Doing Hdr Photos

[NoFX_Hardcore]

Hey all,

What program do you use to create your HDR's?

Also, what process do you use to take the images? i.e 1/3, 1, 2 stops???

I attempted one (quite badly) using Photomatix but it really didn't turn out. I'm wondering if I took the pics wrong or didn't use the program correctly.

Cheers,

Chris.

[ZENNON]

Hey Chris,

I normally take three shots - one at normal exposure, one at 2 stops under and one at 2 stops over and I use Photomatix.

If you want you could show us what you got and we can maybe give you some advice?

-Zennon

[Messiah]

Photomatix here too, and pretty much the same procedure, but i use a nikon that can only to 1 stop max, so take 5 shots from -2 to +2 and use 3 to 5 depending on the shot.

check out www.stuckincustoms.com for the best free tutorial i've found.

what went wrong with photomatix??

a few things can go wrong with the whole process... but the photomatix part is the easy bit, its post processing that really makes it look good tho.

if you are shooting a moving subject(s) you will end up with ghosts.

To fix this, use apeture priority mode and bump up the fstop to f22 or something. That will make the smudge in the later shots less obvious. Then you need to mask in the moving object from the shot you want in ps. so adjust the raw file to the right properties then layer align and mask reveal.

[funkymonkey]

I blend them in photoshop, but I avoid using their built in script. I've tried the photomatix plugin, but still wasn't happy with its results. I find most automated methods result in pics that just look artificial.

I prefer to do them by hand, much better control of what goes on and what gets highlighted, and what gets muted. Problem I have with most automated HDR processes is that it lights everything up like a christmas tree... there's no subject anymore, nothing to draw the eye etc. Anyways, enough of my rant... read:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-...ange/index.html

[Messiah]

  funkymonkey said:

I blend them in photoshop, but I avoid using their built in script. I've tried the photomatix plugin, but still wasn't happy with its results. I find most automated methods result in pics that just look artificial.

I prefer to do them by hand, much better control of what goes on and what gets highlighted, and what gets muted. Problem I have with most automated HDR processes is that it lights everything up like a christmas tree... there's no subject anymore, nothing to draw the eye etc. Anyways, enough of my rant... read:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-...ange/index.html

If you tweak the settings yourself in the tonemapping it makes a huge difference. I dont think a human could mask and mix the varyinh light levels in really complex shots... but that said... i havent tried.

[NoFX_Hardcore]

Seems to be a few spots of really bad noise/unclarity in the pic as you'll see.

I used 1/3 f stops for this, so quite a few pics. Maybe I gotta work on the post processing part in photomatix. Haven't used the program much before this so...

[datofj]

Photomatix

[NS2500]

I really don't get what people like about HDR. If you want to make it look terrible, just over-use Shadows and Highlights in PS. It's the same result as most HDRs I've ever seen.

[AKW]

No you can use HDR for many things and I merge HDR in photoshop and cut noise and get some more overall saturation out of it. I would like to get Photomatix to try it out.

[Jay019]

  AKW said:

I would like to get Photomatix to try it out.

Download it then

http://www.hdrsoft.com/download.html

[bobtheskylinebuilder1]

kool little car