Arley Chapel HDR

This is a seven image HDR of Arley Chapel at Arley Hall. The range of lighting varies far more than any camera could possibly hope to record, so HDR is one way to being all that under control.

I'm wondering what you think and whether or not you would have known it was HDR for sure, perhaps had suspicions or perhaps would not have guessed?

There's nothing about that image that would instantly make me think that it was an HDR shot, primarily because it's not overdone like so many are.

I would eventually wonder if the roof of the church was missing though as I've never seen a church as bright inside, which might lead me to think it was an HDR shot.

Lovely image all the same.

very subtle John, would not have guessed HDR for sure but obviously some form of merging. what software do you use for HDR? have not seen any thing this mellow from Photomatix

It was Photomatix, followed by final touches in Photoshop CS5.

i am impressed, do you start with one of the presets or just the merged output and straight into the sliders?
any chance a tutorial could be forthcoming?

I check the presets first and if there's one that gives me a head start I use that and then finish the process with further adjustments and then Photoshop. There's no point doing more work than necessary.

Sometimes nothing suits "off the peg" and then I'll start from scratch.

I do sometimes cover Photomatix in camera club talks, and I think it's the sort of thing that does need to be live in person. Then the audience can ask questions and there's some two way communication.

If you have any questions I'm happy to try to answer them.

Nicely done John. Immediate impression was not of an HDR picture but as Peter said, the light is a little odd for a church photo.

If you think about it, HDR can be what we would all see if we were in the room. Our eyes are constantly adjusting the exposure, focus and scanning so we experience a different image to the one the camera captures. I think HDR is a useful technique to give us a picture that closely matches what we would have seen if we had been in the room.

for instance which method was used to obtain this result, tone compressor or detail enhancer also what gap do you use on your exposures? i tend to use 5 with 2 stop gap, not sure if that is too much, if you can have too much

It is one hell of a good HDR John and is the perfect subject for this type of work. The only slight observation I have is that the red tones tend to dominate a bit; this is something I've noticed with HDR's that I have done with Photomatix, so I tend to tone the reds down a little when using this software.

That's nitpicking though, it's a great image.

Regards
David

The exposures were seven images one stop apart, detail enhancer was used. I don't think anything is "right" or "wrong" if it ends up how we want the image to look. There are so many variables possible.

It does not look to me any way a HDR image however it is a lovely capture.

Ian

I like this - certainly not an obvious HDR IMHO

Confirmed HDR hater here admits he likes this one John. I'm particularly impressed with how you have kept the stained glass window as a feature of the shot.

As you ask, the HDR bell did ring straight away for me, but with just a few more shadows left I might have had some doubts.

Excellent job and great capture.