# My first HDR attempts - C&C appreciated



## KongKurs (Jan 8, 2011)

Well, being very new to HDR imaging, I thought I'd contribute to the many photos on the site.. 

What do you think of these?







Had to use 6 exposures to both get detail in the sky, as well as the piece of lumber in the foreground.. 

The next one isn't very much HDR-ish, and what I personally feel is missing is a bit of foreground interest, but what do you think?






Looking forward to the comments


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## Provo (Jan 8, 2011)

for first timer they are good I love looking at the radiance of the sun and you captured that very well.:thumbup:
Keep going at it.


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## GeorgieGirl (Jan 8, 2011)

Makes me think the snow isn't so bad afterall. Love them!!! Nice.


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## D-B-J (Jan 8, 2011)

really nice shots--good job

Regards,
Jake


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## Robin Usagani (Jan 8, 2011)

job well done


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## KongKurs (Jan 9, 2011)

GeorgieGirl said:


> Makes me think the snow isn't so bad afterall. Love them!!! Nice.


 
Well, in Denmark the snow has been paralyzing the country since November, so we're beginning to look forward to the spring weather :mrgreen:

Thanks very much for the critique, everyone!


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## GeorgieGirl (Jan 9, 2011)

Question if you would please: Do you spot meter in order to detemine your exposure range with camera or spot meter?


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## Syco (Jan 9, 2011)

I particularly like the first one, because I am a particular fan of the combination of near-far composition and HDR.   I think the second image is fine too, but it says something different.


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## KongKurs (Jan 10, 2011)

GeorgieGirl said:


> Question if you would please: Do you spot meter in order to detemine your exposure range with camera or spot meter?


 
I use Nikon's Matrix metering when shooting HDR, and based on the motive and the amount of details I need in dark and light areas I take extra exposures at -4, -3, -2, -1 and +1, +2 and so forth.


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## FletchX (Jan 10, 2011)

Nice shots. The second one isn't bad. I like the movement in the clouds in that one.


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## GeorgieGirl (Jan 10, 2011)

KongKurs said:


> GeorgieGirl said:
> 
> 
> > Question if you would please: Do you spot meter in order to detemine your exposure range with camera or spot meter?
> ...



Thank you, I will look at the Nikon metering you have versus the Canon I have with the 7D to see how one relates to another. I can ony take a set of three at one time, but I can bracket to to accomplish sets that follow your exposure theme sequentially with multiple sets.


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## KongKurs (Jan 10, 2011)

GeorgieGirl said:


> KongKurs said:
> 
> 
> > GeorgieGirl said:
> ...


 
On the Nikon D90 I too can only bracket-shoot 3 exposures - normal, over and under.

So I adjust the expo compensation manually. Auto would be nice, but what can you do, eh?


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## b1gr3d (Jan 18, 2011)

now I want to try HDR..


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## mzb (Jan 19, 2011)

I like the first picture a lot... Specifically, I like the realism of it. I am not a big fan of turning every picture into a painting. Can I ask you what software did you use?


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## KongKurs (Feb 15, 2011)

mzb said:


> I like the first picture a lot... Specifically, I like the realism of it. I am not a big fan of turning every picture into a painting. Can I ask you what software did you use?


 
That's exactly what I am aiming for.. I like the hyper-realistical HDR images as well, but I try to catch what my eyes see, and keep the HDR processing subtle.

I tried both CS5's merge to HDR and Photomatix Pro, but the best result for the HDR processing came with Photomatix Pro.

A slight color/contrast adjustments was afterwards added with Nik Software Viveza 2.


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## alwaysbored786 (Feb 15, 2011)

god damn that first picture just gets me! I can keep staring at it for a while haha. I think you executed the hdr on the first pic very, however, the trees need have too much blacks. 

2nd photo is also has too many blacks, too dark for my taste. Easy fix though, and great job!


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## KongKurs (Feb 21, 2011)

alwaysbored786 said:


> god damn that first picture just gets me! I can keep staring at it for a while haha. I think you executed the hdr on the first pic very, however, the trees need have too much blacks.


 
Thanks very much for the critique - you are all more than welcome to check out my smugmug profile, there's a few other HDR pics there, and please do comment! 

http://www.andershp.smugmug.com


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## NielsSw (Feb 21, 2011)

i really like the wood texture on the first, it is almost glowing. Great pictures!

What is better about photomatrix? I haven't heard of it before I came to this forum but I guess i'll need to try it?


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## KongKurs (Feb 21, 2011)

NielsSw said:


> i really like the wood texture on the first, it is almost glowing. Great pictures!
> 
> What is better about photomatrix? I haven't heard of it before I came to this forum but I guess i'll need to try it?


 
Thanks.
It depends on what you compare it with..
I think PhotoMatix does a better job than the "Merge to HDR" function in Photoshop CS5 for a couple of reasons:

1. It is much, much faster to work with, 5 or more exposures can be quite a long proces in CS5.
2. CS5 doesn't have any option for removing motion artefacts, which made the two pictures posted in this topic impossible to create in CS5 due to movement in the clouds. Maybe a layer mask could have done the job, but nonetheless it was easier just to use PhotoMatix
3. I like the adjustment-sliders in PhotoMatix better, they are great creative tools to creating both realistic and hyper-realistic photos...


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