HDR - some problem with it.

[PyeeL]

Hi all.
I recently tried to do a HDR image, after I got my desired results, I realised there were many patches that looked like noise (or maybe it isn't) in the image. They didn't seem to be present in my original pictures.

Unfortunately I do not have the original picture anymore for comparison.

Here is my final image.



Would like to ask if this is a common problem in HDRI?

[HTCahHTC]

was the original shot in high ISO??

[PyeeL]

Camera was set to ISO 200.

[pongheng]

HDR is done via magnifying local variances within an area - as such it is normal that some "noise" that you did not notice will show up. If you find that these noise are not what you want, you need to relook at the tone mapping step of the HDR and re-adjust the parameters that you used. Also, since you need multiple shots to create the HDR in the first place, some "noise" may show up due to the change in the environment when these shots are taken.

[LifeInMacro]

Yes, I think noise and patches quite a common HDR problem. Took a few shots for HDRs and junk nearly all away due to HDR's magnification of lens flare; tweaking parameters in software doesn't seem help. I suspect my source files may not be ideal for HDR.

[PyeeL]

Ok. Thanks all for the replies. I will try and re-do one soon.

[theRBK]

how many shots did you shoot and how many stops apart were the images?... if the shots covered a wide enough range, you should actually have less noise, not more... make sure that your series of shots covers all the way from the brightest details in the scene to the darkest details, and if possible, those extreme details should be captured near the midtone values in at least one shot, ie. the darkest details could be near the midtone values in one end of your bracket of shots, and the brightest details could be near the midtone values in the other end of your bracket of shots... that way, you should minimize noise levels because the darkest details, which in a normal capture would be the noisiest, would be captured near the midtone where there should be less noise (capture of the brightest details near midtone is just to make sure you don't clip any highlights... highlights should have minimal noise to begin with)... this should be possible in non-moving subjects, but YMMV...

[David Kwok]

Normal when your source is slightly noisy
try capture in raw, apply NR then export as TIFF and redo it
I am using Photomatix, are you ?

[night86mare]

the noise shouldn't be this apparent, unless you had original source as high iso - always use lowest

also, you are putting in way too much strength for photomatix if that was the prog used. which is why the bottom of your blocks in the picture are brighter than the sky.

[zzyzx]

hi, i just want to ask, what is the recommended setting in photomatix to start off with?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by zzyzx hi, i just want to ask, what is the recommended setting in photomatix to start off with?

depends on your eye.

USUALLY for sunset scenes (daytime scenes hardly need hdr, using it is like 脱裤放屁 to me).. strengths around 50-60, saturation around 50-60, and leave black and white point to untouched, and adjust mildly to ensure that hierachy of light is maintained - then lower luminosity by -1. the last step is entirely optional, you can always adjust it with gamma in photoshop later on.

you will need to tweak the output in photoshop to get the best results. photomatix is convenient, but tends to soften the image slightly, and also introduces funny color shifts.

[zzyzx]

Originally Posted by night86mare depends on your eye. USUALLY for sunset scenes (daytime scenes hardly need hdr, using it is like 脱裤放屁 to me).. strengths around 50-60, saturation around 50-60, and leave black and white point to untouched, and adjust mildly to ensure that hierachy of light is maintained - then lower luminosity by -1. the last step is entirely optional, you can always adjust it with gamma in photoshop later on. you will need to tweak the output in photoshop to get the best results. photomatix is convenient, but tends to soften the image slightly, and also introduces funny color shifts.

thanks bro for your tips.. will try my first HDR and get back to you.

