More HDR Adventures

And here is another one

[IMG]http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u332/nathanever82/115.jpg[/IMG]

Well you did it Nathan!

It's a great image that suits the technique very well. Glad you managed to show us!

The second one is also splendid.

Here's another go, this time from one image processed several times to produce different "exposures" and with a bit more respect for reality:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/006-Boulge-HDR.jpg[/IMG]
Boulge Church, Near Woodbridge, Suffolk

I think that the allignment is absolutely perfect, spot on. Which means that at least that part of the HDR process is defnitely ok.

Now you might want to consider what are your intentions. I don't completely agree with the idea that an HDR has to be "extreme" because if it isn't its just not right. I quite like a moderate 'higher' dynamic range without overdoing it. But this is all up to you and your personal taste.

I think that this image is very very good, perhaps you might want to try and employ HDR in B&W photos because it gives a lot of creative range, without necessarily looking HDR crazy! In this specific case on my monitor it looks a bit over saturated, and I would probably like it more on the mono side. But the HDR effect is absolutely spot on.

Nathan

I like the church, too. This isn't usually my kind of thing, but it's still quite striking.

Any chance we could see the original for comparison?

The original version:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/020-Boulge-Church-800-1.jpg[/IMG]

Wellll to be completely honest, I like the original a lot... quite a bit more than the HDR.

It has amazing shadows, and colours....

But this is just my opinion

The original is far more realistic to the actual scene as it was. This was late evening light, in fact just five minutes of sun in an otherwise totally grey and overcast day.

Somebody was smiling down on us on that cold Friday evening, perhaps Edward FitzGerald himself...

Very interesting. Thanks for taking the trouble to post that.

Just out of curiosity, I took the liberty of having a go at it with the Shadows/Highlight tool in Photoshop, and although I could get it quite close, it wasn't the same as the look you've achieved above. In particular, I couldn't (quickly, at any rate) lift the shadows over on the right to anything like the same extent, although of course I was working with a much smaller JPG than your original.

Needless to say, as a photograph I much prefer the original - the shadows frame the subject really well, and the light is very attractive.

I agree with what you have both said. I'll keep on having a go at HDR for a while, but, with the exception of maybe some special effects, I have a feeling that as a technique it will be a dead-end.

I think you still need to play with the program alot more.

What you need to try out is the black and white point slides. These will make a big effect. The light smoothing will also change the light all over the shot as well. Try combine these and you will have some very different shots.

Last - you need to experience with the ev spacing. I'm not sure what you have done to these. It looks like 3 frames with 1 ev spacing.

To add more contrast try use 2 ev spacing.

To get the best tonal range try 5 frames with 1 ev spacing.

I do like the church a lot.

(by the way - it is easier to just tonemap a single image instead of producing 3 or 5 different exposures. It will have the same effect)

Here it is using redynamix HDR

As Ed said (more or less): "And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught,
The ancient tower in a noose of light".

This is a great example of a picture taken at the golden hour.

G