First HDR

[Second Hand Pat]

I went on a photoshoot with the local camera club and took my first HDR image. The photoshoot was at Barberville Pioneer Settlement which displays Florida history. This image was the Blacksmith shop. The image has generated some interest and I was looking for additional comments.

https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5795/29944285875_404c92a6d5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MC5hWX)DSC_9741 (https://flic.kr/p/MC5hWX)

[Fundulopanchax]

Very nice, Pat! The image has excellent range and does not look artificial.

What program are you using to generate HDR images.

Ron

[Second Hand Pat]

Very nice, Pat! The image has excellent range and does not look artificial.

What program are you using to generate HDR images.

Ron

Thank Ron, my camera created this HDR image. The interesting thing is it will only create HDRs as jpegs, not raw. I did not expect that. Maybe the reason for that is it merges two more exposures.
Pat

[Discus-n00b]

I think it's great. I hate images that have to much HDR. I like a light and subtle touch. I even think you had space to go a bit more on this one if you wanted to. I'd love to see a little more color pop on that wood and not sure how much more color you can get out of the bricks. But to me HDR shows nice rich or brilliant colors due to hitting so many brackets. How many exposures is this? It's cool you can do it in camera, one of those fancy new features I'm missing on my 8 year old body I guess. Mine I have to just bracket and then put together in post.

It's to bad the shop wasn't working at the time, get a little smoke coming out of that forge and get some light rays through the smoke. Not to mention some molten steel or embers.

[Second Hand Pat]

Thank you Matt, very useful comments. I will need to read up to see how the camera puts it together exposure wise. I will see what I can do to boost a little more color. Having a working forge would have been awesome.
Pat

[Second Hand Pat]

Teased a little bit more color out.

https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7752/29836068772_dbe6f5794b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MsvDLQ)DSC_9741-3 (https://flic.kr/p/MsvDLQ)

[Chipps-h2o]

Really nice first attempt. It is very subtle.

[LizStreithorst]

I think that the added color is too much. It warms up the brick nicely but there is way too much saturation with the wood. It almost screams at me. I like the original better.

As you well know, I'm am totally ignorant when it comes to photography.

[Second Hand Pat]

Really nice first attempt. It is very subtle.

Thank you Chipps-H2o :)
Pat

[Second Hand Pat]

I think that the added color is too much. It warms up the brick nicely but there is way too much saturation with the wood. It almost screams at me. I like the original better.

As you well know, I'm am totally ignorant when it comes to photography.

I agreed Liz. I keep pictures of an image as I make edits and went and compared. With a few localized edits I like this better.

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8214/29879817071_f7cda54d84_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MwnSBR)DSC_9741-6 (https://flic.kr/p/MwnSBR)

[Second Hand Pat]

Matt, I like your idea of adding some live (but dying) coals with a bit of smoke to this image. Perhaps it is time to learn Photoshop.
Pat

[Second Hand Pat]

Ok Matt, here's the ember effect and will have to add the smoke. The smoke effect will make or break this image.

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8571/29365325903_547b8cfedf_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/LJUYjt)DSC_9741-1 (https://flic.kr/p/LJUYjt)

[Altum Nut]

Sorry Pat, never got a chance to comment your first HDR image. Some of us wondering what HDR stands for. :huh:
In any event, you seem to outdo photos that you previously post and truly love this new addition. Rustic images catch my eye the most with second being landscape.
I should really start picking up my camera more.

...Ralph

[Second Hand Pat]

Sorry Ralph, me bad. HDR is High Dynamic Range.


What is HDR Photography?

HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a post-processing task of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed.

An HDR image is commonly made by taking three photos of the same scene, each at different shutter speeds. The result is a bright, medium, and dark photo, based on the amount of light that got through the lens. A software process then combines all the photos to bring details to the shadows and highlights both. This helps to achieve the same task in the final photograph that the human eye can accomplish on the scene.

http://www.stuckincustoms.com/hdr-photography/

[Altum Nut]

My favorite grade 6 teacher always told me to ask questions when you want to learn something...Thanks Pat

...Ralph

[Fundulopanchax]

Hi, Pat, download the trial version of Photomatix, the most popular HDR engine. It is fully functional. You will have LOTS of fun.

[SMB2]

Pat you can also merge the shots in LR as an HDR and get a RAW image to work on.
I like to do hand held, three shot HDR with scenes like this by setting the came to bracket three 1 stop images using Continuous High shutter release.

You might also try developing this in B&W with contrasty look or add sepia for the vintage look.

[Second Hand Pat]

Pat you can also merge the shots in LR as an HDR and get a RAW image to work on.
I like to do hand held, three shot HDR with scenes like this by setting the came to bracket three 1 stop images using Continuous High shutter release.

You might also try developing this in B&W with contrasty look or add sepia for the vintage look.

I tried multiple exposure on a tripod merged into a HDR but there was movement in the picture with interesting results. I consider this a learning experience if nothing else.

https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8574/29905906770_a265f65143_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MyFAbf)DSC_9922-HDR-2 (https://flic.kr/p/MyFAbf)

[LizStreithorst]

I like it.

