# I don't get HDR



## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

be interested to get some input from people who specialize in HDR, who love it, who can offer links or examples of really top-draw stuff. it seems HDR is here to stay and i'd like to find some aspect of it to feel better about. 

HDR - what do you like about it?


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## Big (Feb 19, 2010)

I like when it's done without people realizing it's HDR. I'm not a fan of the cartoon looking shots but it makes a big difference when you have a shot done the way it was meant to be. This is my first decent HDR (bracketed shots). I avoided the cartoon look but still managed to gain detail in the river while having a sunny sky.


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## rallysman (Feb 19, 2010)

I like how quick and easy it is to pull details out of areas that normally wouldn't show them, even with .jpg. I used to like the surreal look, and occasionally I'll mess around with it, but I like it now to bring out what's normally lost. It's just another tool in the toolbox. 
I'm no expert, and I certainly don't think my stuff is awesome, but I've got a few I've ran through photomatix that I'm pretty happy with. Here's a couple of examples.


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

Big said:


> I like when it's done without people realizing it's HDR. I'm not a fan of the cartoon looking shots but it makes a big difference when you have a shot done the way it was meant to be. This is my first decent HDR (bracketed shots). I avoided the cartoon look but still managed to gain detail in the river while having a sunny sky.



'the cartoon look' is a good expression for other aspects of it. i can see the benefit in your picture. using it in a very controlled way is good IMO. i do often see partially blown skies in HDR though. is this something people accept for the buzz of the wider experience?


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

rallysman said:


> I like how quick and easy it is to pull details out of areas that normally wouldn't show them, even with .jpg. I used to like the surreal look, and occasionally I'll mess around with it, but I like it now to bring out what's normally lost. It's just another tool in the toolbox.
> I'm no expert, and I certainly don't think my stuff is awesome, but I've got a few I've ran through photomatix that I'm pretty happy with. Here's a couple of examples.



i do like all three of these images. they look photographic. i saw your hammerbeam picture a little earlier. it instantly reminded me of Orton filter in GIMP (sandwiched layers of sharp and soft). you could dodge the shadows of the roof but i appreciate there's more visual data liftable from an additional exposure metered from the ceiling/roof of the chapel.


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

the sluice/weir image i think looks very good :thumbup:


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## Big (Feb 19, 2010)

I still wasn't able to completely get the sky I wanted. It's still a little blown out near the sun but I wanted the focus on the river anyway. I can see a use for the cartoon look if its something such as a car or other subjects that are in your life everyday. But in my opinion, if you are shooting someplace far away and you can't go back, why not get the best shot you can get? I wish I knew about HDR a year ago... I'd love to improve my skills on it though.


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

Big said:


> if you are shooting someplace far away and you can't go back, why not get the best shot you can get?



fair point.


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

I love HDR when done to my taste.


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## rallysman (Feb 19, 2010)

PackingMyBags said:


> I love HDR when done to my taste.


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

rallysman said:


> PackingMyBags said:
> 
> 
> > I love HDR when done to my taste.


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

PackingMyBags said:


> I love HDR when done to my taste.



i love folky textiles. this would look great hanging inside my yurt.


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

matfoster said:


> PackingMyBags said:
> 
> 
> > I love HDR when done to my taste.
> ...


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

not to your tastes then, i gather. care to explain why that is? don't be shy


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

Well im glad that it is "Yurt" worthy and that it qualifies as a "Folky Textile".


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## Dominantly (Feb 19, 2010)

Paulo Barcellos Jr.
File:New York City at night HDR edit1.jpg - Wikimedia Commons


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

PackingMyBags said:


> it qualifies as a "Folky Textile".



..i'm just trying to find a jpeg from Spinal Tap, where David St.  Hubbin's girlfriend Jeanine presents him with his knitted pullover...


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## matfoster (Feb 19, 2010)

Dominantly said:


> Paulo Barcellos Jr.
> File:New York City at night HDR edit1.jpg - Wikimedia Commons




that is indeed a super image.


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

More Folky HDR's...


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## Dominantly (Feb 19, 2010)

Where is the HDR?


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

Dominantly said:


> Where is the HDR?


who me?


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## Dominantly (Feb 19, 2010)

No, the you behind him.


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## PackingMyBags (Feb 19, 2010)

Dominantly said:


> No, the you behind him.



O...really!






















All of mine are HDR's


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## Mendoza (Feb 20, 2010)

I like the ability to bring out a greater level of detail and range of exposures.  For example, there are times with a landscape shot in which the land and sky are both compelling.  Instead of exposing for one or the other, or finding an unhappy medium in-between, HDR enables both to be seen with equal clarity.  Could similar results be achieved with a filter?  Yes; but a filter only sees things one way.  High Dynamic Range offers greater flexibility, (which isn't to imply it's superior.)  In the program I use for processing (Photomatix) there are as many as 15 parameters you can tweak to really fine-tune the image.  The end result can be as subtle or extreme as you like.  It's nice to have the _option_ of HDR.


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## Village Idiot (Feb 23, 2010)

It's a style. It's like with skin smoothing, flash or anything else. It can be done so it's completely unnoticed and natural or it could be so amazingly over the top. Either way, people have different opinions on it.

I just hate the anti-HDR band wagon. I enjoy some of those over the top photos, but it seems on some site to moment some unfortunate person posts an HDR photo, there's a 10 page thread about how bad HDR photo is with no one directly commenting on the photo itself. I've never really made any HDR images as it's not my thing, but I respect those with the eye for the shots and the creativity to do it.


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## Brick (Feb 23, 2010)

Village Idiot said:


> I just hate the anti-HDR band wagon. I enjoy some of those over the top photos, but it seems on some site to moment some unfortunate person posts an HDR photo, there's a 10 page thread about how bad HDR photo is with no one directly commenting on the photo itself.



I still don't even get the anti-HDR bandwagon.  It's an artistic style that many people enjoy, why are so many against it?  I can appreciate those that don't like it, but to look down on those that do like it is beyond me.  There's a reason stuckincustoms.com is as popular as it is - because the general public likes HDR!

Personally, I like it because of the details you get out of pictures that you would lose otherwise.  For example, below is a sun setting behind a building.  Without HDR I would have had to choose either a blown out sky or a building that was just a silhouette.


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## rallysman (Feb 23, 2010)

I wonder if generation/age group is related to the HDR haters in any way. It would be interesting to find out. I could imagine that Boomers or early Xers wouldn't like it since it's strictly driven by the computer age. 

/just a loose poorly thought out half drunk theory. 
//I'm sure the cartoon crap HDR has become associated with doesn't help


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