I've had a copy of Dynamic Photo-HDR software for a few months now but have not really sat down to learn how to use it. Early attempts came out surreal. I decided today to take a little time and step through, trying to understand all the tweaks that can be made, and which ones to not make.
Here's an example of Big Thompson River in Rocky Mountain National Park. This was taken at sunrise with a 1-sec exposure at f2.8. I am posting two photos - the first one is the best I could do with straight photoshop and the second using HDR. To create the HDR, I processed the raw file three times -2 stops, as shot, and +2 stops and then imported into Dynamic Photo-HDR.
I'm really not happy with either one. I think this HDR stuff is going to take some time to get the hang of it.
I think you're right. The HDR looks very unnatural here. Like most powerful tools it takes skill and creativity to get the desired results, so my recommendation is to keep at it.
Also, you will not get as much benefit from doing multiple conversions of the same file - you are still limited by the dynamic range of your sensor. Bracketing exposures is a much better way to go.
Guy
Posted by Robert Fisher on December 28, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Guy is right. HDR takes some work to get to use it well. It's easy to get the whacked out, surrealistic look. It's more difficult to get a photorealistic look. As with anything, the tonemapped HDR output is really only the beginning as well. From there, you can tweak as you would a single image file in PS or LR to make the best of it.
Bracketing will produce better results than multi-processing a single RAW file too. Try some bracketed at different settings (e.g., 1 stop, 1/2 stop, 1/3 stop) and see how the different exposure levels work in an HDR merge.
Posted by DKOSIUR on December 29, 2008 at 12:01 AM
I'd also recommend taking at look at the book "Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography" by Ferrell McCollough. It's the best book I've seen, with lots of practical advice on taking the photos as well as processing them. Spends most of his time talking about Photomatix and FDR Tools, but you'll still learn a lot from the book. One nice thing is that he concentrates on a "natural" look, and only talks about OTT processing towards the end.
Posted by Gene Lugo on December 29, 2008 at 9:23 PM
You might want to try the following workflow while tonemapping in Photomatix. Using a series of at least three images exposed at least 1 stop apart, adjust the white and black points to display a full range. Then adjust the gamma if necessary to bring the middle tones to where they look "right." Then play with the strength, luminosity sliders, leaving the light smoothing at the high or next highest position. By using conservative positions on the sliders you will get a reasonable image. Finally adjust the saturation to get a little "pop" in the image. In the Micro tab you adjust the contrast to more finely adjust the white and black levels, and the micro smoothing to really dial in the "surreal" factor. Finally on the S/H tab you adjust the highlight smoothing to play with the sky and other values that are in a similar range, and the shadow smoothing to make sure you have enough detail left in the black areas. Then process the image as a 16 bit tiff. Make your final adjustments in Photoshop, sharpen and print.
The idea with HDR is to expand the dynamic range beyond the 7-8 stops available in many DSLR sensors. if you can create a series that expands the range to 12 (2 under and 2 over), you will be amazed at the results, provided the subject contains this range. If it doesn't, you will still get interesting results but not as dramatic.
When shooting an image for potential HDR processing (I use Photomatix when I do go the HDR route), I shoot five bracketed images, one-stop apart. Once I get into the tonemapping aspect of things, I do play with the settings, but the majority of the time I tonemap the image using both algorithmic sets--Detail Enhancement and Tone Compression--and frequently blend them as layers in PS, adjusting the opacity accordingly. It's rarely easy to get a "realistic" look, though that's always my goal and I've found blending the pair of options to be a big help in that respect. As someone noted above, viewing the tonemapping process as the beginning, rather than the end, of the procedure is a good idea. I look at tonemapping in PS as being analogous to converting a single RAW file in the converter of your choice.
Discussion
6 repliesHere's an example of Big Thompson River in Rocky Mountain National Park. This was taken at sunrise with a 1-sec exposure at f2.8. I am posting two photos - the first one is the best I could do with straight photoshop and the second using HDR. To create the HDR, I processed the raw file three times -2 stops, as shot, and +2 stops and then imported into Dynamic Photo-HDR.
I'm really not happy with either one. I think this HDR stuff is going to take some time to get the hang of it.
Also, you will not get as much benefit from doing multiple conversions of the same file - you are still limited by the dynamic range of your sensor. Bracketing exposures is a much better way to go.
Guy
Bracketing will produce better results than multi-processing a single RAW file too. Try some bracketed at different settings (e.g., 1 stop, 1/2 stop, 1/3 stop) and see how the different exposure levels work in an HDR merge.
The idea with HDR is to expand the dynamic range beyond the 7-8 stops available in many DSLR sensors. if you can create a series that expands the range to 12 (2 under and 2 over), you will be amazed at the results, provided the subject contains this range. If it doesn't, you will still get interesting results but not as dramatic.