hdr attempt

[thequeenscheese]

Ive been playing with a hdr landscape in ice and photomatix trying to figure whether to hdr then stitch or stitch then hdr i thin stitch then hdr worked best
these were HDR'd first then stitched




Had to shrink them a lot to get them to upload..


these are 2 stitched then HDR'd





the latter is my favorite, im not sure why this method made such a difference to the outcome ( i did take a little darkness out of the under exposed images in nx2 but not much, other than that the setting were the same apart from the photomatix default finishes vibrant, neutral, same for both sets (i think definitely 1 each of neutral).

any thoughts on method, and final result for the decent 2?

thanks john.

 

[thequeenscheese]

crikey dunno if the no response is a good or bad thing lol?

 

[Roy1961]

never done hdr john, so i cant comment on your process, but i do agree with your last picture being the best.

 

[thequeenscheese]

think I'll try reinstalling photomatix, as I did some dark HDR brackets the other day and none of the final merges looked just right intact most options other than natural were very poor maybe that's because I was shooting a dark poorly lit image I'm not sure..

 

[Moab Man]

For me, I don't like the overcooked look. HDR is tough.

 

[thequeenscheese]

I spose subject and personal taste really matter, I'm still very much a beginner with all of it never mind hdr, but a dark shot with +\- 1 or 2ev gives similar results to the first 2 in photomatix is this normal??

 

[paul04]

I've done a few hdr shots by just changing the aperture, say the 1st shot at f3.5, then f10, then f18. And that works for me. Of course you have to keep the camera steady, better on a tripod.