new camera with autobracketing and my first tests of HDR

[theksmith]

got a new-to-me camera that does auto-bracketing and had to play with doing HDR of course (i know, some hate it, some love it). personally i like it when it still looks mostly realistic and helps bring out just a little detail that was missed do to a scene having extreme variation.


my first realistic attempt:

if that doesn't seem HDR, consider the primary exposure source:

and if you're into the more artificial looking HDR:

those were made from shots taken with the autobracket set on "7 shot at 2/3 step" which should come out to a full +/-2 EV, but it only took 6 shots. i haven't read the manual yet to understand why, but i think it's doing something like calculating that too much of the image would have been blown out at a full +2, so it only did -2 to +1.3.

anyway, still have to learn the camera and the HDR tool better as well.

 

[mtnbike28]

Very Cool!

I love the third one! I have tried and failed at HDR. What software did you use?

 

[theksmith]

I love the third one! I have tried and failed at HDR. What software did you use?

photoshop CS5's built in HDR tool

 

[Tucson T4R]

Fun stuff to play with. :wings: I liked both your renderings.

I think there are two ends to HDR just like you posted. On end is just trying to stretch the dynamic range and bring out the shadow details. The other end is more an artistic expression and to some that bugs them. I think they both have their place.

Either way, I'm glad you have the tools now to explore the options and play a bit. I haven't used PS for HDR. I have been using Photomatix which has a lot of good user controls and generates some nice HDR images.

Enjoy your journey and keep posting as you go.

 

[fangars]

I would probably blend different elements of all three.
Mask it off in layers and make the vehicle pop as much as possible without it looking too unreal. De-emphasize the background and try to add depth.