Help with HDR

[Aharami]

So here are the three images im working with (warning - HUGE 6mp pictures)
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/aharami/IMG_0097.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/aharami/IMG_0098.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/aharami/IMG_0099.JPG

I dont even know if i should include the third one as its waaay too overexposed and doesnt really bring anything positive to the table. The S3 isnt too good when it comes to dynamic range and the sky would always come out white when tree is metered for the picture at 0EV (IMG_0097). I wanted to recreate how the scene looked like with the naked eye and thus took some exposure bracketed pics in hope of creating a lifelike HDR image. But no matter what I do, I cant seem to create a lifelike HDR image. Basically what I want is the foreground from IMG_0097 with the sky from IMG_0098. Can someone give me some pointers?

btw, Im using PS CS2 to create the HDR image.

 

[OdiN]

Read these:

http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml

http://www.jessespeer.com/maki..._0712_chasm/index.html

Not HDR, but that will be good information for you. You may want to try some of those methods.

Problem with that shot is that your main focus is foliage/trees/etc. And there was wind. The subject moved between all of the shots, so blending or HDR will not work as well as with a more stationary object.

 

[OdiN]

Also, I hope you don't mind but I did a quick PP on your middle image:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/OdiN/tree.jpg

This is not blending or anything, just processing in photoshop that single image.

 

[OdiN]

And here is a quick HDR. You will see the problems with the subject. This was done in Photomatix really quickly. This is why I think blending will be your best option, due to the moving subject.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/OdiN/treehdr.jpg

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've been fooling around with these images in CS3 and I can't get it to work very well either. I put it into Photomatix and it made it all so easy. My results were similar to Odin's, more natural but misaligned.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

ive been playing with this merge to HDR thing in CS2.... i cant honestly pretend like i know what the hell im doing but i get the jist of what its trying to do for me. i dont really understand how it can show me a huge dynamic range when im still limited by an 8bit TFT panel, i guess thats what the slider thingy is for before you create the image....you just pick the dynamic range you think looks best.

when i do it i make sure i dont use shots that are really dark, or shots that are so bright most of the detail is burnt out and i figured it was never ever going to work right on subject thats moving because the shots are overlayed or something, so i have only tried it on absolutely stationary objects, i always select align photos though, just in case.

i dont understand anything about how to use that toning curve thing when you switch modes back down to 8bit (from 32bit) i mean what the hell do you do with that? do you match it to the histogram behind it or something? everytime i touch it everything goes to pot, so i just twizzle the gamma and exposure sliders.

heh.... i dont know what im doing, but i sure know how to press buttons, slide sliders and twizzle knobs

i have gotten a few good shots from it too, though i think in alot of them the "HDR" effect is a bit on the subtle side.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: OdiN
Also, I hope you don't mind but I did a quick PP on your middle image:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/OdiN/tree.jpg

This is not blending or anything, just processing in photoshop that single image.

Originally posted by: OdiN
And here is a quick HDR. You will see the problems with the subject. This was done in Photomatix really quickly. This is why I think blending will be your best option, due to the moving subject.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/OdiN/treehdr.jpg

yea photomatix does do a much better job than I was able to with CS2, but the HDR image still looks too unnatural. Personally, i like the photoshopped image you posted. That, IMO, is what the scene really looked like. You're right, the foliage moved in the wind between the shots making them not line up properly. Thanks for posting that link...i'll use that method for the other similar shots I took

 

[otispunkmeyer]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/macmason/sunsethdr1sm.jpg

that is one i did the other day, its supposedly merged to HDR now lol.... i think its too subtle though. i think i had 5 shots to make that...0ev and then 2 in the + ev region and 2 in the -ev region. plus i forgot my assortment of cut out paper lens hoods so i have a nice flare right down the middle. taken with the canon kit lens which isnt anything special either lol.

EDIT: actually aside from the HDR experiement i did with my desk, this is the first HDR i tried with a decent scene, so if you think theres lots of room for improvement, fire away!

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/macmason/sunsethdr1sm.jpg

that is one i did the other day, its supposedly merged to HDR now lol.... i think its too subtle though. i think i had 5 shots to make that...0ev and then 2 in the + ev region and 2 in the -ev region. plus i forgot my assortment of cut out paper lens hoods so i have a nice flare right down the middle. taken with the canon kit lens which isnt anything special either lol.

