HDR Images

I'll kick it off, but as a suggestion, let's all post some HDR images where we think the technique suits the subject.


Not strictly HDR, but made using Photomatix. We start off with the presets and choose the closest to the end result and then do the final tweak in Photoshop.

Here's one of Birmingham Library, three bracketed exposures processed with Photomatix and LR.

John, there are some light and dark patches on the top and middle rows; some diaphanous cutlery (?) on the bottom left and a curious looking bright area on the right hand quarter of the bottom right hand plate. Are these in the original images & due to lighting or shadows - or were they introduced by the Photomatix processing?

Hullman - I like the Birmingham Library image. Did you try correcting the mids and lifting the shadows in LR for just the shot with the lowest exposure? If you did, how does it compare with the image you posted here?

Andrew

This is one from me, a London view, 2 shots edited in Photomatix Pro then PSE 10.
I used HDR on this as I wanted a big finish to suit the view which is from the London Design Museum.



Taken with a K5 and DA 18-135 WR.

AndrewK, what you see are reflections as these petwer plates were behind glass.

John's one, the first, does not really have any particular HDR 'characteristics' as such. If anything there is a tightly controlled dynamic range, with deep but soft blacks, and ever so slightly dulled highlights, an approach which I'm sure suited the glass casing well.

The next two are more obviously using the technique .... Hullman's is quite a colour blast! Its bold and 'in ya face' but works I think because the colour tones are made to complement each other between the sky and building.

Andrew's has the clear 'tone compressor' look, with some grittiness to stonework and that telltale 'blush' on areas that are clearly not really lit much in reality. It succeeds in its purpose though, revealing detail and allowing the eye to peek around taking everything in equally.

This thread stemmed I think from the other one where there was talk of the 'in camera' HDR feature, so here I'll post one example of that as a contrast (and comparison) to the computer software examples above ....

This is East Croydon train station, taken on the K7 with DA 18-55 AL WR. Just passing through I didn't have a tripod so managed to balance the camera enough on a seat edge for the stability needed for the 3 exposures. It was taken on the camera 'medium' setting, with some minus exposure compensation.

I dabbled with HDR for a little while but soon got bored.

Having said that now and again a subject comes along that is suited to bracketing and merging.

I like this one of the Dark Knight that I took on the streets during a festival. I think the tones and grungy nature of the HDR suits the super hero and its mystique.

One photo with some Photomatix work

This one is a seven exposure HDR of Ripon Cathedral. The colours were very intense, the contrast range was excessive, so the technique was used to bring all these things within the dynamic range. It also won best print for me at the Wigan 10 Big Day of Photography a few years ago.

I tend to shy away from HDR normally, but like many others I will use it on a very few occasions if the subject demands it. Here are three examples of shots by me where I think it may have helped:










Regards
David

I like both the caped crusader and the cathedral! Is it fair to say that so far, all of the posted images are suited to the technique?

Sorry David, yours just came in ! I like them also, and again I feel they are suited to the approach, although yours David don't have a sense of DR compression like the others ... I mean, you have kept the highlights very bright generally (perhaps too much behind the old man?)

Thanks Nigel, I tend to try and achieve a natural look and I don't use HDR to compress the dynamic range as such, I use it to ensure the full range is 'readable'. The natural light was very bright behind the old farmer, so this is how I've represented it in the image. What the HDR has done is enable me to present the bright background along with the details in the old man's face, whereas a single exposure traditionally processed would have compromised to some extent on one or the other.

Regards
David

A Window in Chichester Cathedral:




This was captured on a bright sunny day in July, using a Pentax K-5 II and the 18-135mm WR zoom. It was shot hand-held, in the Auto HDR Mode with Auto Align on. Settings were: f=60mm, ISO 1600, 1/250s, f/5.6, and Auto WB. The resulting full-size premium-quality camera JPEG has been processed for: vertical perspective correction, unsharp mask, and bicubic resampling to web size, using PaintShop Pro X6.

Cheers.
Philip

One taken tonight. K3+16-50mm.




Best regards

I've not done much in the way of HDR and barely used Photomatix Essentials yet but here's an attempt this morning on my walk to work through Winnall Moors. Without HDR it would have been nigh impossible to balance up the sky with the foreground. There's a lot of presets in Photomatix, some i really do not like, some that do very little and others that are more balanced. I chose a balanced one and then tweaked a little. The image is straight from the camera, haven't got round to deciding if some of the sky or busy foreground needs chopping.
Used the K5 with the Sigma 10-20:

Usually HDR / HDR with Photomatix is overused. This image is comic-book perfect - Nice job - as the song goes- Ya' gotta know when to hold em'. know when to fold em' - here you held them just right for the subject, and the simple background allows the nuances to glow - Tony