Trying out HDR....C&C Please

simonp1

Finding very difficult not to overcook it

daycent

The blues look a bit over saturated to me.

Also, HDR is only suitable for some photos, basically when the dynamic range is too much for the camera to capture in one exposure. I don't think HDR is of any benefit in this shot.

pete4130

Moe contrast with levels and curves and remember to desaturate the colours when you boost contrast or else it'll look like a cartoon/fake.

This is an old HDR or two of mine where I've tried to make them look as normal as possible without making them looking ridiculous and nothing like real photos. Some people tend to favour that look though.

simonp1

Hi Pete

First one I would never have figured as HDR.. both are fantastic though.

Daycent cheers I know this other one is way over saturated too and all but like it all the same

Thanks for comments

pete4130

Keep the Luminosity towards the right hand side so it avoids looking cartoonish if you want them to look more natural. Also do the minimal amount in photomatix that you can. I usually just adjust colour strength and colour saturation a little, then maybe adjust the gamma. The rest you do in photoshop (if you haven't been doing that) and try to get everything under control with the saturation. Some shots just don't really work out as the dynamic range is too great and the sky looks odd.

HDR can be useful for getting some extra punch/contrast/detail in the image from a single image file (if it doesn't produce too much noise) and converting it to black and white, especially for portraits. I shot this guy late one night in shepherds bush in London. He was looking for a few odds to get another drink for the night. Some people were giving him abuse/teasing him that I was with so I asked him if I could shoot his picture so people would give him a break.

I think the key is to be as subtle as possible with the processing and extract the detail rather than making it look like an HDR. Toning them down in post processing is a big step. It's easy to get carried away.

Less is more!

simonp1

That a stunning portrait Pete, I hear what your saying and will definitely keep those suggestions in mind. Not so good with the Technical side of post processing yet I nearly always just go with what looks good to my eye and making adjustments to sliders that i don't really understand what they actually do...:)
Anyway cheers for the tips.

Simon

ThOnda

High Dynamic Range, how to describe it? Well, for me it is basically altering the exposure levels in black and white analogue printing.
The problem with most of HDR pictures on the web is that most of the programs also alter saturation of colours and create blotches of colours and maps all over the image.
Sometimes, conversion into BW helps you to see how it works (or does not work) and most of the time the picture looks better in BW.

The idea of HDR is to produce picture with enough information in areas of desired tonality.

Unfortunately most of the pictures are processed with different aim or fail to fulfill such requirements.

And that is also reason why I am deliberately trying to avoid the need for such processing. And why also don't comment on such pictures, because it is easy to take it personally when somebody posts non-flattering comment on your own picture. My rule of a thumb is - if I can see that it is HDR, it is bad HDR.

But I am only encouraging everybody who wants to do HDR pictures, please, continue, learn and try. HDR is fantastic tool that can help to produce fantastic picture as shown for example by pete4130 in this thread.

simonp1

Thanks ThOnda for the input, I believe there is some improvement looks a little less like hdr.

DK32

I made a short tutorial for a photo club on HDR a while back, must dig it out and put it on my blog if it's any use.

Couple of things I found that help me get fairly consistent results;
Convert RAW files into .tiff in photoshop.
Make sure that the white balance settings for each image are the same.
Make sure that the f-stop is identical.
Then I use photomatix to compile & tone map the final image.
Then I run it through photoshop for all the little adjustments, curves, brightness, contrast etc...

Some prefer the natural look, others like the cartoon or painterly effect. Both can work depending on the image you are trying to create.

Fenster

I'm going to have to call total 'meh' on your two shots. The composition is horrible in both of them, and the HDR effect is just as bad.

simonp1

1.
2.

pete4130

It's still very "dreamy" looking. You need to bring the luminosity slider more to the right and cool it with colour strength and saturation. Use the HDR technique to extract the detail and not an HDR looking effect. Then in post processing boost levels and curves (contrast/punch) and destaurate the colours if they go a bit awol. don't be afriad to use levels/curves/desaturate a few times to get what you want and selective burning/dodging too. It's esy to over do it and tough to get it right (not that there is a right or wrong, just so it looks natural if you want it to!)

simonp1

pete4130 wrote: »

It's still very "dreamy" looking. You need to bring the luminosity slider more to the right and cool it with colour strength and saturation. Use the HDR technique to extract the detail and not an HDR looking effect. Then in post processing boost levels and curves (contrast/punch) and destaurate the colours if they go a bit awol. don't be afriad to use levels/curves/desaturate a few times to get what you want and selective burning/dodging too. It's esy to over do it and tough to get it right (not that there is a right or wrong, just so it looks natural if you want it to!)[/QUOTE

Cheers Pete4130, will keep playing with it

Simon

Bosshogg

Fenster wrote: »

I'm going to have to call total 'meh' on your two shots. The composition is horrible in both of them, and the HDR effect is just as bad.

