What the heck is HDR?
Nov 7, 2011 10:45:51 #
eleanorea
Loc: Dallas
mcq wrote:
I have thousands of 35mm slides but I am a relative newbie when it comes to digital. I use a Canon S200 because it was cheap and gets all of the candid shots I want. While I would like to get something with a decent lens system, it simply doesn't fit my budget. But, I read the posts, admire the photos and envy the equipment in use and I keep seeing a reference to HDR. What is HDR?
Since I am primarily a travel/nature photog, I have little use for HDR ...I can hear the screams from here! I find NIK Viveza, especially, and its Efexs Pro does the job. I want natural looking photos that have been 'popped' . I can understand the use of HDR as a great tool for inside/outside, diverse lighting, etc. ,but I find it unnecessary for enhancing most of my pics. See attached...
Lions were on exhibit at Smithsonian from April til September 2011.
Snow Monkey in Japan
Thermal Pool in Yellowstone
Hunt Begins
Nov 7, 2011 10:55:33 #
As mentioned it is High Dynamic Range...In certain type of photos it can make outstanding improvements in the details and color of a photo...The attachted HDR photos were made from a single shot:
I enjoy HDR, however, I feel that it is not a complete effect for all pictures. I have a Sony A550 and it has an HDR setting. I will be "playing" with it this winter with some new photos...I also use Topaz Labs Adjust 4 for softwear. It is attached to my Photoshop Elements 7. It does an excellent job...Just have fun with your pictures and try all areas of adjusting your photos. I also want to say that I am not so techincal with photo improvements, "I sort of Fly by the Seat of my Pants" :thumbup: :thumbup:
Good Luck
I enjoy HDR, however, I feel that it is not a complete effect for all pictures. I have a Sony A550 and it has an HDR setting. I will be "playing" with it this winter with some new photos...I also use Topaz Labs Adjust 4 for softwear. It is attached to my Photoshop Elements 7. It does an excellent job...Just have fun with your pictures and try all areas of adjusting your photos. I also want to say that I am not so techincal with photo improvements, "I sort of Fly by the Seat of my Pants" :thumbup: :thumbup:
Good Luck
Nov 7, 2011 11:03:31 #
CamObs wrote:
. . . It has it's place as do all photo manipulations.
How true. What looks good to me may look like crap to someone else. This is a growing art form for many. And for those who push the limits only as far as (they deem) necessary in order to create an all-too-realistic image just goes to show its versatility in the world of art and photography.
Nov 7, 2011 11:41:58 #
harryd
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
oleg wrote:
I don't consider myself to be a purist. I'm just sharing in 1 post what I've learned in many years of tests.
3 exposures is a good start. I actually shoot 3 even if I do not need it. But this way when I open my images in Bridge they are all lined up and I do not have to think which images are part of which set. I did a test w. 9 expo's too- 1/8000 to 6 seconds. Every rule is to be broken sometimes.
3 exposures is a good start. I actually shoot 3 even if I do not need it. But this way when I open my images in Bridge they are all lined up and I do not have to think which images are part of which set. I did a test w. 9 expo's too- 1/8000 to 6 seconds. Every rule is to be broken sometimes.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I haven't attempted HDR yet.
Don't let some people keep you from giving your input.
Nov 7, 2011 13:06:50 #
[quote=lleach]Hi,
Ah, I see we have are one of those "purists" I mentioned. Actually the more pure up you a couple at least and say you can't do it with less than five. Some use up to 13.
Then there are those guys at Nikon who don't know much about photography either and built into their camera (the D5100) a way to do it with two and only two exposures.
I do appreciate your opinion on the matter and the fact that it comes from experience. I am certainly not as experienced in this matter.
You might want to work on humility a bit.
Regards,
Larry Leach
ll, do you know if when the d5100 takes the two exp. does it also factor in the "0" (normal) exp and combine it with the two over/under ones?
Haven't looked into it, but I know that the d5100 only does hdr in jpeg not raw. With that in mind I consider it (as many do) as more or less a gimmick to make sales for a new camera.
Most really exceptional hdr shooters do their original processing in "32" bit as far a long as they can before they shift to 16 bit. AS of now I shoot in nikon's 14 bit, process it in 16 bit and then do final tweak .tiffs in Elements 8 bit. Some one smarter than me can tell me what I'm losing in quality along the way. But I always shoot raw to gain the most initial info.
Ah, I see we have are one of those "purists" I mentioned. Actually the more pure up you a couple at least and say you can't do it with less than five. Some use up to 13.
Then there are those guys at Nikon who don't know much about photography either and built into their camera (the D5100) a way to do it with two and only two exposures.
I do appreciate your opinion on the matter and the fact that it comes from experience. I am certainly not as experienced in this matter.
You might want to work on humility a bit.
Regards,
Larry Leach
ll, do you know if when the d5100 takes the two exp. does it also factor in the "0" (normal) exp and combine it with the two over/under ones?
Haven't looked into it, but I know that the d5100 only does hdr in jpeg not raw. With that in mind I consider it (as many do) as more or less a gimmick to make sales for a new camera.
