I'm sure that this might have been touched on in the DSLR thread, but I've been interested in this new fangled HDR thing. (New to me, at least)
I've googled and gotten a couple of tutorial type things and attempted a couple of images which didn't turn out much differently than the original.
I'm using Photoshop CS2 and the merge to HDR function and then tweaking after the downconvert from 32bit to 16bit. I don't have Photomatix, although a lot of the tutorials tie that in for tone mapping purposes.
I guess my question beyond the technical aspects of building the HDR image, what TYPE of image do those of you who shoot for HDR look for.
Most of the stuff I've seen online involve clouds. I've got to believe that you can do a pretty good HDR without clouds. Should I be shooting a wide range of color? Tone? What?
And yes, I know you should bracket shots, at least 3. I've got that part down, it's just subject matter that I'm having trouble with. (And time to shoot good HDR shots.)
When I get more time, I'll try to post the couple of first attempts for any advice.
Since HDR stahds for high dynamic range you are looking for things that you could never capture on film because they have a lot of detail in the highs (whites) and lows (blacks) that you can bring out with the HDR. Clouds are good because they run the gamut of tones from black to white with lot of detail in all of the areas. Also you can hov little or no movement of anything in the picture or it will be blurred.
Here is an HDR that worked because it picked up the details in the dark bricks and also the whites of the clouds.
ok this is kind of a dumb question but ive never used auto bracketing on my Canon EOS 350D and i actually have no clue how to set it up & cant find any help from googling.... so any help?
personally i like not having to dig through a 100 page thread just to find some of the info found in this thread.
just saying.
I second that. Thus my starting of the thread.
Here's my first attempt at HDR. As a reference, the first image is the middle exposure in the bracket. (-2, 0, +2 if my memory serves.)
This is the culmination of my HDR attempt using Photoshop CS2 only, Merge to HDR, and some tweaking until it didn't look crappy.
I'm not stoked about the loss of definition in the two mountain ranges in the BG, nor the ultra-black foreground foliage. There's also a bit of movement in one or all of the exposures as I don't have the IR remote or a cable release.
Either way, I'm curious to see if you guys think the HDR shot is too processed, not processed enough, or what.
Last edited by Blurker; March 24th, 2008 at 10:28 PM.
Here's my first attempt at HDR. As a reference, the first image is the middle exposure in the bracket. (-2, 0, +2 if my memory serves.)
This is the culmination of my HDR attempt using Photoshop CS2 only, Merge to HDR, and some tweaking until it didn't look crappy.
I'm not stoked about the loss of definition in the two mountain ranges in the BG, nor the ultra-black foreground foliage. There's also a bit of movement in one or all of the exposures as I don't have the IR remote or a cable release.
Either way, I'm curious to see if you guys think the HDR shot is too processed, not processed enough, or what.
i agree the mountains should be more defined, i think that would really make the image, but i think the foreground and sky look great.
i plan on trying my hand at HDR tomorrow evening at sunset since my office is on the beach in hermosa but i dunno if i can stick around work long enough to catch sunset, i have a great (hopefully) shot in mind. as a recreation of this
HDR Photography. 
HeShootsNScores
Luckily it worked anyways. Always use a tripod for bracketing and HDR. 
