I went out to a wedding last weekend in Door County Wi. I took quite a few pictures while there. I was very happy with only a few of them (of course) but I had fun shooting anyway. I did some tinkering with the HDR again. you will have to let me know what you think. They could be a little too HDRey. FYI first one is not hdr and all were shot free hand.
The second photo is a great HDR, especially for shooting freehand! I couldn't even tell at first glance. Usually you will get some strange ghosting with such detailed subjects. The last image, however, is much too "HDR-ey" for my taste. It would look better if maybe a small amount of whites were clipped in the clouds and the halo effect was reduced.
Great tonemapping! Still get the HDR effect with a more realistic look. Very well done! Was this done with the standalone Photomatix program or with a plug-in?
Wow those last three pictures look really cool. I really like the picture of your car and the cherry spoon.
Damn some of these pictures are good. I wish I had the spare $ lying around for a good DSLR. Our point & click 5 yr old Canon just doesn't cut it.
I'd go for a used Canon Rebel XT if I were you. You can find them surprisingly cheap and they get the job done.
Use it! point and click cameras arent bad. its not teh camera that makes the photos look good. it can help but its all in the composition. i learned to take photos with a point and shoot long before i spent the cash on a slr. ...ansel adams didnt have a srl camera and hes one of the most famous photographers in history...
In simple layman terms: High Dynamic Range. The ability to take a series of different exposures of the same scene and combining them in post processing so basically all the image is properly exposed
Wow I really like all the pics! I really like the MNSOC sticker on the side skirt! Cherry Spoon... :cheers2: .... great job!
A tripod helps, but isnt neccessary unless you are doing some really long exposure times. I have done all of mine free hand. as for how to combine them... you can get a plug in for photoshop that will do it, or there are stand alone programs like photomatix. it isnt as simple as layering them, you need something (plugin or program) to brunch some numbers and make them into 1 image. At which point there are several settings to play with that allows you to alter how your images merge together and to what effect. Next time we meet up I can give you a run down on photomatix. just an FYI: from what I have read the photoshop plugins do not give you as much of an HRDey look as photomatix does. This can be both good or bad depending on what you are going for.
Most people seem to be using a program called Photomatix made by HDRsoft. Photoshop also has the ability to create HDR images in automate>merge to HDR, although without the photomatix plug-in, there is no tone mapping feature which gives the image that "HDR look".
Ok, All this HDR Talk made me look into it. Here's my first round at it. Specs on the image: -Taken in my yard about 20 minutes ago. -Nikon D80 -Tripod -Remote Shutter Release -Used Photomatrix Pro 3 -ISO: 200 -f / 4.2 @ 1/20sec -3 shots at +/-2f I made 2 HDR's out of it. First was the defaults for Photomatrix. 2nd is me messing around with the picture. I run a 2 monitor setup. On my 19 inch Viewsonic it looks really good. On my 17 inch NEC MultiSync LCD1765 it looks a little too overdone. The thing that's nice about have 2 different monitors is to know that everyone will see these photos, specifically the 2nd photo, in different ranges of colors. Like I said, my first round at it.
Another style of phototaking that I was just introduced to is called tilt shift photography. Here is the wikipedia about it. If you do some searching around you'll see all the pictures are taken from a high standpoint angled down at about a 45 degree angle. I was planning on taking one of these for the Big / Small photo contest, but never got around to it. I really need to get off my ass and start shooting more.
Looks good. Maybe try a scene where there is too much contrast to get all areas of the photo properly exposed. Say a sunset with a beach in the foreground or a room with heavy shadows under desks, tables, etc. Play around with it more and you will be able to use it to its full potential.
Oops sorry misunderstood your pictures. I thought the first one was before HDR and second was with Photomatix. Do you have the original images?
Ryan looking good! I think the second pic is a little to much, and the first one is not quite enough. Although it is hard for me to say as I am viewing them on my laptop screen. I have always enjoyed making HDR photos. I have found that the more practice you get the better and faster you can make them. Here are two that I made during the winter. The sunset one isnt the greatest, but I think it illustrates the advantages of HDR. I will post up the orignal pics in the next post.
