# Newbie to forums and Photography my 1st attempt hdr



## Provo (Oct 27, 2009)

Hello everyone my name is Josh also known as "Provo"
new to the forums here and new to Digital Photography I come from using a basic Fuji Finepix e900 which I still use, but now I have moved up and my fiance has purchased for me an early birthday present so I now have a Nikon D5000 my first dslr  I have not be able to put this camera down in the past 2 days I want to learn as much as possible about using it because we are getting married this December in St Thomas. 38 days to go. 

I am a newbie to this I was taking pictures on my tripod to compose my 1st hdr only to realize I did not have auto bracketing on after I had made this picture but anyway my 1st attempt at hdr using a single raw, and now that I know to turn on auto bracketing I will try to take some better pictures this weekend. What are good resources for learning to use Nikon cameras? I have looked over the Digitutor site portion of nikons site thanks ahead for your opinions and resources as they are valued


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## ecnal (Oct 27, 2009)

Wow. I think it's a great shot!

A few things; I find the rag(?) to be very distracting. I'm guessing that this was taken out of a window? In the upper left corner there looks to be a window frame and in the right middle a lens flare, or light hitting the glass of the window. All these things are distracting, but for a one-shot HDR I think you got it pretty good.

I enjoy the contrast in the clouds as well as the rays of sunlight. The image really pops. Well done!


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## Provo (Oct 27, 2009)

Why thanks I am surprised you thought I did good. What happened was as you can see I have decorations and managed to capture the top portion of the decoration hat and the roof line I was shooting on the tripod mid height to skyline aiming at the sunlight shining through the tree. Hopefully this weekend will be clear in Jersey and I can take more pictures of different scenery. Also noticed how fast this tree has changed to fall colors


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## nrois02 (Oct 28, 2009)

nice! well done!


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## citjet (Oct 28, 2009)

Super cool but would agree with the distractions of the roof and hat.  I like this one.


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## Renol (Oct 28, 2009)

Whoa. That's really interesting. The parts where the sun hits the leaves makes it look almost as if they're on fire! I like it


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## kliwks (Nov 4, 2009)

I am new to HDR. I am confused on how you make and HDR image from one exposure? My understanding is you need three images.

Can someone enlighten me?

Thank you.


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## Inst!nct (Nov 4, 2009)

@kliwks

it's called exposure bracketing its a setting on your camera, pretty much takes it at -1 stop,then 0, then +1, after merging all those pictures together, it creates a HDR, pretty much a very well colored shot, sometimes over-colored 

also: doesn't have to be 3, some do it with 5 or so, the point is to have under, over and normal exposed shots


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## Bynx (Nov 4, 2009)

kliwks said:


> I am new to HDR. I am confused on how you make and HDR image from one exposure? My understanding is you need three images.
> 
> Can someone enlighten me?
> 
> Thank you.


You can take any file, convert it to 32 bit in Photoshop, then save as a tiff. That file can now be opened in Photomatix and tweeked with the sliders. Its not an HDR but you can get some interesting effects. You need at least two jpegs, preferably 3, and as many more as it takes to cover the range. A single RAW file can be used if you extract 3 exposure values from it.


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## NateS (Nov 4, 2009)

Okay, I guess I'll the first (and only maybe) to say I think the image looks horrible....but I'll be nice and break down why I think it looks horrible.

1.  Rag, roofline?  Seriously?  Surely you can at least take the effort to either move the rag, lean out and compose the shot without these disctractions....or take 10 steps and go out into the yard instead of on the porch.

2.  You have a really large and bad flare over the tree on the right side of the screen.

3.  The HDR is way overprocessed.  Plus, you still have portions that are blown out....especially on both of the aparment buildings on the right.

4.  Why are the top edges of the trees in the foreground black when the rest of the tree has color?

5.  Just overall composition problems.  Looks like it was a pretty sunset, but a picture with a bunch of apartment buildings off in the distance isn't the most pleasing compositionally.


