Courthouse HDR

[photofun]

I've been playing with HDR lately using Dynamic Photo HDR. This shot was taken just before sunset. I initially bracket 3 RAW shots but couldn't align them well enough to have a sharp image, so I created 3 jpgs from 1 RAW image. When I was done tone mapping I took it to Gimp and tried to re-align the building as it seemed that the right rear side was leaning in. So is it over done with the HDR? Does the alignment of the building look odd? Is there anything you would suggest doing differently? Thanks for your help.

[Ozscot]

I'm sorry but for me it's just not working. It could be that there just isn't enough contrast or tones running throughout the three images you used to make a meaningful HDR. The red yellow and blue have popped up nicely but that could have been achieved by any number of means other than HDR and they are such small items that you have to look for them. It's the building you really want to resonate but it just looks like the building ordinarily would to me. I so, so want to be kind, but if I don't tell you like I see it then you'll never be aware that someone out there doesn't think you've achieved what you set out to achieve.

I'm convinced it's a lack of contrast issue or lack of dynamic range, and that all three images are so alike that they are settling for a common medium and not bringing out what folks aim for with an HDR - but hey listen - if its any consolation, I'm crap at HDR and could be as useful to you as I would be to a nuclear physicist. For me though - it just didn't happen in that image - in fact I honestly believed you had posted a non-HDR version here and we had to go to flickr to find the HDR. It's not 'singing' - really sorry.

Oz

[Japaslavian]

What Ozscot said is true... to one extent, but here's the way I see it.

HDR is about combining 3 or more bracketed exposures to achieve a range of color and light that isn't possible in a single exposure. Even if you were shooting with a $30k, 42-bit color sensor it wouldn't be possible. With those exposures, you can combine them to make a single, evenly exposed photograph.
For instance, let's say you're indoors and you want to take a photograph of your kitchen, and you want to be able to see the nice backyard through the window, but sun is shining through at mid day. You expose for the kitchen and your window is totally blown out. You expose for the window, and the kitchen is too dark. SO, you bracket the exposures, and combine them to make a single, well-exposed photo so you can see the lovely backyard, and the kitchen. And it looks natural, not surreal.

THAT is HDR.

Just because it doesn't look something like this:
http://training.xtrain.com/portfolio...2_HDR_copy.jpg

doesn't mean it isn't a true HDR image.
So from a purely technical perspective, this image is pretty much textbook HDR.

Now if you were aiming to get the strange, over-saturated, and (in my opinion) completely waaaay over-done look, then I would try increasing the increments between your exposures and re-do the tone mapping. But this time, take a tripod with you, and don't bother trying to make an HDR with 1 RAW file, because more times than not, 3 different shots will look a world better than 3 made from 1.

Just my two (or 3) cents...

[photofun]

Thanks for your comments Ozscot & Japaslavian. I wondered if I would have done better to take my photos earlier in the day to get better starting photos. All three of my images are on the darker side even though I bracketed. Perhaps I'll rework it with my lightest image lightened even more to get more of a range. I'm assuming you didn't have a problem with the alignment of the building. I was really taken aback when I downloaded my pictures to may camera and saw how much the building was leaning inward. Anyway thanks for being honest as I'm here to learn.

[L.Wayne]

I like it. I am just beginning to explore DHR, but that is a reasonable example of the results I will be seeking more often than not. Perhaps posting an untouched image along with the HDR would make the enhancement more readily understood.