HDR Pros please advise/critique

[wbrook13]

I've only been playing with HDR for about a month, playing with the sliders, and checking out the results. Some I have been very pleased with, while others have been disgustingly ugly.
The following image is my latest attempt; and I like the way it looks . . . . . except for the tree in the upper right-hand corner. I don't even know what to call the bright spots that appear in the leaves (kinda ghostly). They are only noticeable when zoomed in; but I want to get rid of them!
The image was created in Photomatix using 4 exposures, with the following slider settings:
Strength - 100
Color Saturation - 64
Luminosiity - 7.0
Microcontrast - 7.5
Smoothing - 7.3
White point and black point were adjusted as necessary.

What causes these spots? Is there something I can do to fix this problem?



Thank you, in advance, for your help.

[digirebelva]

was the wind blowing...if so that will cause the ghosting in the tree, and where you handholding, or shooting on a tripod....handholding can cause the same issue

[wbrook13]

I was using a tripod, and the wind wasn't blowing very much. I have seen the ghosting thing on flags that I have had in images. This doesn't look like that - it looks more like a "hot spot" or something. Were you able to zoom in and see what I'm talking about?

[digirebelva]

Originally Posted by wbrook13;1168833 [B

the wind wasn't blowing very much[/B]

As close as you were to the tree, any movement will make a huge difference on multiple exposures when the software has to try & compensate for it.
That being said, I downloaded the large image in Flickr so I could zoom in better, part of what I see is the suns rays being reflected on the leaves, with what looks like the software tried to render the ghosting images as best as it could. Remember, when the wind is blowing the leaves are moving, 1 second they are reflecting the sun, the other they are blocking the light. Try this, overlap your exposures and reduce the opacity of the top layer and see if you don't see a difference in the images as far as alignment goes in that area.

[wbrook13]

Originally Posted by digirebelva

As close as you were to the tree, any movement will make a huge difference on multiple exposures when the software has to try & compensate for it.
That being said, I downloaded the large image in Flickr so I could zoom in better, part of what I see is the suns rays being reflected on the leaves, with what looks like the software tried to render the ghosting images as best as it could. Remember, when the wind is blowing the leaves are moving, 1 second they are reflecting the sun, the other they are blocking the light. Try this, overlap your exposures and reduce the opacity of the top layer and see if you don't see a difference in the images as far as alignment goes in that area.

Thank you digirebelva. I was thinking maybe the sun had something to do with those spots; but I wasn't sure how, or what to do about it . . . . if anything. I'm really fairly new at this PP stuff, and not sure what you mean by overlapping exposures and reducing the opacity of the top layer. Is that done in PSE? Before or after exporting to Photomatix?

[drtoni]

HI-

I think it would look better if you lowered the strength to around 60-70 and maybe put the smoothing all the way to the right. Also- try using the semi-manual anti-ghosting feature of photomatix pro 4, I will put a link here to show you how to use it. The sky seems pretty gray, was it that color in your originals? I ask because sometimes the HDR process can cause this. To help reduce this lowering the strength can help.

Hope this helps you.

Toni

check out this video on how to use the anti-ghosting in photomatix
YouTube - HDRSoft Photomatix DeGhosting

[wbrook13]

Originally Posted by drtoni

HI-

I think it would look better if you lowered the strength to around 60-70 and maybe put the smoothing all the way to the right. Also- try using the semi-manual anti-ghosting feature of photomatix pro 4, I will put a link here to show you how to use it. The sky seems pretty gray, was it that color in your originals? I ask because sometimes the HDR process can cause this. To help reduce this lowering the strength can help.

Hope this helps you.

Toni

check out this video on how to use the anti-ghosting in photomatix
YouTube - HDRSoft Photomatix DeGhosting

Thank you, Toni. I'll try the suggestions you gave me tomorrow, when I have some more time. The sky was partly/mostly cloudy - but not grey. I'll re-post after making changes.

[wbrook13]

Originally Posted by wbrook13

Thank you, Toni. I'll try the suggestions you gave me tomorrow, when I have some more time. The sky was partly/mostly cloudy - but not grey. I'll re-post after making changes.

Okay, it appears that the "glare" that I was referring to was indeed the reflection of the sun on the leaves. . . . . I applied the de-ghosting around the leaves in the upper-right corner and it has disappeared. However, now there is a "mottled" look on the roof and side of the barn that was in the de-ghosting area. (noticeable when zoomed in) What is that?
I also didn't crop as tight this time, leaving the area where the sun is in the image, and rotated to straighten the image. Which crop works best?
Thank you all for your help.