EDIT: actually aside from the HDR experiement i did with my desk, this is the first HDR i tried with a decent scene, so if you think theres lots of room for improvement, fire away!

thats nice. but its so subtle that it almost looks like a regular pic. Try bringing out a little more detail in the shadows.

what did you use to create that pic?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

i think around 5-6 shots, and then i used mergeHDR in photoshop cs2

its in file, automation and then its at the bottom... mergeHDR. apparently its best to load up .TIF's if you initially have your shots in RAW, so i convert them and save them as .TIF files first. once you merge them you can enable/disable each of the shots to see the effect and you have to chose with the levels slider which range in your HDR looks the best to you. it then creates the file and then you have to go image, mode and pick 8bit mode so you can then edit the shot like you normally would. when you change the mode though you get more options to play with, i really dont know what im doing so i just fiddle with the exposure and gamma, but there are 3 other options to mess with.....but i honestly havent a clue and they always end up a mess lol! not knowing what curves do FTL!

yeah it is subtle, but i was afraid of really blowing out the sun and its light. it kinda reminds me of HL2's HDR demo level though, where your characters iris adapts to stop the light being so intense....i think its lke that, gone from over blown to your eyes now being adapted to it. as i said i really only just tried it like yesterday so its not bad for a first go.

i did another today with a similar scene and this time i used the lassoo tool to selectively alter the levels and saturations. ill post it up later.... i made sure to bring out more of the detail in the dark muddy areas

also, i jsut cant seem to get photomatix to do this HDR thing properly and it yields different results depending on whether u use raw or jpg. i dunno they always seem to either come out with really silly overblown colours and lots of detail missing, or theres hardly anything to note as hdr at all! tone mapping then just makes it worse. i must be taking the wrong kinds of pictures....seems to work well with outdoor shots that feautre not so intense light.

also its complete garbage at aligning images.

 

[Anubis]

the prob with HDR is that it looks really unnatural anyway, and getting it to look natural is hard and in my expirence is totally dependent on the subject matter, somethings work some dont regardless of how well its shot

i did this with photomatrix and it turned out allright
orig

http://www.rootminus1.com/stuff/DSC_1843.jpg

HDR
http://www.rootminus1.com/stuff/DSC_1843_2_3.jpg

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Anubis
the prob with HDR is that it looks really unnatural anyway, and getting it to look natural is hard and in my expirence is totally dependent on the subject matter, somethings work some dont regardless of how well its shot

i did this with photomatrix and it turned out allright
orig

http://www.rootminus1.com/stuff/DSC_1843.jpg

HDR
http://www.rootminus1.com/stuff/DSC_1843_2_3.jpg

Quite right.

I think HDR looks very good with architecture shots. With landscapes it's kinda hit or miss at times.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

wow dynamic photo HDR is an awesome program! try it, its windows only mind, and for some reason it cant get exposure data from RAW's so you have to either tell it to guess or input it manually. but it works like a charm, much easier than photomatix and its quite brilliant at aligning images. once they are aligned though you can then adjust the alignment very easily incase its a little off.

dynamic photo HDR > photomatix

http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.g...ext=photostream&size=o

theres another of mine that one again was done with CS2, i have some B&W ones which were done with that dynamic photo, i just picked the "ultra contrast" tone mapper, fiddled with the curves (DPHDR suprising makes it very easy to understand what the hell those things do) then clicked "B&W" filter and that was it!

however, for some reason, its been pretty poor with these landscape shots i took...it seems to really bring out lots of noise and artefacts in the sky, like really baddly, even though i used the lowest iso. you can almost see the grain like pattern of the sensor! lol

 

[Aharami]

Ok i think i finally got a good result with photomatix. Played with Dynamic Photo HDR, but gave me similar results as photomatix
btw, I had to clone stamp out some of the ghosted leaves

orig HDR from photomatix
Benjamin Kanarek's workflow 1 minus soft light layer
Benjamin Kanarek's workflow 2

 

[Aharami]

I was playing with digital blending, but the leaves made blending too complex

 

[SaigonK]

Here are my results in Photomatix

http://www.imagetex.com/albums..._tonemapped_resize.jpg