Ok...so I just used my Canon P&S SD870 IS. I took the shots, then put them in microsoft photo viewer and made a lighter version and darker version. I then downloaded photomatix v.3.2.

Not great, but I'll get there some day.
Here,
Original,

and here are 2 that I messed with.



and this was with another one...the 2nd one has the watermark, I'm guessing they only let you mess with one photo before putting it on the pic.
original



Suggestions and comments are great.
Thanks!

 

The second one, you need to increase the highlights, your front bumper goes away.

But it is a very good first try.
HDR is alot of trial and error, I sometimes screw with a photo in photomatix and make 20 or 30 shots and then pick the one that looks the best.

 

Thanks man...yeah, I figured it takes a lot of messing with it because it's so subjective. Sometimes even to yourself...something will look good until you see the next one that looks better! lol.

 

I think something exposed halfway between the second and third picture could look quite nice. The second one screams 'I am overexposed', and it looks blatently photoshopped with that non-overexposed chunk in the upper left. You should consider cropping that corner out, if necessary.

HDR is interesting in that you have to really focus on what you want - realism, or that hyper-contrasty "HDR look". Both have their own merits, but you don't really want to ditz around in the middle - it just leads to a picture that kind of looks mostly real but just photoshopped. Your last picture falls into that category, I think, because the only colors with hyper contrast are the blues, and the rest look mostly normal.

I need to start playing around with HDR again - I did some shooting in Antelope Canyon and had to use 3 shot brackets to deal with the huge dynamic range there.

- Frank

 

I need to start messing with this.

Nice pics!

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I LOVE that surreal effect of the HDR...so that's probably what I'm going for. I have NO idea what I'm doing as I just recently even learned that it's 3 different images laid on each other. I read up on photomatix and realized that would be a good place to start.

I actually ended up downloading something called "snagit" to grab the image before I hit "process" in photomatix

 

The 2nd shot looks good as your Avatar.

 

You've got a keen eye, Mr. Bell...very keen indeed. Lol...The more I look at these the more I realize I TOTALLY don't have HDR down at all. I have the idea down but I def. need more guidance and studying.

 

HDR using a p&s is your problem. You're tweaking 1 jpeg image.. it won't cut it. On the first shot, use photoshop and open two layers being the over & underexposed shots @ ~50%.. you might want to throw in the original as well & concentrate on the highlights & shadows. Keep the enthusiasm & save up for a dslr!

 

Majofo...thank you for the tips man...I was originally told that I could try and get by with a point and shoot, but obviously that's not the case. Once I have the funds to really dive into this, I'll go for it hardcore!

 

I've been able to do HDR with my casio p&s but it requires a tripod & shooting 3 exposures, then post process in cs. So it's possible but a PITA, especially if one of your snaps is off. It's definitely addicting once you get into it.. I've been too lazy to post anything.

 

I started playing with Photomatix this weekend. I have a feeling it's going to take some time to get to really know it.

 

Very nice shots! Yeah, we've got a ways to go.
Majofo...I'd love to see some of your better stuff soon.
I guess I will have to consider getting a DSLR if I decide to make this a serious hobby/frame and hang in my house type of thing...

J.

 

Okay I think I'm starting to get the hang of it





Before:

After:

 

Wow...you learn fast! Are you using DSLR?

 

Yeah, I have a D3000. I feel like you HAVE to have a tripod in order to get this right. Photomatix is a pretty cool program, I think I'm going to buy it.

 

your befores are way better.

 

I agree. I'm not a fan of the super over-processed HDRs.

 

I like the second over-processed one, but only because it looks like a pencil drawing and not a photograph.

 

I think the overprocessed look is what got me hooked to begin with. Almost like mixing beauty and surrealism into one photo. I'm a big fan of that.

 

Yeah and it takes a lot of practice and post process knowledge to really make GOOD HDR stand out like that.

Otherwise it looks like the same over-processed eyeball straining pieces of crap that everyone and their who discovered the fad known as HDR make.

 

Yeah, to a certain degree I do agree. I don't know enough about it and am not good at it enough to know WHY one is better or worse than another. But I can definitely tell the ones that take your breath away and the ones that are kinda overdone to the point where you can't tell the original colors.

Def. takes time and dedication...but it's also very subjective. Not sure about it being a fad but I personally fell in love with a few pictures in a thread on here and didn't even know what it was called until recently.

I guess it has a lot to do with what you're shooting too...like this one...has a cool effect, but almost looks like a still shot of a video game...which, ironically...is trying to mimic life.

but then this i think is gorgeous..

 

The only good one of those is the train shot and that is because they worked to keep it looking more realistic.

The barrels is horrid, and eye straining.

The house shot is OK, nothing special one way or the other.

 

All subjective, but in this case, I agree.

 

I like the processed pictures. It's all about what you like. As rockstar said it's all subjective.

I went out and took some more pics today, excited to get home and play some more.

 

its subjective to a point and bad is bad.

 

Ok.

 

Okay, I think I've found exactly what I have been looking for. I never really wanted "HDR" in terms of what everyone else is looking for. I basically want what HDR was originally thought to be: Compressing a high dynamic range scene down so that highlights and shadows aren't blown out.

What I don't want (or want as little as possible) is for relative brightnesses to change. If X was brighter than Y, it should remain brighter then Y afterwards. Many HDR pics don't do that, and it leads to the 'Hi, I have been photoshopped!' unnatural feeling.

I found a program which appears to do what I want: It's called Enfuse. There is a front-end for it called 'Hugin', which allows you to alignment and what not.
The best part is, both of them are free. Yeah!
Photomatic has something called 'Fused Exposure' but I'm not happy with it so far, and I also have Dynamic photo HDR but I'm not thrilled with that either.

But with Enfuse...... needs some work I think (C&C welcome) but so far so good:

Here are the original 3 exposures (-2, 0, +2 Ev).
This is antelope canyon, a dynamic range nightmare.



Here is what I've tweaked out so far:


If you can do something similar/better with another piece of software I'd be very interested in knowing your processing parameters.

The pic really needs a person in it to show you just how big the canyon is, and the picture would probably look better still if the sky wasn't still overexposed at -2 Ev. Probably my mistake by shooting towards the sun. Ah well.

- Frank

 

^ this.

thats the type of HDR i like, i wouldnt really call those other things HDR, more of just the way they are post processed.

 

Yeah...that looked really great up there...thanks for the info. I'm gonna have to mess with it. Is that with a point and shoot or DSLR?

 

Frank, that looks great!



I played with Photomatix more last night. Found an old picture I took in Puta Cana with a Point & Shoot and played with it.



I think this is slowly becoming the "learning HDR thread"

 

Sounds good to me! lol...I'm gladly soaking it all in and gonna give said software a shot.

 

Frank - thank you! I agree, especially for nature photography, it's really all about trying to transmit the scene as we are able to see it. I'll have to dig out some old bracketed shots that I wasn't happy with in CS3/4 to see how that one handles them by comparison.

Thanks again, for the link.

 

If this is becoming a learn HDR thread, iirc we already have one and this should be merged with it.

 

 

I think the other thread is more for seasoned HDR and photography specialists to show off their skill.
This one seems more for novices getting into it and learning. Although, there was no motive when I started it, honestly.

 

If you go to the thread novices learn from the experienced. It's a great thread.. might as well kill this one & keep that one updated.

 

sounds good...

 

Hmm time to find the other one.

 

Nice start man!


When i got into shooting i started with a Canon SD780IS...amazing camera!

Play around with it and when you feel your ready get a DSLR...100X more better and fun... nice pics cant wait to see more dude!