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Adventures in High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography

  • Thread starter Kyle
  • Start date
I'm just starting to give this a try, got my first one yesterday evening.

selahhdr.png


Our horse in front of the smoke of a nearby fire (High Park fire) close to sunset. Far from perfect, but I am quite happy with it.

Anyone else dabbled with the technique at all? If so, please share! Like focus stacking, it opens up a whole new realm of possibilities...
 
Grr, don't have available software right now, or ever... Need to download some.

Incredible photo!
 
I can't say I have, but I'd love to know more about it! :9~
 
Thanks, Peatmoss.

@Brokken: From wikipedia: "High dynamic range imaging (HDRI or HDR) is a set of methods used in imaging and photography, to allow a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging methods or photographic methods. This wide dynamic range allows HDR images to represent more accurately the range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight, and is often captured by way of a plurality of differently exposed pictures of the same subject matter."

Basically, if you're familiar at all with focus stacking, it's a similar procedure, except with exposure instead of focus. Generally, you take three pictures (though more or less can be used, sometimes even 1 image if it's a RAW), all at different exposures so that you capture very bright stuff (in my example, the sky and clouds/smoke), mid stuff (the grass, fence, that stuff), and the dark stuff (the horse) all at perfect exposures, then use software to combine them in one image, using only the properly-exposed pieces of each image. The ultimate result is one image where everything is (hopefully) perfectly exposed.

@Wire Man: Some great shots. What software are you using? That first one has some pretty severe ghosting, though it looks like you might've used a deghosting tool on the one or two pitchers you put focus on. That one must've been tough to work with with so much movement in the pitchers. Thanks for sharing!

Anyone else got some to share?! ^.^
 
I kind of like the ghosting on that one. Wind is not your friend with HDR. I made sure those two pitchers were in the same spot for every photo, could have cared less about the others. I use CS3 and 5 exposures.
 
Does your camera offer 5 auto-bracketed shots, or do you get 5 shots manually?
 
amazing Kyle.
 
That's a gorgeous shot dude... HDR is something i've wanted to toy with but havent gotten around to yet.. Same with IR..
 
  • #10
5 manual exposures, more control that way. My camera does offer multiple bracketing, but I never use it since it never looks quite as good.
 
  • #11
Im not a fan of HDR..
I dont care for the way it looks..
to me, it just looks gimmicky.

Scot
 
  • #12
Im not a fan of HDR..
I dont care for the way it looks..
to me, it just looks gimmicky.

Scot

That's only the overly processed stuff. I like to keep mine subtle. A single exposure rarely shows the depth of tones that appear on the actual object. It can be useful in situations with harsh lighting, or with extreme amounts of contrast.
 
  • #13
That's only the overly processed stuff. I like to keep mine subtle. A single exposure rarely shows the depth of tones that appear on the actual object. It can be useful in situations with harsh lighting, or with extreme amounts of contrast.

hmm..I see what you mean.
I agree the less-processed shots do look better..
sort of like "digital zone system" in a way..(I worked on a similar process at Kodak.)

Scot
 
  • #14
Yes, these can look very odd if not done right - of course that could be intentional.

Really, this isn't so different of the old school methods to achieve the same - dodging/burning prints, variable contrast paper, gradient filters, multiple exposures and multiple lights.

Remember folks for this to work you should use a tripod and you have to change the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed not the f-stop.
 
  • #15
amazing Kyle.
Thank ya kindly.

That's a gorgeous shot dude... HDR is something i've wanted to toy with but havent gotten around to yet.. Same with IR..
Thanks! I've been wanting to try it too, finally got around to it. IR stuff is pretty cool too, but don't you need a lens/filter for it?

5 manual exposures, more control that way. My camera does offer multiple bracketing, but I never use it since it never looks quite as good.
Funny, I find exactly the opposite. I like auto-bracketing way more because it's far faster, hence less chance for ghosting. Put the camera on continuous shot, hold the button for a couple seconds, done. Lot less movement that way, in my experience.

Im not a fan of HDR..
I dont care for the way it looks..
to me, it just looks gimmicky.

Scot
Yessir, that's not uncommon. One of the articles I read on the subject (written by a pretty heavy hitter in HDR, so to speak), said that he finds around 20% of people just do not like HDR. I have issues with some of it too; like others, the overly done stuff can be really weird. But I find it more surreal than gimmicky.

Remember folks for this to work you should use a tripod and you have to change the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed not the f-stop.
Or with exposure compensation, as is the case when using auto-bracketing.
 
  • #16
...Or with exposure compensation, as is the case when using auto-bracketing.
Pardon my lack of knowledge with the new cameras ... is there a way to adjust exposure that doesn't change either shutter speed (ie: duration) or f-stops (ie: light intensity)?
 
  • #17
Not that I know of. AEB just automatically sets shutter speed for you at pre-determined intervals (typically in 1/3 stop increments, from -2 to +2). Just makes it easy to get the three shots you need at the stops you want them at.
 
  • #18
You can change the exposure by changing ISO, shutter speed and/or f-stop. Changing the ISO in manual mode should not change the shutter speed or f-stop. Auto-bracketing/exposure compensation usually changes the shutter speed in aperture priority mode or the f-stop in shutter priority mode. For HDR you don't want to change the f-stop as detail can go in and out of focus due to the change of Depth of Field. These can be confused as tonal changes by the HDR software and create unwanted effects or artifacts. I'm not sure if anybody except Pentax has an ISO priority mode.
 
  • #19
You can change the exposure by changing ISO, shutter speed and/or f-stop. Changing the ISO in manual mode should not change the shutter speed or f-stop.
Ah yes - with a given film, ISO was constant but now that's another variable to play with - interesting. I've yet to get my head around it - probably since it's not a variable on my Point & Shoot....
 
  • #20
LOL, yes, of course... ISO. Derp.
 
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