I like straight comments (and am I the d*head for giving them out) but then there's "mean". Kinda on the line here, a matter of phrasing perhaps imo.


@Simon:
I think you're breaking your back over a bad subject (light wise) for you project. I suggest a restart to your project.
Try a competely different subject for "Trying out HDR". Something that you can see greater results with. For example, walk 50feet into a tunnel and shoot wide back into the daylight. Now you can bring up the dark tunnel interior and pull down the hard exterior daylight. It doesn't have to be a tunnel, it could be your out your bedroom window, from inside an old warehouse, deep in a forest onto the clear, from the back seats on the top deck of a bus on a sunny day etc.

Shoot from a tripod only. Shoot in RAW. Shoot a range of exposures; expose for brightest (sky) + expose for darkest (tunnel floor) and make about 5 exposures looking at the meters only for everything inbetween.

Now do your tweaky tinkering in software.

I hope this will be a good lead for you.

:0)

Fenster

Granted, I am being mean - but all I see in those photos is wankery with the tone mapping sliders in Photomatix. HDR is a wonderful and amazing processing technique that lets you gloriously expand on the visible dynamic range on an image, but most people don't get past the 'hay guyz, look at this cool effect!' that comes from tone mapping. And that is precisely what I see in those photographs.

If Simon such a scene as it would require application of HDR to bring out the most of the vista (i.e., inside a room looking out) I would be the first to applaud him. But here? All I seriously see are some middling (I like the last one posted a few posts above) images of a mansion house with a garish tone-mapping effect slapped on top.

Bosshogg

Fenster wrote: »

Granted, I am being mean - but all I see in those photos is wankery with the tone mapping sliders in Photomatix.

If Simon such a scene as it would require application of HDR to bring out the most of the vista (i.e., inside a room looking out) I would be the first to applaud him. But here? All I seriously see are some middling (I like the last one posted a few posts above) images of a mansion house with a garish tone-mapping effect slapped on top.

You now mention Simon directly so now I'm not sure who the original remark was aimed at.

uh, ermm, ehhh.... First thing; "wankery". I'm guessing you can't see the problem. That's ok. There's critique and there's insults. As I said "phrasing" is key. Now I'm all for talking hard ball MAN to MAN (in particular when it's face to face) but there's also an issue of etiquette and respect or common social courtesy. Don't think I'm being a snob because the name "Bosshogg" if you break it down is there for a reason, and it has a lot to do with me being a right pig.

However when a fella puts his photos out to the public he's opening the heart of his efforts. You could mean to be cruel to be kind but I'll say it again "phrasing is key".

I'm not disagreeing with you. I am to the point of any forum trying to contribute, in this case to you Fenster. Don't get banned for being an @sswipe - be polite, sugar coat your opinion. (I don't like it but sugar gets rid of the bitter taste of criticism)

I'm not a mod here nor do I want to be, and if I was I still wouldn't ban ya, based on my acceptance of others, especially in an artistic forum where all personalities are key but... I still don't think a critique needs to be an insult, or an assault on other coz you think you know better about taking bleedin photos.
In the digital age everyone knows all there is about taking photos - [sigh]

If you do know better then think of them as your kid cousin and lead them on to new ground.


I hold my hands up and say I'm sorry if that comes accross as an earfull but fair to you and fair to the OP that's how I see it.

simonp1

Hi Fenster/Bosshog

No need for any banning on my thread I put them up for C&C so I expect the worst but Bosshog your right about Phrasing the critique correctly. Some might not post anymore...

Anyhow thanks for the comments good and bad..mostly bad;) this is a process that will take time to master (if ever) and what I have learned not all images can make good HDR plus of course "if it looks hdr it's not hdr"

Cheers

Simon