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HDR attempts
For quite some time now all I knew about shooting HDR images was all about 3 different exposures merged in one via Photoshop and that was it! Alas for somebody to say that can deliver such a quality to a client is far from that! So, I set out on a self project of “HDR attempts” and I decided to delve deeper into it.
To produce such as quality one has to have a camera that supports it shooting in different exposures or different shutter stops. 3 images of the same subject in different exposure are enough to do the trick. One needs to get the highlight tones the mid tones as well as the dark tones. Usually any camera with manual modes would be able to set up. A tripod is also a good ally, specially in low light conditions as it provides extra stability and accuracy when mounted. My Canon 350D did behave differently when on stabilized on a table, to when it was hand held.
So the first images were taken from a favourite company bar-restaurant Shebeen Chic, on Georges street in Dublin, Ireland. That place was amazingly decorated, colourful and buzzing of recycled old objects and a warm atmosphere!
Theory is needed to understand what can be achieved and also better comprehend its benefits. So good old Wikipedia gave me a good foundation on HDR imaging. Since tutorials are abundant online I set out to find the ones that best described the issue and pretty much took me by the hand from start to finish. Here are two I strongly recommend for their simple language and yet detailed tutorial on the subject:
- How to create great realistic HDR photos
- HDR – High Dynamic Range Photography. Merging HDR in Photoshop CS3 Tutorial
…and so I started fidgeting with my sliders, downloading Photoshop plug in Photomatix, that is said to produce more surrealistic results than Photoshop itself and personally this is my preference with HDR.
“If I am to bother is because I want to have an extra effect, than just an every day photo!”
After a couple of days I came up with a set of “HDR images” I have posted on flickr to also update my photography page in my portfolio. Flickr is not just uploading, flickr is far more social to that and nowadays internet is for sharing, it ’s the “look what I did pals” effect!! I found a related flickr group called..guess what? and I joined.
Well this group is very interesting since not only does it provide you with guidelines to join, but also with some interesting information about the topic and useful links. “The Future of Digital Imaging – High Dynamic Range Photography” is an article I digged out of there for example!
So this is it, you can try it yourself as well, surely it looks simple and definitely promising; but like most things in life “practise makes better” !
2009
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HDR is amazing, especially for those shots that need high contrast. I liked your Flickr shots. I’ve recently made my first attempt in HDR which was quite successful in my opinion, although I found out that not every shot can become extraordinary or get a profound effect by the merging. (I wouldn’t want to post a link here, my shot is on Flickr if you care to take a look – I befriended you there).
Looking forward to more of your experiments.
why not go ahead or add me in your friends list if you wish so I can see your work as well
I did that already, didn’t I?
Hello. finejob. I did not expect this blogs on a Mon.