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## Inst!nct (Nov 4, 2009)

NateS said:


> Okay, I guess I'll the first (and only maybe) to say I think the image looks horrible....but I'll be nice and break down why I think it looks horrible.
> 
> 1.  Rag, roofline?  Seriously?  Surely you can at least take the effort to either move the rag, lean out and compose the shot without these disctractions....or take 10 steps and go out into the yard instead of on the porch.
> 
> ...



yea... i didn't really understand what the other posts were about. I felt this way but thought i was just having a brain fart


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## boogschd (Nov 4, 2009)

dig the flare

its not the best HDR but the colors are reallyreally nice


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## PHILLIP MAC (Nov 5, 2009)

For a first attempt it's not bad  ok the rest ,rag etc  is a problem but I imagine he only wanted to try HDR not take a great shot.
I've never tried it so watch this space.


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## SrBiscuit (Nov 5, 2009)

Inst!nct said:


> NateS said:
> 
> 
> > Okay, I guess I'll the first (and only maybe) to say I think the image looks horrible....but I'll be nice and break down why I think it looks horrible.
> ...


 
totally agree here...this type of processing is very common of people who just figured out tonemapping, and the positive comments are common of people who dont know what to expect from HDR (with the exception of boogs comment).
sry if that;s harsh. i think i need a break.


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## Provo (Nov 5, 2009)

Haters throw salt like rice at a wedding (Srbiscuit,Nates) 
It&#8217;s this simple if you don&#8217;t like it don&#8217;t look at it, but you in fact depicted the picture in which tells everyone you really where admiring it you just being shy of admitting it LMAO.


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## boogschd (Nov 6, 2009)

Provo said:


> Haters throw salt like rice at a wedding (Srbiscuit,Nates)
> Its this simple if you dont like it dont look at it, but you in fact depicted the picture in which tells everyone you really where admiring it you just being shy of admitting it LMAO.



meh just think of it as constructive criticism ?


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## SrBiscuit (Nov 6, 2009)

not hatin' dude, just offering opinions.
but your second sentence was incomprehensible, so i'm not sure what you were trying to say.

and for the record, no one is supposed to throw rice at weddings...it's bad for the birds.

keep shooting.


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## fokker (Nov 8, 2009)

Don't post your pictures up if you don't like being told they suck, pretty simple.


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## Provo (Nov 9, 2009)

fokker said:


> Don't post your pictures up if you don't like being told they suck, pretty simple.


 

Should I critique this masterpiece?
Lens flare, washed out colors hell I say this one qualifies for what you labeled as suck!
Its fine for some of you to talk about someone elses attempts but yet not all of your own work is picture perfect, I supposed that gives you a bigger ego. Ignorant commenting does not equal constructive criticizing.


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## SrBiscuit (Nov 9, 2009)

fokker never once said everything his does is gold.
he was merely commenting on the OP asking for crit and then not being able to take it.
big difference.
welcome to the forums btw.


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## bigtwinky (Nov 9, 2009)

Provo said:


> Haters throw salt like rice at a wedding (Srbiscuit,Nates)
> Its this simple if you dont like it dont look at it, but you in fact depicted the picture in which tells everyone you really where admiring it you just being shy of admitting it LMAO.


 
NateS gave some really good pointers in his post, better than what others have put up.  And you get on him as being a hater?

If you want to get a pat on the back for trying something new, then please make sure you put that in your thread so you can feel good about yourself.

Critisism, while not easy to take, is the best way to learn and grow.  Which is what NateS took the time to do.

And then you have the nerve to get someone else's pic and post in your thread in defence of why yours is crap?

Grow a pair.


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## fokker (Nov 12, 2009)

Provo said:


> fokker said:
> 
> 
> > Don't post your pictures up if you don't like being told they suck, pretty simple.
> ...


 
Oh I get it now, you're just a douche. never mind then.

1. I didn't say your picture sucks, only that you shouldn't act like a self righteous ****er after putting a photo up for display and then getting told that the sun does not, in fact, shine out of your arse.

 2. I didn't put that picture up for critique, and if I did I would take the advice given on board in order to better myself instead of going around making personal attacks on people.

3. It is against forum rules to post up a picture that you didn't take, so take it down or **** off.


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## Arch (Nov 12, 2009)

Ok first of all stop with the swearing, this is not the place for it.

Second, Provo, this is a photograpy forum and you will get people who like and dislike your work, that's the whole point.

Locked.


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