HDR - Cool or just too much?

I've been playing with HDR (High Dynamic Range). I think the images one can create are very striking, but it's a fine line between creating really attention grabbing stuff and going overboard.

What do you think? Here's an image processed with Photomatrix and then a B&W conversion.

Taken in Ponce Inlet at Sunrise; D700 17-35 Nikkor at 17mm

I guess I could have posted this in Photo Gallery, Image Improvement or Image Processing.

I like both images, but am more drawn to the color image. The highly saturated colors remind me of the feel I used to get with Velvia50. I assume this was a single image reprocessed with several raw settings and then recombined? Maybe you could post the original as Aperture would see it to show the difference.

Cheers,

Mike

I prefer.....both! I do not know how to use HDR but I like the pictures that use it as long as it is not obvious or exaggerated. Your picture is very good and I could not tell that it has been used.

Jeff couldn't you get the same effect with a reverse Grad?

I am for the B&W myself - but again I have a bias that way.

Tempting me to have a go at this HDR thing myself.

Any suggested place to start reading about it Jeff ?

Paul C

The color one looks a little glassy, especially near the dolphin, and oversaturated. It looks like a puddle of bright blue ink spilled just southeast of the dolphin. The sky looks great.

I prefer the B&W. I think you could bump the sky contrast more in the B&W.

Much depends on the viewing. A large print may be quite different than viewing it on a monitor.

I prefer the color one. I like HDR tho only very soft. Your pic is great - brings out lovely sky colors

I think the PP on the first shot is very very good Jeff. I like the rich colors and "non-linear" look of the photo - not your typical low contrast HDR.

Cheers

James

Exactly as shown here, I like the B&W a lot more. Something about the hue of the blue down and to the right of the dolphins strikes me as off ... that said, this monitor was calibrated by eye and not a machine.

Just curious ... is the dot on the middle of the horizon to the right of the sun a ship?

I like both images, but am more drawn to the color image. The highly saturated colors remind me of the feel I used to get with Velvia50. I assume this was a single image reprocessed with several raw settings and then recombined? Maybe you could post the original as Aperture would see it to show the difference.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

Thanks guys for the comments.

Here are the original images:

Jeff couldn't you get the same effect with a reverse Grad?

I'm sure there are a lot of ways to do this including Photoshop's HDR, but I really like the level of control and the options available in Photomatrix

I am for the B&W myself - but again I have a bias that way.

 

Tempting me to have a go at this HDR thing myself.

 

Any suggested place to start reading about it Jeff ?

 

Paul C

If you go to Photomatrix's site there are some good resources there, and I really like a book called Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography by Ferrell McCollough

Just curious ... is the dot on the middle of the horizon to the right of the sun a ship?

The dot on the horizon is a buoy.

This image took a lot of work and I can explain it for those who have an interest.

I was bobbing about on the jetski at the inlet trying to do 5fps captures bracketed 1 stop with the hope of catching the sunrise and doing HDR processing when suddenly the Dolphins showed up. So I was shooting at 5fps bracketed and of course now I had moving subjects as well, and as it turned out the dolphin image I liked was well exposed for the foreground but the sky was blown out being two stops overexposed as you can see in the above image.

So what I landed up doing was combining the well exposed sky image with the dolphin shot, correcting the malalignment due to the bobbing jetski. I then used a gradient fill mask to blend them at the horizon, correcting the tilted horizon and making some curve adjustments etc, Then loaded this as a single image HDR into Photomatrix and used the Detail Enhancement Tone Mapping mode, and played with the sliders a little.

I really like the image and think it's worth working on a little more before printing. To address the issues George (ScorpioFish) mentioned, I think I will combine the pre-photomatrix image with the post and blend and mask to taste, also want to tidy up the horizon blended area a little.

Quite well done! When I looked at the image and saw the dolphins, I immediately wondered how many shots you bracketed without getting the motion blur. Great, seamless work on the combo, and I don't thing the colors are overblown. Sometimes I think people are so used to seeing 100 stop photos that when they see a tonemapped HDR it looks false to them, "just because". Then of course there are those cowboy colors sunset HDR shots which should only be seen under a blacklight.

Well done.

I've been playing with HDR for a while now

I really like your image. I think its on the knife edge of being over done. Maybe curb back the saturation a tad and it would be perfect!

Cal

Great job with that image. Amazing that you were able to bracket two shots with the dolphins.

Jeff,

Very nice. Were these images taken with your new D700? just wondering.

James

I love all HDR.....even the exaggerated stuff. I think you have to take it in context....at times, it is MEANT to look fake.... to each his own...

These shots are absolutely fabulous!

Personally, I use Photoacute to merge my shots and Photomatix to Tone map. Then I finish off with NX2. Photoacute allows uprezzing and MUCH greater detial and noise reduction. Photomatix offers the best tone mapping and ease of use.....NX2 allows me to do localized corrections and adjustments so much more easily.....

Great job with that image. Amazing that you were able to bracket two shots with the dolphins.

Thanks, but if you look at the two images, you can see I never used the second dolphin part of the image, that was masked out in Photoshop

Jeff,

 

Very nice. Were these images taken with your new D700? just wondering.

 

James

Hi James,

Yes I used the D700. How're you doing?

I love all HDR.....even the exaggerated stuff. I think you have to take it in context....at times, it is MEANT to look fake.... to each his own...

These shots are absolutely fabulous!

 

Personally, I use Photoacute to merge my shots and Photomatix to Tone map. Then I finish off with NX2. Photoacute allows uprezzing and MUCH greater detial and noise reduction. Photomatix offers the best tone mapping and ease of use.....NX2 allows me to do localized corrections and adjustments so much more easily.....

Thanks, I'll take a look at Photoacute; just another program to keep me playing on the computer.

wow, looks so pretty in the blues, amazing.... Hate to say it, it looks so good, it almost looks fake, that's how good it is...Wonderful, I would have to hang that one on the wall. Scott

Hi Jeff,

Very well done. I didn't realize just how dramatic the difference would be till I saw the originals. I may just have to start experimenting with HDR.

Cheers,

Mike

cool~~

like them all ...

very nice try ...

I think both are stunning, both stand out for different reasons. Your treatment of the image in Photomatix is very tastefully done. You used it to enhance the original, and I am very fond of HDR when used this way. Just my 2cents.