These are pics that I originally found on Flickr and do not belong to me. HDR is basically a technology that lets you present pictures with much more color and details than regular pics can. They're pretty cool and I just thought I'd share them with everybody:
Cool stuff, HDR is a very interesting process, but it is very subjective in the eye of the photographer. Alot of planning is needed. Because all these effects happen later on the computer, weather in Photoshop or Photomatix Pro. The photographer has to plan these exposures knowing later they will be combined to create the HDR effect. I have done alot with this technique. But the bottom line here is that the shot has to be a good shot to begin with. Some of my HDR photographs. Slim (See ya at Jalopy Showdown)
wow Slim, those pics are crazy. Have you ever tried printing them? My gf just got into HDR but she's had problems printing them. They don't look as good printed out as they do on the monitor.
Here's a definition from wikipedia and here's a tutorial on HDR. In plain English, the human eye can capture more lighting detail of a scene than a camera, computer or printer ever could by themselves. Kinda like the saying "you just had to see it in person...." or "a picture really doesn't do it justice..." HDR is a technique that allows cameras to capture more of that detail closer to what the human eye actually sees, and formats the pictures in a way that can be rendered on your computer and printed out. Its to pictures what HD is to TV.
Thanks you guys. What I do is set up my camera on a tripod. I set my camera on manual and shoot at least 3 different exposures. Once I am back at the studio I have been using Photomatix Pro. This allows me to combine the 3 exposures to create my vivid images. This can be achieved in Photoshop with one image and changing the adjustment layers or you can Do it in Adobe Bridge. Lot of ways to do it. It is just one of many techniques. But the bottom line is, it has to be a good shot to do any thing with it. I probably keep maybe 5-10 shots per 100-150 if I am lucky. As far as printing, my shots come out the way I want them. Either off my Epson or sent to a lab. Slim
Very cool. I have messed around with some HDR actions in photoshop but only with using one photo. I am going to viva on thursday and will be shooting a lot of pics with AEB turned on so that I will get 3 pics per shot. Hopefully in the tons of pics I take a few will turn out really nice.
Hope you get some great pics Lotus. Slim, I think one problem was that she didn't print it out in TIFF format. She used JPG. I would like to shoot some classic cars in my area. I guess I just have to keep a look out for shows etc. Thanks for all the advice.
Just got finished figuring out AEB for my camera and I will be using it at the viva las vegas car show. I am picking up a monopod from target in the morning since hand held would be impossible with the camera taking 3 pictures. I am using 2 steps each direction. Was a pain to get it working. Had to put the camera in burst mode and in RAW format and when it turns off the AEB setting seems to reset. I have had the camera for a few years and mainly only point and shoot in the auto mode. In the past when I have tried to get creative with the camera i have ended up with lots of blurry pics. Hopefully this time will be different.
Sorry to say, I don't like it much... but it seems to work for the primerd cars best. As photogs, you need to decide ifn you are going to document the cars, or "artsy-fartsy" them. I much prefer to see the cars the way their owners intended. These kinds of special effects belong Art and Inspiration threads, not event covereage, eh? Gary
I can try explain HDR, it stands for high dynamic range, put simply its 3 exposures, one to catch the detail of the light bits, one to cath the detail of the dark bits,and one normal exposure, they are then merged, so you are left with an image that has a high range of detail. It can be faked in photoshop, not to quite the same quality. just google it. Personally i think its a fad, and in a few years, people will be trying to "un-hdr" all their old pics.
Totally agree its a fad, its just one of the things I do with some of my photographs. If you look at my blog you will see my coverage is straight forward and meant to share what I see with the HAMB. Not really sure what artsy-fartsy means. Slim
I noticed this had creeped into the Goodguys book a bit...the pics in it for the last couple of months have this quality too them and that over saturated look. I think Street Rodder did it recently too with a red car. A little of this technique goes a long way. I think it is fine and interesting every now and then and what you have done looks good.
Me? just a canon digital rebel xt. on some pics I don't like it and on some I do. In the past I have just shot lots of the cars from the same angle...then I noticed some pics from a girl on here from the same show except she used some bitchen angles and really close ups. Since then I have been trying different things and the best I have done yet was some pics of my wife and her falcon. I used a photoshop filter to make them more blueish. I agree that it is artsy...I like it for the most part. A little goes a long way as is said in this thread.
The final look of a HDR photo depends on the post processing. They can be very natural looking with a great amount of detail from the shadow areas to the highlights (similar to what your eye sees), or they can be pushed to get the "artsy" look, as someone put it earlier, where they no longer look like a photo and look more like a painting. It all depends on your preference.
I would like to thank all of you for this thread! I did AEB +-2. So I ended up with three photos one with natural exposure and one 2 steps under processed and one two steps over processed. I then used Photomatix to combine the photos. I am brand new to photomatix and wanted to keep the photos close to natural looking and use the HDR for more detail vs using the tone controls in it where they get really exaggerated looking. I am going to go back and mess around with the photos again and see what all can be done. Also, I found out that people walking around in the background is the biggest problem. They end up like ghosts. If i was a pro shooting for a mag I would go in and photoshop them out as it would be easy to do. Thanks to this thread I am excited about shooting photos again. And, sorry if any of my terms are wrong in this post as I am brand new to this stuff. Here is a link to the photos I took. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=462564
I was messing around some and found a few I liked. I am having them made into posters for my kids room.
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