HDR My image your version of it.

ParanoidP

Senior Member
Been looking through some of the wonderful HDR images in this section of the forum, got me thinking why not post a image I have applied said effect to ask for critique and then have you show me your version of that same image.

The image is a country campsite shop a converted farmers lodge, image is a quick snap nothing special.

Original
S8300158.jpg

My HDR version
cottageshop.jpg

Informative fun.
 

pforsell

Senior Member
In its true form yes but with many different photographic software programs you can, as I did.

Of course we can make HDR images from one shot. The point of HDR is to compress the High Dynamic Range of the image/images onto the low dynamic range of the monitor or printing paper. The best monitors can display maybe 10 stops in ideal conditions and a paper print maybe 5 to 6 stops.

Current cameras have 13-14 stops of DR. To show all of that some kind of HDR mapping might be handy. In the past cameras had so low a DR that several images were necessary, perhaps 5 or 7 images shot at one stop intervals. Now I would not do more than two images, one at -1 and one at +1 stops of exposure compensation. This will yield a whopping 16 stops of DR. Most HDR mapping software will have trouble mapping that into anything that resembles a photograph in a credible way.

Your example has lifted the shadows nicely and compressed the highlights making the clouds visible. The mapping looks good to my eyes, but what I do not like at all is the clarity setting that's way too high.

Too strong a clarity setting makes the image look like a cartoon. There are a lot of HDR images all over the web, some in this forum too, where the clarity is pushed through the roof and at the same time saturation is maxed out so high that it makes the viewer's eyes bleed. I don't know why people do that other than they have so severe cataract that they cannot see anything without the nuclear treatment.

Can you lower the clarity (which makes the heavy outlines/halos) but keep the shadow and highlight mapping as it is? The best HDR images are the ones where the treatment is not obvious.
 

ParanoidP

Senior Member
Of course we can make HDR images from one shot. The point of HDR is to compress the High Dynamic Range of the image/images onto the low dynamic range of the monitor or printing paper. The best monitors can display maybe 10 stops in ideal conditions and a paper print maybe 5 to 6 stops.

Current cameras have 13-14 stops of DR. To show all of that some kind of HDR mapping might be handy. In the past cameras had so low a DR that several images were necessary, perhaps 5 or 7 images shot at one stop intervals. Now I would not do more than two images, one at -1 and one at +1 stops of exposure compensation. This will yield a whopping 16 stops of DR. Most HDR mapping software will have trouble mapping that into anything that resembles a photograph in a credible way.

Your example has lifted the shadows nicely and compressed the highlights making the clouds visible. The mapping looks good to my eyes, but what I do not like at all is the clarity setting that's way too high.

Too strong a clarity setting makes the image look like a cartoon. There are a lot of HDR images all over the web, some in this forum too, where the clarity is pushed through the roof and at the same time saturation is maxed out so high that it makes the viewer's eyes bleed. I don't know why people do that other than they have so severe cataract that they cannot see anything without the nuclear treatment.

Can you lower the clarity (which makes the heavy outlines/halos) but keep the shadow and highlight mapping as it is? The best HDR images are the ones where the treatment is not obvious.

Thank you for taking the time to give a response and information on how you think it needs tweaking.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
You can't do a HDR from one photo.

In its true form yes but with many different photographic software programs you can, as I did.

You can simulate an HDR effect with one image, but it isn't true HDR. The problem is when raising shadows on an image, that can add noise. If you have to raise the shadows a great deal, more noise might be visible.

In your case, personally I don't perceive the final image to be HDR. Yes, it has the 'cartoonish' effect, but some of your shadows don't come off as realistic. Take a look at the shadow underneath the picnic table. Then look at the shadows that show up on the left from a roof's peak. The shadows under the table look to be scorched tiles...much darker than the shadows from the peak. Then compare the mortar around the stone facade. The after photos make the shadows darker--and makes the mortar look dirty when in reality, the mortar should show up lighter. In true HDR, you are supposed to lighten the shadows to bring everything within a dynamic range. Some of your shadows went in the opposite direction. But then again, you didn't start with an image that had especially dark shadows or a high enough dynamic range.

See if you can take another image that has very dark shadows along with very bright highlights. Maybe something where the sun is just outside of the frame. It's definitely a great learning experience though!
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Well you didn't make it easy because you have copyright protection turned on, which means we can't download your photo through the easy right-clicking method. I had to go deeper to get a copy of your original. Here's the original, for the rest of you who want to give it a go. The other three were made with various tools.


S8300158.jpg

S8300158a.jpg


S8300158b.jpg


S8300158c.jpg
 
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