HDR and Slight Tilt Shift

[fehn]

This photo was taken by my mountain bike riding buddy at a competition this year, he handed it over to me to play with.

-First I cropped it to change up the composition and edited out the guy in the background.
-I didn't like the contrast, a bit washed out, so i played with the levels and then did an HDR with 3 different exposure levels from lightroom and the HDR processing with detail enhancer in Photomatix Pro 3.0.
-Then just a simple tilt shift with a quick mask gradient and lens blur.

Really want to here what you think about it. Thanks for checking it out.

[flomaster]

can you explain the tilt shift process?

I know about HDR but that tilt shift effect looks really cool

-=Jason=-

[rediguana]

Sigh - once again I was hoping to see a proper tilt-shift photo (e.g. using a tilt-shift lens) but its only post-processing. I wish people would stop using misleading subjects

Call it fake tilt-shift, or tilt-shift effect, even better called it 'lens blur'. But tilt-shift is just misleading.

[fehn]

Flomaster, for the fake tilt shift using photoshop, start by pressing Q to go into quick mask mode. Then select the gradient tool. Next click the top edge of the picture and then click the middle. If everything is right you will get a fading red from top the middle. if it doesnt work make sure your in quick mask mode. Repeat the gradient for the bottom of the photo. Press Q again to exit quick mask, then select Filter > Blur > and Lens Blur. There are only a few settings so play with them and see what works for you.

rediguana, this is the post processing part of the forum so naturally it will be an effect. But sorry to disappoint.

[PowerPix]

You did a "...simple tilt shit with a quick mask gradient and lens blur."????? No way!!! How do you do that!?!?!

[goenawan]

nice pic!

btw, if you change the exposure level in lightroom, isnt that the EXIF data (shutter speed & aperture) would still stay the same? did u shoot in RAW or JPEG? thanks anyway

[rediguana]

Originally Posted by fehn

rediguana, this is the post processing part of the forum so naturally it will be an effect. But sorry to disappoint.

No worries, its just there have been a few of these recently, and I got my hopes up in advance of seeing actual TS photos

And yes this is the PP part, but as I come in via a 'new posts' search, I tend to just click on subjects that interest me, and don't pay much attention to which forum it is actually in.

I do like the effect you've generated though!

[fehn]

Its a JPEG, here is the data off the original

Camera- Nikon D60
F-stop- f/10
Exposure time- 1/250 sec.
Exposure Bias - 0 steps
Iso- 200
Focal Length- 44mm
Flash- No Flash
Metering Mode- Pattern

[fehn]

The EXIF data is gone once you change the exposure level in Lightroom. The different exposure levels still work fine for the HDR processing. Getting overboard with changing up the exposure levels in Lightroom will make a lot of noise though, so watch out for that. Since its an action shot, an HDR from multiple pictures with different exposure levels, even in AEB mode, just wouldn't work.

[goenawan]

so what is the best way to create an HDR image with just 1 picture taken? is better in RAW or JPEg?? thanks, btw im using photomatix