Need some help with HDR vs OOC image for large print

[Tucson T4R]

I have put hours into trying different HDR processing options on this image for printing but I am still not satisfied. My last attempt processed the RAW images into 16 bit tiff images, then processed with Photomatix, output as 16 bit tiff, brought back into CS4 for curves/contrast and a pass with Noiseware before exporting the final JPG.

I still see a lot of artifacts in the sky/clouds. Any sugestions on how to do a better job on this? Do artifacts like this even show up in large prints?

The following is the same single shot processed in LR2 as RAW out of the 50D camera to adjust the levels curves, add some contrast and a little sharpening with a light pass of Noiseware. At this point for printing, this image looks a lot cleaner to me than my attempts at the HDR version.

Which path would you go down with this image? Maybe some images are not good candidates for HDR? Or maybe I just lack the HDR processing skill. :mixed-smiley-030:

 

[Tucson T4R]

Well...I usually isolate the sky as a layer, generally blur, or spot blur or clone stamp out the noticeable artifacts. Sometimes I put the blurred sky layer on top of an unblurred sky layer then brush erase to bring back some cloud detail. The blurring pushes the sky way back - giving the photo more depth. That gray sky in your example are the worst offenders...yes it shows up & you are right to be unhappy with it. I always have some artifacts/annoying patterns in the sky (both scanned film @4000dpi & D5 mk2) and never have found an easy solution. I print mostly 18 by 24. Peter

Thanks for the input Peter. I hadn't thought about using layers to improve the sky. If I can get the cloudy sky to look like I want on the original clean image I could use the layer masking process to pull the clean sky into the HDR. That may give me the result I'm looking for. I'll give it a shot.

 

[BajaTaco]

That's beautiful. What an amazing place.

Hey Brad, I don't know if you got it sorted out, but here's a couple more ideas to try:

In Photomatix, try playing with the "smoothness" sliders, including "micro-smoothing" and watch how it affects the clouds. If the desired results appear for the clouds, but make the rocks too soft, then maybe you could output two different tonemapped versions and merge them in Photoshop.

In Photoshop, you can sharpen the image for a good printing of the rocks and water, while keeping the sky soft by doing this:

1. Duplicate the background layer.
2. Select the background copy layer, and change the blending mode from "Normal" to "Overlay" (there is a little drop-down menu for this in the layer manager toolbar)
3. Go the Filters menu, select "Other" then select "High Pass"
4. Now you'll see a preview of your image with a high pass filter on it. You can adjust the radius setting and see how it changes the sharpness. In the grayscale preview you don't want to see too much halo or ghosting. Play with it a bit and you'll find a setting you're comfortable with. I'd guess for this image,probably a radius between 1.0 and 2.0.
5. Once the high pass is applied, select the brush tool and change the foreground color to a medium gray by setting the top-left numbers to 0% (H (hue)) 0% (S (saturation)) and 50% (B (black)). Set the brush to a large round diameter and then paint over your sky. It will remove the sharpening that you just applied with the high pass filter.
6. Flatten the layers.

You can repeat this process if you need additional sharpening in other areas, and then just go in and brush out the areas you didn't want sharpened.

 

[Tucson T4R]

Thanks Chris. I plan to sit back down and play with some of the layer options when I get some time. I appreciate all the suggestions. With LR and CS4 you have so many options it's mind boggling for a newb like me.

Just like learning to shoot the original image, I just need to put the time in and play to grow my skills. The nice thing is I shoot RAW so I always have the original untouched images to work from to try multiple work flows until I get what I like.

I agree, Northern AZ and S Utah are overflowing with beautiful photo opportunities.