First attempt at HDR

[jay_soft]

Hi,

This is my first attempt at a HDR shot. Using three handheld matched photos. I seem to have lost quite a lot of detail/texture in the lane tracks, and also in the hedge (bottom left), and also not got quite as dramatic a sky as i was hoping for. But I'm guessing this could be because of my range of exposures? I also wasnt thinking as I took the shots and used a range of f stops rather than shutter speeds...

Shot at ISO 100, 1/60sec, f 7.1,10,14. After merging the photos I saturated it, decreased the exposure of the sky and gamma correction of the whole picture, used unsharp masks to sharpen it and increase the contrast, and then finally used levels to increase the contrast again.

[xxpinballxx]

HI jay. Great shot! I think the process you gave it is natural and still shows the details. Too bad there weren't a few more of those big clouds in the sky. those couple really came out nice.
I might lighten the foreground a bit and darken the top edge of the sky a bit. If not then i would crop off a bit of the bottom. Not taking too much of the road away but a tad to lower the tree and horizon from the middle of the frame.

[jay_soft]

So I took your advice and took all three actions...even though that wasnt possibly what you meant me too. However, I think it looks a lot better now. I just want to go back and shoot the site some more now!

[jujitsu1]

Can you tell me what hdr is as I'm a newish member please .

[tattoodjay]

Jay,
great shot some HDRs are overdone, but think this is great

Jujitsu
this link explains HDR quite well hope it helps
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hdr/discuss/40580/

[jdwalz]

There is a decent article on HDR (High Dynamic Range Imaging) at Wikipedia.
The article at Wikipedia is good but a bit technical. However, there are some great examples of HDR photograpy which can be viewed.

[jay_soft]

[QUOTE=tattoodjay;93436]Jay,
great shot some HDRs are overdone, but think this is great

Many thanks. I agree, I think there is a fine line between getting an enhanced dynamic range, and all the great colours that come with it, and the OTT shots you sometimes see.

This is another good article on HDR if you want to get quite technical -

http://range.wordpress.com/2006/07/1...ng-relaxation/

[xxpinballxx]

I think the rework really helped JAy.
Make sure you post the newshots!

[qronoz]

here's my first HDR shot..
do I miss something on this picture processing or it's enough?
which one better, do all the process in photomatix?
or combining it in photoshop and then use photomatix just for adjust the tone?

[markov]

good day!
your shot is perfect.

reguarding photomatix, is it a good software? is it a good buy?
do they have a trial for their software coz im really interested in it.