Here is a breakdown on the sunset picture. I took 3 photos, one at normal exposure and one each at +2 and -2 exposure. By using a larger range of exposure and fewer picture (3 is a min) you will receive more of an HDR effect after you merge the photos. As you can see in each of the pictures there is something at the proper exposure. In the first picture at normal exposure it is the sky. the second pic at -2 exposure has the sun, while the 3rd pic at +2 exposure has the foreground. Merging to HDR allows me to capture all three of these aspect in one photo. I hope this is useful. All of these pictures were taken with my XSi. I was using the auto-exposure feature to take 3 pictures at 3 preset exposure levels. (I really like this feature!) I would also like to add that I have alter each of these photos already in photoshop to correct levels and curves prior to importing them in to photomatix.
Nice sunset HDR, although IMO, I think it could be a bit lighter all around. Perfect exposures for a HDR though!
I actually like my original shot a lot more. This was the "middle" image of the 3 exposures, so what I would use for a normal shot. There has been no touch up to this photo at all except for converting it from a raw image into a 800x600jpg.
I agree. The natural lighting for this photo was perfect. No HDR needed here. Great amount of contrast without blown highlights or clipped shadows. Image looks crisper than the HDR too.
Some of the original research I did on HDR discussed shooting in RAWs Vs. JPEG. It was actually very interesting. The writer shot pictures of the same object using 1 RAW and 3 JPEG at the same settings. He then simulated 3 images at different exposure from the RAW image. Then used his HDR program to compile the images. The HDRs which were originally shot in JPEG had more of HDR effect, and more vibrant color than those which were not. IIRC he contributed this to the compression the image undergoes while being stored as a JPEG. The difference was noticeable but not extraordinary. I will keep my eyes open for that article again. I agree 100%! This is one of my favorite photos.
Ok, so if you can't tell yet I'm really enjoying my subject in my yard.. my wife's flowers. Taken 5 minutes ago. Same camera specs, f / 16 @ 30 sec. Of course tripod and remote shutter release used. Only touch-up was changing the white balance from auto to "shade" Erin (my wife) says they look like they are on mars. lol.
I haven't seen anyone post any pics from the 4th! Lets see em Here are a couple shots I like from last weekend: First fish Ahh summer
DeeGee: I like the summer shandy pic. That looks awesome, what lens were you using? Also how do you do the selective coloring in the R/W/B photo? I have messed around in photoshop trying that before and it has never turned out for me. I took some cool pics on the 4th I will try and get them up sometime soon.
Shot this while at the cabin, turned out ok with some quick processing. Still needs a bit more work I think. Great looking photos in this thread lately. Keep them coming
Awesome pic! Dyn: Used a Tamron 17-50 f2.8. For the cost, it has been an outstanding lens. I wish I would have saved for the the canon 17-55 but $$$ yikes The selection was done the good ol fashion way, pen tool. shhhhh
Photography is a hobby of mine. Seems like a good number of people here have some spectacular talent.
I use a Canon XSi with the 18-55 kit lens, and occasionally the 75-300 zoom. I want to get some more glass but just cant bring myself to spend the extra $$$ when I am still pretty happy with kit stuff. Well here are 3 photos I took on the 4th. I actually didnt take too many, and pretty much all of them that I took were after it got dark out. which is something new for me. I have not had the greatest luck with shots taken at night. Let me know what you think of these 3. I will post some more later once I get a chance to resize them. BTW: keeping with my tradition these were all taken free hand
Great shots Dynapar. Especially for hand held low light. I usually use my tripod with my Xsi/kit lens for night shots. I'll have to give it a go this coming weekend.
That second photo is great, I keep waiting for the aliens to come creeping out of the light... Do you shoot digi or 35mm? I'm still stuck on the 35mm, can't beat the quality.
I am shooting digital. A Canon XSi. 12.2MP. Thanks all for the nice comments. I will have to start going through all of the pics I have taken over the last few months and have not uploaded to see if there is anything good ;-). for now here is one more from the 4th.