[Second Hand Pat]

and another

https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8409/30087380372_9668b5c601_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MQHFXs)DSC_9937-HDR (https://flic.kr/p/MQHFXs)

[Second Hand Pat]

I like it.

Thanks Liz :D
Pat

[Discus-n00b]

Looking nice Pat. You can really only tell movement in the Spanish moss. At least to my eyes. A bit distracting in the first more so than the second, I think because of the slight tree trunk in the second photo, gives me some reference of where it's hanging from. Wish I had a spot this nice for sunsets.

[Second Hand Pat]

Looking nice Pat. You can really only tell movement in the Spanish moss. At least to my eyes. A bit distracting in the first more so than the second, I think because of the slight tree trunk in the second photo, gives me some reference of where it's hanging from. Wish I had a spot this nice for sunsets.

This is from my neighbors dock Matt so can't do much about the moss. I do agree it is a bit annoying in the first pic. You can see a slight stacking effect in the first pic in the clouds where the sky is brightly lit.
Pat

[SMB2]

One goal of HDR is to cover all the exposure ranges. So in your shot, Pat, the trees and the grass could be much lighter. That means you would have to take images in this scene with a broader range of exposures, perhaps 2 stops apart. Or take more shots, perhaps 5 images to merge.
The sky looks just fine in your shot so the others would be progressively lighter until the grass and trees are properly exposed and everything else blown out.
If your goal was to silhouette the trees etc and accentuate the sky then the image is fine, but perhaps then didn't need to be an HDR.

Three shot hand held, merged in LR CC. The first to catch the exposure of the clouds, the second is the mid shot and the third to expose for the trees and grasses (perhaps a bit to light). The merge was slightly cropped and a tiny bit of magenta added to the clouds.

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[Second Hand Pat]

That is nice Stan, I could not guarantee that I selected the three exposures intended for the HDR. I tried to eyeball them and due to the movement of the water LR was unable to merge them. I simply need more practice with this. I will be trying your handheld approach at a faster shooting rate.
Pat

[SMB2]

I think you will find it fun.
You can set a three shot bracket with +1 or +2.
Also can start the sequence with an exposure a little dark or light as needed.

[Second Hand Pat]

Stan, I need to take another look but do not recall a menu option to set the exposure for a multiple exposure set.
Pat

[SMB2]

Pat, it is not a multiple exposure.
There is a small BKT button on the left top side of your camera. Pushing it and looking on the top LCD screen will give you the bracket choices.
OF is off!
The thumb wheel will take you to 3F, 5F etc.
The front wheel will give you the stops between shots: 0.7, 1.0, 2.0 etc.
Set your choices and the shutter on CH and fire away. It will only take three (or the # you set) shots. Remember to turn off the bracket when done or all your subsequent shots will be bracketed.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/camera_skills/master-your-camera-hdr-and-bracketing-with-your-nikon-dslr-69030

When you download the images you can usually tell the three shots in a row that are for HDR.

[Second Hand Pat]

Gotcha Stan, I will play with that, thanks for the clarification :D
Pat

[Discus-n00b]

That's a fantastic shot and example Stan! This is what I was talking about earlier, a lot of people make their HDRs look terribly un-natural when you just want to bring out everything in the image. To often it looks like they added a photoshop stylized filter on the image. I guess it all qualifies as HDR, but when it's still really natural looking is when it really shows out IMO. What do you blend with Stan? In camera or standalone program?

[Second Hand Pat]

Using Stan's suggestion to use bracketing above I setup bracketing to use 5 exposure with a spread of 2.0 and shot the setup.

https://c4.staticflickr.com/6/5331/29618640243_2d6a1c14f3_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/M8igR6)DSC_0092-HDR (https://flic.kr/p/M8igR6) , on Flickr

[SMB2]

That's a fantastic shot and example Stan! This is what I was talking about earlier, a lot of people make their HDRs look terribly un-natural when you just want to bring out everything in the image. To often it looks like they added a photoshop stylized filter on the image. I guess it all qualifies as HDR, but when it's still really natural looking is when it really shows out IMO. What do you blend with Stan? In camera or standalone program?

Some Nikon cameras can create an HDR in camera but it is a JPEG file. Canon I believe gives you a RAW file in their selected cameras.
In any case I use LRcc to "merge" into an HDR which gives a DNG (RAW) file that you can then still further process. I especially like this for Landscapes where I prefer just subtle HDR. With some architecture shooting etc where I sometimes like the "grunge" HDR look, I use NIK.

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So now you have a new toy Pat!

[Discus-n00b]

Yeah to my knowledge you can only do it standalone after taking bracketed photos in the camera with a Canon. I can't remember the program I use, but it hasn't always been the best. One of those freebie types, I'd need something a bit more upscale if I did more HDR work.

[SMB2]

Look at Aurora HDR 2017 and Photomatix as well as NIK