The advantage of having good dynamic range
Jun 10, 2016 12:12:44 #
I'm just going through a bunch of photos for my website, and I ran across a bracket series I did last year in Hong Kong thinking to make an HDR. It would not be easy due to all the activity in the frame, so I thought I'd throw the -3 EV frame into ACR to see what could be done with it. I don't love the picture, but clearly it becomes an acceptable photo even raising the exposure by 3 EV in post.
As a comparison I took the "normally exposed" frame, 3 EV brighter, and also processed that one to a similar state. I think the differences are obvious, and to me there is no question that the underexposed frame is superior, especially in the detail it holds in the highlights.
Had I tried this with a camera with lower DR, the shadows would have been very noisy and possibly blocked up. The Nikon D800 handles it very nicely. There is a touch more noise in the shadows, not visible in these frames which are reduced in size. So hopefully this is a clear demonstration of the advantages of higher DR, especially in situations like this with a very wide dynamic range.
As a comparison I took the "normally exposed" frame, 3 EV brighter, and also processed that one to a similar state. I think the differences are obvious, and to me there is no question that the underexposed frame is superior, especially in the detail it holds in the highlights.
Had I tried this with a camera with lower DR, the shadows would have been very noisy and possibly blocked up. The Nikon D800 handles it very nicely. There is a touch more noise in the shadows, not visible in these frames which are reduced in size. So hopefully this is a clear demonstration of the advantages of higher DR, especially in situations like this with a very wide dynamic range.
Jun 10, 2016 12:17:33 #
Jun 10, 2016 12:24:23 #
Graphic demonstration of something I've thought about for a while. I usually plan to er on the underexposed side. djt 
Jun 10, 2016 13:23:50 #
Jun 10, 2016 14:08:34 #
personally, I prefer the bottom one...seems less washed out...don't mind the blown highlights, it's sort of expected in a image setting like this.
Jun 10, 2016 14:31:28 #
Cdouthitt wrote:
personally, I prefer the bottom one...seems less washed out...don't mind the blown highlights, it's sort of expected in a image setting like this.
How about this then? Easy tweak with the adjustment brush in ACR. I did not want to do local adjustments in the direct comparison, and I understand what you mean. I increased the contrast, did a bit of exposure and highlight adjustment and changed the black level (maybe even a bit too much). Then a slight cooling of the color balance.
Jun 10, 2016 14:46:52 #
Jun 10, 2016 15:43:05 #
Jun 10, 2016 16:45:06 #
That processing is beginning to get an "illustrator" look like the paintings in the magazines a few decades back. I like that look.
Jun 10, 2016 16:50:19 #
kymarto wrote:
I'm just going through a bunch of photos for my we... (show quote)
Is this an example that contradicts exposing to the right ?? Just to be clear, I am not trying to be a smart ass here or create a controversy, simply trying to learn from you guys.
Willie
Jun 10, 2016 17:06:14 #
djtravels wrote:
Graphic demonstration of something I've thought about for a while. I usually plan to er on the underexposed side. djt
That would not be an error - it would be a deliberate action on your part to capture everything you need to get a great image - IMHO . . .
Jun 10, 2016 17:07:19 #
fjrwillie wrote:
Is this an example that contradicts exposing to the right ?? Just to be clear, I am not trying to be a smart ass here or create a controversy, simply trying to learn from you guys.
Willie
Willie
Not really - exposing to the right can mean exposing as high as you can without blowing the highlights - like in this shot -
Jun 10, 2016 19:34:50 #
Gene51 wrote:
Not really - exposing to the right can mean exposing as high as you can without blowing the highlights - like in this shot -
Where is the picture?
Jun 10, 2016 20:34:09 #
tdekany wrote:
Where is the picture?
This is Hong Kong, moving down the hill toward Admiralty.
Jun 10, 2016 20:46:31 #
kymarto wrote:
This is Hong Kong, moving down the hill toward Admiralty.
Sorry, I meant Gene51's picture - to me it read he was posting a picture
PS: thanks for the info though.
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