A Really Good Single Image HDR or Master Adobe Expert?

BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I choose to trust the photographer. These contests don't choose from photos previously published, the photographer submits them. So, if he composed it in the first place in order to have something to run, he may not have submitted it in the second place. Whether or not he stretched the contest rules of allowable processing on a single photo, who knows? Ballsy move to submit something that you know was faked if he did.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
You know, the more I read about this the more I believe it's become about Neal Krawetz wanting to bolster his celebrity than anything else. Each and every argument is merely one expert's opinion against another's, with each pointing to things that have no reliability as pure evidence. Just as photos can be faked, the pointed to artifacts have been shown to exist in non-composite photos. I really feel for the photographer. One man with an ego (and this could be applied to either side here) can sure as heck generate a lot of press for their own vanity sake.
 
E

Eye-level

Banned
I am a little late to the game on this one but I guess now they have tested it and reaffirmed their acceptance of the photo as genuine. Pretty amazing post production skills.
 
R

Rick M

Senior Member
It's really amazing what you can do just tonemapping a single image, almost feels like you're moving the light around.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Eye-level said:
Apparently this guy is manipulating the light without tone maps...dodging and burning PS style...he is good! :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, my understanding is that there are strict limits as to what you can and can't do in the image manipulation. Tools allow you to change light sources, but that's not permissible here. I believe you're limited to what you could otherwise do in a darkroom with film - which is still quite a lot if you've ever watched someone who knows what they're doing.
 
D

Dave_W

The Dude
Say, does the term "Single-image HDR" scream oxymoron to anyone else? Wouldn't a more accurate term be "highly processed image" or even "pseudo-HDR" if you're stuck on the term HDR? Because the dynamic range of a single image is what it is regardless of what software you're using.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Dave_W said:
Say, does the term "Single-image HDR" scream oxymoron to anyone else? Wouldn't a more accurate term be "highly processed image" or even "pseudo-HDR" if you're stuck on the term HDR? Because the dynamic range of a single image is what it is regardless of what software you're using.
Click to expand...

For my money "Single Frame HDR" = "Tone Mapping". You're maximizing the light information in every image pixel to create a balance that the camera does not produce on its own. Yes, the information is there, but it's reorganized in a way that is in some way "unnatural" to the normal photographic process. Like the multiimage form of HDR, it can still be natural looking, or quite overdone.
 
Top