Tone Mapping/HDR

[anonymous]

In a previous post Zach had mentioned HDR style processing. I think more precisely Tone Mapping style processing. I,ve looked at this before , but in my image editor

[Zach Matthews]

I generally use this technique when the exposure is imbalanced, Will.

[david king]

I’ve used a PhotoMatrix Pro to combine as many as 5 or 6 exposures to capture interiors with widows etc. It works well but the only reason I used it was I didn’t have enough fill flash. For active subjects you might consider setting a under exposure factor of 2/3 to 1 stop to control the highlights and shooting raw. When you acquire the images through Photoshop or whatever you use, you can elevate your shadows then.
The main thing is to control the highlights. I have seen quite a few HDR images and they have a odd quality that I don’t quite know if I like or not but it is a interesting process that will let you compress a huge dynamic range.

[Zach Matthews]

I’ll try to remember to post an example of my process here this evening.

[anonymous]

Ty for the input

Those images were done using the Tone Mapping function on a single Tif from Raw in Photomatix Pro without an HDR create step .

[Eric DeWitt]

Will, taking a quick look, i only see very subtle differences on my monitor, maybe a little bit of color and contrast improvement.  But if they were in a lineup, one would not jump out at me vs. the other.  I would like to see you try and take the catfish one and selectively burn the background to get the angler to really pop out of the image.  I think sometign like that would take a well shot and composed image, and make it great.  If you don’t mind, i can tweak on yours a touch and post it to show what i am talking about.  I also attached another example of what i am talking about.  But, keep in mind, this is just how I like to edit images in post.  I like dark backgrounds, with moody, dramatic skies, and when i can i ususally underexpose to get that.  Everyone has there own look that they like to go for, so please don’t take what i say as criticism.

[Eric DeWitt]

Here is another before and after example with a bit more relevant material :).

[anonymous]

Ty Eric- feel free to play around with the image. I’ll play with

[Eric DeWitt]

Here ya go, i did this in a couple minutes, it really should be done with a bit more time so not to get so much halo effect, but it gives the general idea.  I think it is successful in seperating the foreground from the background, what do you think?  It is getting a little bit pixely, but that is probalby becuase of the low resolution file.  With a little more time it could be done better.  Best thing is to play around and find what YOU like best!

By the way, all these images look a ton better on my desktop at work, and don’t look nearly as good on my laptop.

[anonymous]

Ty Eric- I see where you are going here and agree your approach creates a lot more Depth and subject focus . I’ll have to play with this in mind:)

Will

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