My First HDR Landscape

[Aryansha]

I am new to HDR. In fact, new to photography. The moment I learnt about HDR, I got so addicted and spend most of my time on editing. Here are 3 pics taken in Sentosa

1. Nikon D90 - Aperture Priorty, ISO 200, 48mm, F22, 1/80



2. Nikon D90 - Aperture Priorty, ISO 200, 18mm, F22, 1/80



3. Nikon D90 - Aperture Priorty, ISO 200, 18mm, F22, 1/80

[cheguthamrin]

1- Whats your own comments on your products? Do you think its been overdone? Are the colours reflecting the real colours you see thru the viewfinder?
HDR enhances the photo, a right balance will make it awesome, the wrong mix simply destroys.

I suggest you look through the 1001 of HDR pics in flickr and make comparisons. I have my shots of Sentosa done in HDR too in here.

Keep trying yea? I once started as bad as you are, maybe even worse.

[giantcanopy]

Hi Aryansha, thanks for sharing, nevertheless a good attempt, i have seen worse.

Perhaps I might comment on the little halo-ing in the pictures that makes it too out of the world, and there is a little lack of contrast. Like wat cheguthamrin mentioned, try not to overpush your HDR settings. Use the eyes as a guide, areas that should be dark should be dark, and areas that are bright should not be greyed out.

Also would advice to work on the composition before getting too involved in other post processing options.

Ryan

[raghnall]

I think your photos are overdone, they look rather artificial? If you are using Photomatix, there's a guide over at Nikonians forum which is pretty useful..

[sunboi80]

Agree that your pics are overdone, but do improve on ur composition ... in my view, nothing captures my attention besides the overdone HDR

[wakaowalao]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin 1- Whats your own comments on your products? Do you think its been overdone? Are the colours reflecting the real colours you see thru the viewfinder? HDR enhances the photo, a right balance will make it awesome, the wrong mix simply destroys. I suggest you look through the 1001 of HDR pics in flickr and make comparisons. I have my shots of Sentosa done in HDR too in here. Keep trying yea? I once started as bad as you are, maybe even worse.

Much would I like to applaud your effort in posting your own pic for comparison, better than TS but nevertheless, yours defeat the HDR purpose (obvious blown-out highlights) too. Colors definitely not reflecting real-life either.

Oh, seems like you have the tendency of displaying your own pics for comparison everywhere.

[agape01]

For HDR, shoot in manual mode and adjust only the shutter speed.

[mrericlee]

Originally Posted by agape01 For HDR, shoot in manual mode and adjust only the shutter speed.

Meaning we use shutter speed to adjust for different exposures? In this way, we have to touch the camera between shots. Shouldn't we use exposure bracketing instead where the camera will take it's own shots?

[agape01]

Originally Posted by mrericlee Meaning we use shutter speed to adjust for different exposures? In this way, we have to touch the camera between shots. Shouldn't we use exposure bracketing instead where the camera will take it's own shots?

Yes for the first question and the reason is that if you shoot in Aperture mode, what is going to happen is that your shutter speed is going to be all over the place and you got no control over the tonality of the final output. In manual mode, at least you are just adjusting precisely how much exposure is going into your shots.

Bracketing is the other way to go, but I would still do it in manual mode.

For HDR as a whole, the capture must be done on a tripod so that your captures are all going to be consistent.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by mrericlee Meaning we use shutter speed to adjust for different exposures? In this way, we have to touch the camera between shots. Shouldn't we use exposure bracketing instead where the camera will take it's own shots?

you should keep everything constant other than shutter speed:

-aperture constant for same depth of field
-iso constant (obviously, because of dynamic range and noise and other things)
-white balance constant (if not you will get very interesting colors)

exposure bracketing is limited, i am not sure because i do not use it, but i doubt it can capture +3 to -3 with one stop in between, which is why i always use manual mode to shoot for hdr.

i would not worry too much about the camera moving, just take special care not to turn the wheel so violently and it is really no problem at all with a tripod, which you should be useful anyways

[night86mare]

are these merged in photoshop? it reminds me of my earlier days with hdr experimentation with photoshop, which is why i ask.

my suggestion is to not bother with photoshop hdr, it makes everything look like a painting unless you take a long time to adjust. in which case, might as well use manual blending - i.e. overlap the photos as layers and erase to reveal relevant details.

otherwise photomatix pro is a viable option, so long as you don't mind the fact that it gives color casts and a slightly artificial look (though with careful massaging in post process this can be overcome).

like ryan (giantcanopy) has mentioned, concentrate on composition first. no point trying to create something if there are no strong fundamentals. enjoy!

[Aryansha]

Hi guys, Thanks for the input.... I will keep on trying.....

[cheguthamrin]

Originally Posted by wakaowalao Much would I like to applaud your effort in posting your own pic for comparison, better than TS but nevertheless, yours defeat the HDR purpose (obvious blown-out highlights) too. Colors definitely not reflecting real-life either. Oh, seems like you have the tendency of displaying your own pics for comparison everywhere.

My product may have been worse to your eyes I know. My intent was for TS to compare, with less words as possible. I would bring it down upon TS [or Mods] request of course.

Peace~

[Occellatus]

I shoot with manual mode for HDRs as well. If weather's bright and sunny, I would normally use 0.7EV bracketing. This is the max my Sony Alpha can go. Only two ranges for me to choose from in bracketing mode, 0.3EV and 0.7EV.

However, if lighting conditions are not good, lets say during a gloomy day or indoors, I would do a wider range manually, sometimes from -3 to +3. I think it really depends on the lighting conditions. No hard and fast rules.

The thing for HDR is to process the final product to be as natural as possible. My strength only ranges from 50 to 60. No less or more than that.

Hope the above helps.

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by cheguthamrin My product may have been worse to your eyes I know. My intent was for TS to compare, with less words as possible. I would bring it down upon TS [or Mods] request of course. Peace~

I feel that theres nothing wrong in posting one's own pic for comparison. In a forum, its a two way communication thingy...both benefits from it...it would be pointless if only words are communicated.

A picture tells a thousand words...be it good or bad.

Bro Aryansha...heres one of my HDR pic...I dun think its good for some here...but atleast it serves as a rough guide...it was taken on a very bright and sunny day and so I only used 0.7EV bracketing...hope it helps bro...