Pseudo HDR

[thomasfolkeandersen]

I think the 'new' revised shot with more grass in the foreground is an improvement in terms of compositional elements. I also like how the more green gives the shot more colour.

Definitely an improvement.

Well, going from Auto to Program mode is a step in the right direction in terms of you taking control of the controls of your camera!

I started the same way and ended up shooting in Manual Mode all the time.

JPGs are fine for starters but for ultimate control you will want to shoot RAW so you have the most amount of data which you can then develop. Anyway, that's a long topic.

Cheers
Thomas

[garnetgirl]

Thanks, Thomas!

[jwdrums]

the blue ridge parkway is my back yard...love your HDR style! J

[Quintin]

Hi,

You've gotten some very nice results there... I think the composition looks a lot better with some more grass in the foreground, as well.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this technique, but there's a way to blend many shots taken at different exposures on a tripod to create an HDR image in Photoshop. I'm not sure if it's true HDR, scientifically speaking, but the results are fantastic.

Basically, you mount your camera on a tripod and compose, take several shots at different exposures ranging from extremely underexposed to extremely overexposed (exposure bracketing works well for this), and then import the CR2 files into Photoshop using the "Merge to HDR" function. You can get some pretty amazing results from this.

Here's the tutorial over at Photo Tuts+.

[garnetgirl]

Originally Posted by Quintin

Hi,

You've gotten some very nice results there... I think the composition looks a lot better with some more grass in the foreground, as well.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this technique, but there's a way to blend many shots taken at different exposures on a tripod to create an HDR image in Photoshop. I'm not sure if it's true HDR, scientifically speaking, but the results are fantastic.

Basically, you mount your camera on a tripod and compose, take several shots at different exposures ranging from extremely underexposed to extremely overexposed (exposure bracketing works well for this), and then import the CR2 files into Photoshop using the "Merge to HDR" function. You can get some pretty amazing results from this.

Here's the tutorial over at Photo Tuts+.

Quintin, thank you so much! I will definitely try that!

Originally Posted by jwdrums

the blue ridge parkway is my back yard...love your HDR style! J

Thanks! I am sooo jealous! I have to drive 2 hrs to see the Parkway! I bet you have loads of beautiful pictures. I want to see more of it. I was on the stretch from Boone, NC up to the Mabry Mill in Virginia.

[Quintin]

Originally Posted by garnetgirl

Quintin, thank you so much! I will definitely try that!

You're welcome!

When you have, please post your results... I haven't gotten to slogging my tripod up the nearby hill yet to do it myself. :P

[HunterProductions]

You have achieved some great results here, Sometimes you can get as good of a result with the Pseudo HDR as you can with an actual HDR composite, which is 3 or more images at least 1 stop apart shot using a tripod. But the actual HDR image gives greater detail and the dynamic range between the highlights and shadows is fantastic.

Pseudo HDR


Actual HDR



Although not the same image you can see how the colors pop more and some of the differences in the two.
Hope this helps some, Your shot looks great as it is though.

[HunterProductions]

Here is a link to a very easy to use program that you can use to do actual HDR photos or Pseudo HDR photos, and it is not expensive either.
Dynamic Photo HDR