Trying to learn some HDR

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Digital Latte

Rob and Tracy
I love the idea, but never have tried it very seriously....... Here is a truck we shot today

eeeacd69.jpg
 

ejones

Member
That truck is "shot" isn't it? :)

I think the HDR is good on this one, not over done at all. Composure wise I'd go for a little less space on the bottom and left side with a little more on top and right.
 

Digital Latte

Rob and Tracy
That truck is "shot" isn't it? :)

I think the HDR is good on this one, not over done at all. Composure wise I'd go for a little less space on the bottom and left side with a little more on top and right.


Yeah, it was "shot" for sure. I didn't have much time to compose, the land owners friend let us on the land, he made the owner out to be kind of a grouch.

I really wanted to come back another time and shoot it with some speedlights, but he suggested I take the shot now, "you never know what will happen in the future" he said.... hahaha
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
Very nicely done, you look to be learning it well.

You're also doing well on HDR 101 - Intro to HDR, in which the course sylabus always seems to say "Find an old truck..." :) I guess it's because they lend themselves to the technique so well.
 

Benton

New Member
I understand the concept of HDR, but have never tried it. Could someone (DL?) explain the mechanics of it?

o Do the tools assume you were using a tripod and the base images are exactly aligned or does the app provide a manual or automatic alignment stage?

o I heard Photomatix and PS mentioned, are these the tools people mainly use or are there others?

o DL, could you post some info on your base frames? I'm assuming a centered exposure plus two bracketing ones? Could you say a little about the above/below exposures -- how far above/below? Maybe post the center one so I could see what you were working with?

Benton 23dec10
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
o Do the tools assume you were using a tripod and the base images are exactly aligned or does the app provide a manual or automatic alignment stage?

Using a tripod is highly recommended, as is using a fixed aperature, constant ISO, fixed focus and white balance. Basically, set the camera up, lock everything down and only vary the shutter speed. Anything you can do to make the images as close to identical except for exposure length is good. You can, however, shoot hand held, especially if you do it using your camera's bracketing feature, which should result in very little movement between frames.

The popular programs have an automatic alignment option, and you go manual if you prefer. Auto works quite well for most images.

o I heard Photomatix and PS mentioned, are these the tools people mainly use or are there others?

Photomatix is the most popular. The HDR tools in Photoshop were lame up until version 5, apparently it's quite good now.

Nik Software has introduced a very nice program called HDR EFX Pro (Or however they speel it.) I'm quite pleased with it, and find the images to be more natural looking and the options easy to understand.

As you would expect with a popular technique, there are lots of options, from quite expensive dedicated pograms to some public domain and shareware options.

o DL, could you post some info on your base frames? I'm assuming a centered exposure plus two bracketing ones? Could you say a little about the above/below exposures -- how far above/below? Maybe post the center one so I could see what you were working with?

DL will have to answer that one, but here's what's generally suggested. Use 3 or 5 frames. 7 frames is overkill for anything but some wildly extreme situation. Go from 1/3 stop to 1 stop difference. (Pick one and stick with it for that set of images).

More frames mean more detail, but also introduce more chance of ghosting, artifacts, noise, previously invisible dust looking like giant grease spots on your lens etc.

Smaller stop differences mean more natural looking images, but then again, you may not be gaining much over a single exposure. Larger differences mean more details in shadow and highlights, but the same problems noted above.

There are TON of ways to do HDR. You'll find a vast amount of suggestions out there, some good, some bad. The best way to figure it out is to play around. Photomatix has a free trial version, and so does HDR Efx Pro.
 
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squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
got a bit of halo effect around the left front wheel or the undercarriage, but otherwise it's quite good.
 

Digital Latte

Rob and Tracy
o DL, could you post some info on your base frames? I'm assuming a centered exposure plus two bracketing ones? Could you say a little about the above/below exposures -- how far above/below? Maybe post the center one so I could see what you were working with?

Benton 23dec10


In this image I did 3 exposures, -1 0 +1 , But in this thread I did 5 exposures and the results IMO is much better.

I have decided that 5 will be my ideal minimum, over the next few days I am going to try 5 7 and 9 and see how they come out....

Bob pretty much nailed everything else, Mirror lock up helps a lot
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
DL, if you would humor us, I'm interested in an experiment.

Using the same sequence, do them with 5, 7 and 9 images. I'd like to see how the results vary. For me, 5 seems to be the sweet spot, but there are so many ways to do HDR your results may be different.

For my next experiment, I'm going to use more frames, but less difference between them. i.e. I might do 5 exposure, but only 2/3 stop difference. I'll let you know how it comes out.
 
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