# C & C on first HDR attempts



## MisplacedAngler (Sep 27, 2010)

Some I used wider bracketing, some were processed with GIMP, some with Photomatix.

Timberline Lake, CO







Timberline Lake, CO...again






Shadow Mt. Fuji casts during sunset





Sunset at local lake





Another sunset picture





Last picture....another sunset.


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## brianT (Sep 27, 2010)

Wow, I really like the photo of the shadow cast by Mt Fuji.  Would be a little better if mountain and the dark areas of the shadow were a little brighter so some detail is visible.


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## MisplacedAngler (Sep 27, 2010)

brianT said:


> Wow, I really like the photo of the shadow cast by Mt Fuji. Would be a little better if mountain and the dark areas of the shadow were a little brighter so some detail is visible.


 
Thanks.  I tried to do exactly what you were saying, but because the mountain itself in the corner of the picture was in the shade, bringing out much detail really screwed up the rest of the picture.  I might try doing two different pictures and them patching the two together to see how they look, but usually when I try that something always feels really weird about the picture.


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## Einstein (Sep 27, 2010)

wow awesome photos! i love how natural the first two feel but fuji is definitely my favorite


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## brianT (Sep 27, 2010)

> Thanks.  I tried to do exactly what you were saying, but because the  mountain itself in the corner of the picture was in the shade, bringing  out much detail really screwed up the rest of the picture.  I might try  doing two different pictures and them patching the two together to see  how they look, but usually when I try that something always feels really  weird about the picture.


I know what you mean because I face the same problem all the time.  I guess it depends on what the detail looks like in that dark shadow on the mountain.  For example if it's a bunch of noisy looking trees, it might be better the way you have it now.


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## phiya (Sep 27, 2010)

MisplacedAngler said:


> brianT said:
> 
> 
> > Wow, I really like the photo of the shadow cast by Mt Fuji. Would be a little better if mountain and the dark areas of the shadow were a little brighter so some detail is visible.
> ...



That is where cleaning up the photo using masking in Photoshop comes into place.  You can then pull out the best view of that mountain from all of your shots and mask it through your HDR.


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## MisplacedAngler (Sep 27, 2010)

brianT said:


> > Thanks. I tried to do exactly what you were saying, but because the mountain itself in the corner of the picture was in the shade, bringing out much detail really screwed up the rest of the picture. I might try doing two different pictures and them patching the two together to see how they look, but usually when I try that something always feels really weird about the picture.
> 
> 
> I know what you mean because I face the same problem all the time. I guess it depends on what the detail looks like in that dark shadow on the mountain. For example if it's a bunch of noisy looking trees, it might be better the way you have it now.


 

We were above the tree line.  Just rocks, dirt, and tracks from some vehicle with treads like a dozer.


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## MisplacedAngler (Sep 27, 2010)

phiya said:


> MisplacedAngler said:
> 
> 
> > brianT said:
> ...


 
That's what I was refering to.  I guess I should have just said masking, but I'm a relative newb to the photoshop type stuff so I haven't got all the lingo down yet.


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## peacock (Sep 28, 2010)

Really, not bad for first attempts! My first attempts were really bad... maybe I used Luminance HDR.

How much did you get Photomatix for??


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## ann (Sep 28, 2010)

you can go to several photographers websites and get a discount, try danburkholder's and order there and you get 15 percent off. The last time i checked the price was about 100 dollars unless you wanted to add a tonemapping program go PS.


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## MisplacedAngler (Sep 28, 2010)

peacock said:


> Really, not bad for first attempts! My first attempts were really bad... maybe I used Luminance HDR.
> 
> How much did you get Photomatix for??


 

Vanilladays works for 15% off.  You can google and find a bunch of discount codes for 15% off of the normal $100.


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## JayhawkCWE (Sep 28, 2010)

The shot of Mt. Fuji's shadow is amazing.  Not for its HDR qualities at all, just a great place to be to take a photograph.  Nicely done.


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## MisplacedAngler (Oct 12, 2010)

phiya said:


> MisplacedAngler said:
> 
> 
> > brianT said:
> ...


 
So I downloaded photoshop and used the masks and layers to show each part of the photo how I thought look best.  I also used photoshops HDR tool w/ topaz adjust compared to the other photo where I used photomatix and gimp.  They look quite a bit different, but I like them both.  The photomatix/gimp photo ended with a much softer feel while the PS/topaz photo is much more defined and colorful.  I also cropped the PS photo to get rid of unwanted spots in the top and bottom of the photo.  Here is the PS/Topaz photo below.


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## maddclicker (Oct 13, 2010)

Some nice work here.


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