to begin with but a picture can't really show all it's beauty, so that's where blending different exposures has meaning, IMO

 

[Krafty]

have you checked out the tutorial at the beginning of the thread? tried the tone mapping option in photomatix?
as for skin HDRs, they are pretty hard and it is better to start with photos like landscapes that have dynamic ranges to begin with but a picture can't really show all it's beauty, so that's where blending different exposures has meaning, IMO

I was using photoshop.

 

[svndmvn]

try at least the free demo of photomatix, people say it's better than the photoshop plugin

 

[Krafty]

try at least the free demo of photomatix, people say it's better than the photoshop plugin

I didnt use the ones I took because I noticed some are out of alignment, but I re-did the self portrait:
http://i37.tinypic.com/21kqd.jpg

EDIT: Tried it again, wouldnt you know I broke my tripod doing this.

 

[svndmvn]

the cityscapes look good, but as I was saying Photomatix probably does a better job,and are the original pictures in focus? Photomatix lets you generate HDR from one RAW as well

 

[termina3]

I didnt use the ones I took because I noticed some are out of alignment, but I re-did the self portrait:

EDIT: Tried it again, wouldnt you know I broke my tripod doing this.

I'm not surprised that the tripod broke…

Much better on the city-scapes. Without knowing you, I still find the self-portrait dull. There's no exciting lighting, perspective, or anything to keep me interested.

 

[Krafty]

the cityscapes look good, but as I was saying Photomatix probably does a better job,and are the original pictures in focus? Photomatix lets you generate HDR from one RAW as well

I used photomatrix for all 3.

 

[svndmvn]

I used photomatrix for all 3.

are you happier than with Photoshop's plugin? Photomatix usually fixes the moving parts if you check that option..
have you tried generating one from one RAW? were they focused to begin with?

 

[movieman76]

I guess a general tip would be to go out, and make a composition that would be very appealing without HDR, even then wait around for the right lighting (as Doylem does producing those fantastic non HRD shots). Then apply HDR to that (if the situation is right)

The subject of your picture doesn't have a lot going on, maybe next time try to capture a scene with a stronger subject. When composing, think about the usefulness or effect HDR will offer the picture.

I'm no expert with this stuff and I hate being critical, but try to save HDR for those situations where it is needed. Go and have another shot, thinking more about subject matter, be sure to post back here It's all a learning experience
Don't worry, many fall for the post processing trap, I know I did when I was new to it all.

Thanks for the comments / critiques, I really appreciate any help whatsoever. I'll keep it at and post some others as I continue to shoot.

 

[Krafty]

are you happier than with Photoshop's plugin? Photomatix usually fixes the moving parts if you check that option..
have you tried generating one from one RAW? were they focused to begin with?

Photoshop didn't do all that good of a job, and even so I could change anything. The previous 3 I did with photomatrix were a lot better. If you compare my self portrait, the only thing I sort of liked about the one done in photoshop was it looked a bit more smoother, but the highlights were too good.

Overall I liked the photomatrix better. Hopefully my $15 tripod willl be able to withstand a while longer.

 

[chrisburke]

Heres my latest: (click for full resolution)

 

[termina3]

Heres my latest: (click for full resolution)

I'm getting a photo not available message.

 

[msantoso]

Conrad Hotel Beach View, Bali

11 multi exposure images captured on IXUS 950 IS (Handheld)

 

[wheelhot]

Well seeing all this photo make me want to try out my own HDR. Well here is a quick one, its nothing special and all but I like how bright and dim it look (3Dish don't you think so?). Taken by Oly FE-320 (PnS). Oh yea and this is my first HDR, CnC is welcomed

P.S: I used Photomatix for this, it rocks, definitely better then Photoshop merge to HDR, I have the feeling that Adobe might buy Photomatix in the future. Their HDR feature totally kick Photoshop ass.

 

[fivepoint]

It seems like the HDR effect works really well on images with lots of sunlight/shadows or in nighttime artificially lit cityscapes. Does everyone agree with that? Does this effect work better in these certain scenarios than others?

 

[wheelhot]

I'm not sure my self, cause I just started playing with HDR. So far I love HDR the fact that I can finally get the cloud effect I want!!!!

So what you guys think about my HDR? (see above 2 post)

 

[chrisburke]

I'm getting a photo not available message.

fixed it

 

[chrisburke]

It seems like the HDR effect works really well on images with lots of sunlight/shadows or in nighttime artificially lit cityscapes. Does everyone agree with that? Does this effect work better in these certain scenarios than others?

very true.. obviously you can do HDR with any picture, but they look especially good when you have dramatic coloring (i.e. clouds, crazy skies, nice sunlight like sun sets and rises)

 

[RHVC59]

First try with Photomtrix

I have tried several times to use PS3 many times. Not happening. First try with Photomatrix, Quite happy with the results.

 

[RHVC59]

second try

Second try.

Made from three RAW files.

One shot for clouds
One for the trees in the foreground
one in the middle.

 

[Xander562]

Canon Powershot SD600, 5 Jpeg photos.

 

[valdore]

Here is a link I would like to share --

http://www.vanilladays.com/gallery/2008/11/salford_quays_bridge/

-- the photoblog of Pete Carr of Liverpool, one of my most absolute favorite photographers out there, and I feel this particular post of his is spot-on regarding HDR.

Both examples of HDR used, hopefully, well to show what it can do and that it doesn’t have to be the standard cliche mess that you hear people ranting about.

 

[wheelhot]

That was nice, I wonder how he got the cloud and the street lamp to be orangish and bluish

 

[ajpl]

That was nice, I wonder how he got the cloud and the street lamp to be orangish and bluish

Sodium lighting is orange and the blue lighting is either from blue lighting, very trendy at moment or the colour temperature of shot was set cooler than the blue light source.

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Does anyone have any hints for tone mapping? There's so many controls, I don't know where to begin. I can't seem to get the same "rendered" quality that everyone else is getting, and I don't know if that's because my source images aren't very good to begin with or if I don't know how to use the controls in Photomatix properly.

Also, is having too many exposures ever a bad thing? I mean, I hear a lot of people use 3-4 exposures to make their HDR, but if the opportunity is there, would it be bad to have, say, 10 exposures? Obviously the higher the dynamic range, the more exposures you need, but I'm just kinda talking in general.

Here's a few examples of what I've done:

Same building, different composition. This one's probably the closest I've gotten to getting that rendered look.

Same originals, but with more post-processing in Photomatix.

I know the composition here is terrible, but I took these pictures solely for the purpose of playing with the various controls in Photomatix (as opposed to actually trying to take a picture worth looking at). I used 5 exposures here, as opposed to the rest where I only used 3. I also wanted an excuse to play with my 16mm fisheye.