[zzyzx]

Originally Posted by night86mare depends on your eye. USUALLY for sunset scenes (daytime scenes hardly need hdr, using it is like 脱裤放屁 to me).. strengths around 50-60, saturation around 50-60, and leave black and white point to untouched, and adjust mildly to ensure that hierachy of light is maintained - then lower luminosity by -1. the last step is entirely optional, you can always adjust it with gamma in photoshop later on. you will need to tweak the output in photoshop to get the best results. photomatix is convenient, but tends to soften the image slightly, and also introduces funny color shifts.

bro i had tried your setting with some informal AEB shots and the photos turn out pretty good!

btw why do you say "daytime scenes hardly need hdr, using it is like 脱裤放屁 to me" cos the test photos i tried were taken during daytime and i can see the difference compared to the orginal shots. i have also seen some HDR works and a lot of them are taken during daytime also...

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by zzyzx bro i had tried your setting with some informal AEB shots and the photos turn out pretty good! btw why do you say "daytime scenes hardly need hdr, using it is like 脱裤放屁 to me" cos the test photos i tried were taken during daytime and i can see the difference compared to the orginal shots. i have also seen some HDR works and a lot of them are taken during daytime also...

depends on the scene.

for example, if you are taking everything bathed in sunlight, then the exposure for your scene bathed in sunlight will not be too different from the sky.

backlit is another matter, but backlit photos seldom look good unless there is a specific reason for it. the quality of light is just not as good.

[zzyzx]

i roughly got you... thanks!

[Juzda2ofuz]

hi..noob here..sorry to steal thread..

i jus started on hdr, however when i ty to generate hdr using 3 raw images, AEB-ed..
always comes out with a red tinge..like a red clear film over the whole pic?
is there sumthing wrg? real blur..
btw, me using photomatix pro 3.0

hope u all can assist me.
thx.

[ctm1968]

can I use photo taken without raw to produce a HDR photo? If yes, what s/w to use?
not sure is this the right place to ask this question?

[David Kwok]

Originally Posted by Juzda2ofuz hi..noob here..sorry to steal thread.. i jus started on hdr, however when i ty to generate hdr using 3 raw images, AEB-ed.. always comes out with a red tinge..like a red clear film over the whole pic? is there sumthing wrg? real blur.. btw, me using photomatix pro 3.0 hope u all can assist me. thx.

Quite a number of photographers uses 8bits JPEG and so forth, but I personally only works with 16bits TIFF converted from 14bits RAW. Thats because for HDR, we are already talking about insufficient dynamic range, why start with 8bits image which has so much information lost already, on top of that JPEG may introduce compression artifacts which are visible at shadow area when you recover the shadow. Some may beg to differ, but well, that's my preference.

For your red tint, you might wanna work on your white balance ? Or perhaps your screen is not really calibrated. It's hard to tell. In any case, you can adjust the temperature in photomatix to make the photo cooler as required. No need to be too accurate in HDR, it's not that....... accurate in the first place that we are talking about recreating scene here. Just adjust until you are happy with the result.

[Juzda2ofuz]

Originally Posted by David Kwok Quite a number of photographers uses 8bits JPEG and so forth, but I personally only works with 16bits TIFF converted from 14bits RAW. Thats because for HDR, we are already talking about insufficient dynamic range, why start with 8bits image which has so much information lost already, on top of that JPEG may introduce compression artifacts which are visible at shadow area when you recover the shadow. Some may beg to differ, but well, that's my preference. For your red tint, you might wanna work on your white balance ? Or perhaps your screen is not really calibrated. It's hard to tell. In any case, you can adjust the temperature in photomatix to make the photo cooler as required. No need to be too accurate in HDR, it's not that....... accurate in the first place that we are talking about recreating scene here. Just adjust until you are happy with the result.

im nt sure with the red tinge has to do with the WB..played ard with it..
anyway i uninstall and got the latest one..seems everything is in order now..
maybe the version i had has a glitch or smtg.
thx for the advice.

[Juzda2ofuz]

btw, jus to add..
i think i have found the fault..
it seems that photomatix 3.0 didnt support canon 450d raw...was updated..

"Updated in v3.0.2
- Added support for RAW files from Canon 450D and Nikon D60."

hence, when i gt the latest version which was 3.1.2..seems okie!!
thx for the help guys..hope this help others too..