My Very First HDR Image

[Photo-John]

I tried to upload this photo a couple of weeks ago and discovered the gallery and forums upload (they upload to the same place) were down. It's taken quite a while to get everything put back together but I do believe it's pretty much repaired. I'm really sorry about the downtime and I thank you personally for your patience and understanding.

On to the photo!

Yup, believe it or not, this is my first HDR. Generally I'm not a big fan of the medium and haven't really considered it a useful tool for my own work. However, I'm working on a review for the Triggertrap Mobile app and one of its features is HDR. So I figured it was about time I learn to actually do it. This was created from six 1/2 stop increment exposures and merged and tone-mapped in Photoshop. I don't know that I picked the best subject but I feel it came out decent enough.



I'll admit - I do have mixed feelings about this photo. I don't quite understand what kinds of subjects work well for HDR and I don't know if I did a great job on the processing. I do understand the process and potential of HDR a little better, though. And everyone has to start somewhere

[armando_m]

Glad to hear the galleries are back online, I have a few images I wanted to share

Regardig HDR, if you don't mention it i wouldn't be able to tell it was done with HDR, so with that in mind, a job well done.

With the D800 I find my self being able to get better results exposing for the highlights and pulling the shadows, no need for multiple exposure as i did with my previous cameras. The D800 in camera HDR is pretty lame.

[roberthenrya]

I've never been a fan of HDR, that being said I cant tell you used it. Was there a reason you wanted to do it with this image? I would say try something like shooting with a window behind someone as an exercise and get a wide range

[Photo-John]

I've never been a fan of HDR, that being said I cant tell you used it. Was there a reason you wanted to do it with this image? I would say try something like shooting with a window behind someone as an exercise and get a wide range

I haven't been a fan of it, either. But as I said, I'm working on a review of the Triggertrap mobile app and one of its features is HDR bracketing. So I figured that was a good enough excuse for me to finally try it. As for it not looking like HDR, I'll consider that success

[Frog]

I've found that most HDR is overdone but yours doesn't seem to be. I've used it a few times and now need to find my disc for it as it disappeared when our hardrive crashed.
Useful sometimes but usually the dynamic range can be pulled out if you shoot raw.

[Photo-John]

I've found that most HDR is overdone but yours doesn't seem to be.

I agree. For the most part, people seem to treat it as a separate medium. My goal wasn't a crazy, unnatural-looking halo'd-out image. I just wanted something with increased tonal detail, and I think I did ok. It's not a stunning photo, but it's definitely got a huge range of tonal information. Plus, like I said, I needed to do it for a review and it's about time I understood how to make one. I'll make some more and see if I can come up with something better

[srblough]

it's definitely got a huge range of tonal information.

I'd be interested in a comparison image from a single exposure of the same scene, with the shadows pulled up and the highlights down.

Then you can write a "guide to HDR for photographers who don't want their images to look HDR" :-)

[Axle]

As a tool, HDR is fantastic. It really helps over come the lack of dynamic range that a majority of digital sensors have. But like any tool, some people tend to abuse it. I believe the term is 'clown vomit' however this photo I like, subtle, making use of HDR as it's meant to

Personally I use Photomatix to create the image, then do some adjustments in Photoshop for the final product. I tend to shoot 5-9 images to make the final product.