# More HDR photography



## mimic (Jan 9, 2006)

You all seem to be posting your HDR stuff, so I thought I'd go out and take some new HDR shots today.



















Let me know what you guys think.


----------



## InsaneSkippy (Aug 28, 2007)

Wow those are really cool! I've yet to try HDR photography but I think I will now.


----------



## sunny_j (Sep 24, 2006)

i like the pic of yvr...... what exactly is HDR?


----------



## mimic (Jan 9, 2006)

sunny_j said:


> i like the pic of yvr...... what exactly is HDR?


HDR photography stands for High Dynamic Range photography. The purpose of HDR photography is to capture the detail in area's of the image not normally possible with a single exposure. For example... you have a bright sunny sky with nice fluffy clouds, and on the ground you have some tree's and say your car. Well in a normal exposure you wouldn't be able to capture all the detail in your car and tree's as well as in the sky and clouds. Usually the sky is blown out. With HDR you're able to expose all the detail of the image. The method is really simple. Using your camera on a tri-pod, you take anywhere between 3 to 9 single exposures. Between each exposure you adjust the shutter speed or aperture to take the image from extremely dark, to extremely bright.










After you have your images with the range of tonal lighting, you use software such as Photomatix Pro or Photoshop CS2 or CS3 to create the HDR image. The software merges all the exposures together, and using Tone Mapping is able to blend the brightest and darkest points evenly, creating an image that is not possible with just a single exposure.

For more info on HDR photography and examples, I would suggest reading wikipedia.


----------



## sunny_j (Sep 24, 2006)

thats pretty cool. ill try it out.


----------



## mimic (Jan 9, 2006)

If you want any help, let me know. I'd love to see your car in person.


----------



## sunny_j (Sep 24, 2006)

for sure..... ill pm you when work slows down


----------



## Desiboy (Apr 1, 2005)

Good stuff, i especially like the first. Looks like HDR is taking off here . What'd you use, CS3 or Photomatix?


----------



## Cliff (Apr 19, 2002)

I like the first photo a lot. The subject could be more interesting, but it's a very good illustration of the technique. I'm going to have to play around with Photomatix a bit at home with some existing images and see what I can produce.


----------



## mimic (Jan 9, 2006)

Desiboy said:


> Good stuff, i especially like the first. Looks like HDR is taking off here . What'd you use, CS3 or Photomatix?


I use Photomatix to do the HDR generation, and then save as a 16-bit TIFF and edit in Photoshop, doing final adjustments, and to get rid of some of the noise that Photomatix creates.


----------



## jman103099 (Jun 10, 2006)

I like both of them... Im just getting started with HDR as well. I dont have Photomatix, but do have Photoshop CS2 and it seems to work pretty well. Photoshop is one thing I where I wish I had more time to learn. Nice shots, keep posting!


----------



## Maximus57 (May 13, 2005)

Sounds very much like the Zone System using digital photography instead of film.


----------



## mimic (Jan 9, 2006)

Here's two more that I just took tonight. A little more captivating and interesting I think.


----------



## Cliff (Apr 19, 2002)

I'll have to explore this some more once I get to Sydney.


----------



## Ashe (Dec 20, 2001)

that is sweet, I am going out today to try some around here.


----------



## Test_Engineer (Sep 11, 2004)

Here is an entire flickr group dedicated to photomatix HDR images.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/photomatix/

Another aspect of HDR can also be shooting the same subject at different f-stops to get EVERYTHING in focus. This typically turns out very strange, because you have very little feel of depth perception, because everything is so sharp. I know there are a few examples out there, but it is not as popular.


----------



## Desiboy (Apr 1, 2005)

OK, I'll repost mine here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sammyjd40/sets/72157600667015222/

These are from a flickr friend, best I've ever seen:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/



> Another aspect of HDR can also be shooting the same subject at different f-stops to get EVERYTHING in focus. This typically turns out very strange, because you have very little feel of depth perception, because everything is so sharp. I know there are a few examples out there, but it is not as popular.


Got any examples?


----------



## Ashe (Dec 20, 2001)

This is also a free version of HDR software http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/


----------



## Test_Engineer (Sep 11, 2004)

Desiboy said:


> Got any examples?


just search HDR images in google images and you will start to see some crazy looking shots where everything is in focus and it just looks very unnatural, almost like a painting.


----------



## jman103099 (Jun 10, 2006)

Test_Engineer said:


> just search HDR images in google images and you will start to see some crazy looking shots where everything is in focus and it just looks very unnatural, almost like a painting.


I think I like the shots that look more natural... sometimes people will take the color saturation up way to high, almost to where it looks cartoon like(?) Maybe that's just me. I cant wait to try this with some night shots! :thumbup:


----------

