HDR - My first go! Anyone got any tips?

Moos3h

Moos3h

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James
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Hi all,

http://picasaweb.google.com/jshackley/FirstStepsWithHDR

Sorry, can't work out how to get the photos to display. So, motivated by the shots I've seen here today, I downloaded the trial of Photometrix and had a quick go.

I set my Camera (EOS 20D) to -/+ 2stops exposure bracketing and used my 17-85 IS lens.

Now, generally I'm fairly pleased, it seems to have worked - just rubbish subjects (didn't have enough time to go anywhere), but I'm noticing a general lack of sharpness and also noise. Is this because I had to shoot at ISO 400? I don't get that much noise on shots normally.

Any hints/tips greatfully received!

Thanks,
James
 
Difficult one this. I think that my problem with these is that they don't need the HDR treatment, they could have been exposed perfectly well without any processing. In this case it simply makes them look unnatural, especially on the bike.

Some will probably disagree. IMO, the use of HDR should be reserved to the circumstaces which it was intended to be used in - those where there is a large difference between highlight and shadow which cannot be resolved by the cameras dynamic range.
 
Totally fair point! I really wanted to test out the technology first, just roughly, so that this weekend (weather permitting) I can head out and take some big building stuff, which HDR will come in really handy for.

Thanks though!

Cheers,
James
 
Well, you didn't go overboard - which is very tempting to do.. so technically I would say that you did fine, with the subject matter you had. :thumbs:
 
Not a tip per-se, more of an opinion, but I either

1) go for the out and out HDR look (ie. quite processed)

and

2) or go for a more subtle effect



(Click the thumbnails for the larger versions)
 
Hehehe, cheers...

Is it generally wise to get as fast a shutter speed as possible on these, even with an IS lens? Given that essentially they are three seperate caputres, any movement is going to make things weird. I was shooting at around 1/250, but I'm thinking it should have been even faster...

Cheers,
James
 
unclerichy, that first one you posted is fantastic! I must admit, the bear is so subtle, I wouldn't have known it had had the treatment...

This is all suddenly clicking into place though - I've seen so many images recently and just thought 'how the hell did they get that...' and now I realise!

Thanks!
James
 
I would think that your shutter speed should have been fine, it will have been the ISO setting that affected the quality. I have found that any HDR treatment exacerbates the level of noise in the final image. Although it could be me doing it completely wrong.. :)
 
I guess that with HDR, effectively, you're likely to end up with 3x the noise? I went up to ISO 400, so will try and get something more contrasty this week at ISO 100 and try again!

Cheers,
James
 
Moos3h said:
unclerichy, that first one you posted is fantastic! I must admit, the bear is so subtle, I wouldn't have known it had had the treatment...
Click to expand...

Most kind*. The first one is one of the first shots I posted on TP and the barbed wire spoils it but try as I might I can't get rid of if convincingly.

As for camera shake - I use multi-shot mode to grab three shots in quick succession whilst grasping the tripod firmly. Photomatix can also cope with hand-held shots too by aligning the images the best it can though that can lead to softer shots or odd halos.

As for noise, some of it could be JPEG artefacts (ie. jagged edges, large blocks of the same colour) if you've used JPEG rather than RAW.

* I'll give you the fiver when I see you...
 
Cheers, Pete. I was just looking for that :thumbs:
 
thanks for posting that link - I now understand what your all on about!

Think I might have to have a go at that myself this weekend!
 
petemc said:
My Guide. Mentions the ISO issue.
Click to expand...

You know I keep meaning to thank you for that Pete! It was your easy instructions on there that got me to try it.

So thank you :love:


Moos3h ~ I don't think you did bad at all for your first go! I'm looking forward to seeing your future efforts ;)
 
Moos3h said:
Sorry, can't work out how to get the photos to display.

Any hints/tips greatfully received!

Thanks,
James
Click to expand...

It's not you :). Googles Picasa web albums don't allow linking to the pictures - which is why you can't get them to display here. Just to confuse you when you 'preview' the post you might see the pictures as they are cached on your computer but no one else will.
 
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