Playing with HDR

Jacqueline

New member
Well, I probably shouldn't be playing with HDR since I'm still trying to figure out what all the settings on the camera do and I don't have a tripod, but it looked like fun, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I used CS5, which I understand a lot of people here feel is inferior to other options, but I'm not yet sure if I want to do this enough to invest in additional software.

This one is the worst of the lot, in my opinion, which is why I'm posting it here. There are three others in the gallery.
The Back of the House.jpg
 

Vermontster

New member
I used CS5 for HDR for quite a while. I learned about Photomatix here at Nikonites. What I liked about it was you download it for free and use it as long as you like. They encourage you to use it to be sure you are happy with the program before you purchase it. I used it for a couple months before I bought it.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
I think "TheTewentieth Century" is the best of the group. I like the composition and symetry of the structure and pool. While the structure is boring, the reflections give it some life and the color of the pool is fantastic.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
The shot you posted above has too much strength. You can see it in the sky, top right. But turning down the strength may not correct it. HDR depends on a very wide f/stop range (contrast) to work well, loss of detail in the shadows and loss of detail in the highlights. Thats why HDR uses an over/under exposure process to capture the details that the camera would not see otherwise. When you use HDR with a shot that does not have that wide exposure range it can loose a lot of quality in the overlay process. This often happens with sky shots. The f/stop range in the sky is not broad enough for the the HDR to work properly. You can also see the loss of the HDR effect in your South Side Facing West shot. It was taken in the shadow of a building where the f/stop range is not very wide and the details don't pop out. Learning what shot in a HDR will work is a matter of experience. However, it can fool you. I've taken shots I did not think would work and the separate shots look awful but when merged into a HDR come out fantastic. So the rule for HDR shooting is when in doubt shoot it anyway. You have a very good start with shooting HDR, better than a lot I've seen. Hope this helps.
 

Mike150

Senior Member
I really want to try HDR, but my camera (D-60) does not have the bracketing feature so I have to change settings for each shot. I did, however, stumble across a writeup that CS5 has a single shot HDR feature, but it is not as robust as using bracketed shots. I've got another busy weekend (non photography) coming up so doubt it will happen this weekend. Besides, gives my thumb another week of rest.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Mike, you can shoot bracket shots with the D60, but you have to use the manual mode. Look through the view finder at the electronic analog exposure display. Set the f/stop you wan to use and then the shutter speed to one stop under exposure, take the shot, then decrease the shutter speed until it indicates a normal exposure, take the shot, then decrease the shutter speed again to one stop over exposed, take the shot. Do not change the f/stop to do this. Doing that will change the DOF and will produce a fuzzy picture. Not as good as having high speed bracketing but it works.
 

Mike150

Senior Member
Thanks Joseph. That explains one of my problems. I was trying by altering the f/stop instead of shutter speed. I'll try that next time.
 

Tigertail

New member
Mike, you can shoot bracket shots with the D60, but you have to use the manual mode. Look through the view finder at the electronic analog exposure display. Set the f/stop you wan to use and then the shutter speed to one stop under exposure, take the shot, then decrease the shutter speed until it indicates a normal exposure, take the shot, then decrease the shutter speed again to one stop over exposed, take the shot. Do not change the f/stop to do this. Doing that will change the DOF and will produce a fuzzy picture. Not as good as having high speed bracketing but it works.

Thanks for that!

I was thinking about having a go at HDR but didn't know where to start. Very helpful.


Heather
 

Jacqueline

New member
Thanks for the comment. Actually, it wasn't taken in the shadow of the building, which I think was part of the problem. It first occurred to me to try this when I was under the building, which is raised up off the ground on part of the first floor. I didn't know if I should set the exposure for the area in shadow or the area in the direct sunlight. Then I walked around the building looking for other things to photograph. This probably wasn't an appropriate choice of shots for this technique.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
Sorry my home is not to your taste, though I suspect it's the fault of the photographer, not the architect.

It would appear so, especially when quoted out of context. Definately the fault of the Architect, your shot gave it some life. To me there's more to a "home" than the structure, if not, than yes, it's boring to me.
 
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