Most really exceptional hdr shooters do their original processing in "32" bit as far a long as they can before they shift to 16 bit. AS of now I shoot in nikon's 14 bit, process it in 16 bit and then do final tweak .tiffs in Elements 8 bit. Some one smarter than me can tell me what I'm losing in quality along the way. But I always shoot raw to gain the most initial info.
Nov 7, 2011 13:37:52 #
I think that over doing HDR astarts to cross the border from photography to graphics art. But so what! Editing tools are just that tools and a fool with a tool is still a fool. If a person gets what they want from an image then they have been successful. Personally I use HDR as a means to ehance exposure and perhaps a little tone mapping to add pop. If you have a single image Topaz filters provides a means to do a lot with an image
Nov 7, 2011 13:49:02 #
Hi,
The manual isn't clear on that. It is clear that it takes only two exposures and you can hear that when it works. I suspect it doesn't do the nominal; i.e. if you set the EV range to 2 it takes one at +1 and one at -1.
You cannot have the image type set to RAW or the in-camera HDR does not work. They suggest but do not require Matrix Metering. You can choose the exposure differential. It says it uses about 2EV if you leave it at Auto. You can also choose the amount of smoothing.
So far I haven't been too impressed by what it does. I have found the Active D-lighting feature to do a better job with the images I have used it on. I suspect it would do better with more appropriate images.
I have also been using the auto bracketing and software to do HDR. It is fairly simple to do. The D5100 only does three images on autobracketing including the nominal image. But you can make more by using different EV ranges and then dumping the redundant nominal images.
Regards,
Larry Leach
[quote=tkhphotography]
The manual isn't clear on that. It is clear that it takes only two exposures and you can hear that when it works. I suspect it doesn't do the nominal; i.e. if you set the EV range to 2 it takes one at +1 and one at -1.
You cannot have the image type set to RAW or the in-camera HDR does not work. They suggest but do not require Matrix Metering. You can choose the exposure differential. It says it uses about 2EV if you leave it at Auto. You can also choose the amount of smoothing.
So far I haven't been too impressed by what it does. I have found the Active D-lighting feature to do a better job with the images I have used it on. I suspect it would do better with more appropriate images.
I have also been using the auto bracketing and software to do HDR. It is fairly simple to do. The D5100 only does three images on autobracketing including the nominal image. But you can make more by using different EV ranges and then dumping the redundant nominal images.
Regards,
Larry Leach
[quote=tkhphotography]
lleach wrote:
Hi, br br ll, do you know if when the d5100 takes... (show quote)
Nov 7, 2011 14:03:15 #
2 Dog Don wrote:
I think that over doing HDR astarts to cross the border from photography to graphics art. But so what! Editing tools are just that tools and a fool with a tool is still a fool. If a person gets what they want from an image then they have been successful. Personally I use HDR as a means to ehance exposure and perhaps a little tone mapping to add pop. If you have a single image Topaz filters provides a means to do a lot with an image
Ya, I agree also, but......what we do with any software is making changes (hopefully corrections and to better the pix) from what we originally capture.
The time old argument of film vs digital has become blurred a little in that some people claim we never manipulated film as we do digital now in software processing. I argue yes we did, what the heck were we doing using filters 'in front of the lens'.
All digital captures are 'manipulated' somewhere somehow.
Nov 7, 2011 14:09:45 #
I think you can see the different effects of HDR in the photos see here. The 1st photographer used it to enhance his photo minimally while continuing to have it look like a photograph, the 2nd used none and had beautiful results, the 3rd pushed it to the point where his photos now take on the look of a painting or a page from a comic book but lose the quality of a photograph. All depends what look you are trying to achieve. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....
Nov 7, 2011 15:55:50 #
Can I do HDR with a Nikon D3000? I have LR3. Is the software added onto that or is it separate, and is it expensive?
Nov 7, 2011 16:48:52 #
Hi,
There is free software to do HDR. The one I found that worked easily is called Picturenaut. I tried another one before that and it wasn't so easy.
Photomatrix Pro may be the favored non-free one. It comes in a couple of flavors around $100. Some of the more practiced users surely have opinions on which is best.
I don't know but suspect that you can autobracket on the D3000. It isn't a necessity but simplifies taking the shots. That is you can set up the bracketing shots manually if you need to.
You should put the camera on a tripod, use apeture priority do the bracketing by shutter speed, and use a remote release.
Regards,
Larry Leach
There is free software to do HDR. The one I found that worked easily is called Picturenaut. I tried another one before that and it wasn't so easy.
Photomatrix Pro may be the favored non-free one. It comes in a couple of flavors around $100. Some of the more practiced users surely have opinions on which is best.
I don't know but suspect that you can autobracket on the D3000. It isn't a necessity but simplifies taking the shots. That is you can set up the bracketing shots manually if you need to.
You should put the camera on a tripod, use apeture priority do the bracketing by shutter speed, and use a remote release.
Regards,
Larry Leach
Nov 7, 2011 19:04:38 #
mcq
Loc: Tracy, CA
Geez! I didn't mean to kick the hornet's nest. From what I read it is beyond the capabilities of my little S200 and I am not in a position to upgrade. Enough with the comments, please.
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