HDR side challenge when the torture is over?

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

06/07/2010 06:52:10 AM · #1

There are many of us who stumbled, staggered, and dragged our way through the HDR challenge. And I'm assuming that it could have been done much better by the experts.

Here's what I'm proposing: After the HDR challenge is over, post your originals that you used for your HDR challenge for people to play with.

The goal: To have originals of some top shots and originals of some who scored much lower. Hopefully the people who do well in the challenge will take the time to HDR some of the more mediocre shots, so we can see how it should have and could have been done. And those of us who did poorly could play with some better shots, knowing in advance what they could look like if done properly, so that we have something towards which to work.

Sign up here! Somewhere between halfway and 2/3's of the way through the week, I'll arrange the sign-ups into two groups: the over 6.0 and under 6.0. When you grab originals to HDR, grab them from the opposite group and post your results.

Sign up now, but remember, DO NOT POST YOUR ORIGINALS NOW. Wait until the challenge is over.

MinsoPhoto

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

06/07/2010 07:07:26 AM · #2

Sounds interesting. Not sure where my entry is going to fall but it looks like the under 6.0 I am at a 5.8 now. I'm in.

Kelli

Canon EOS-D60

06/07/2010 07:26:54 AM · #3

Votes: 44
Views: 81
Avg Vote: 5.4318
Comments: 1

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

06/07/2010 08:55:06 AM · #4

I'm in. Sounds quite educational.

Prash

Nikon D90

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

06/07/2010 09:10:33 AM · #5

I am in:)

kprasad9375

Sony Alpha a7R III

Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM

06/07/2010 09:12:09 AM · #6

I am in
As of now Avg. vote = 5.7500

FourPointX

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/07/2010 09:26:39 AM · #7

sounds good to me

sarampo

Nikon D7100

Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR

06/07/2010 10:11:29 AM · #8

Count me in Wendy, I'll throw in my originals :)

herfotoman

Canon EOS-7D Mark II

Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM

06/07/2010 10:23:20 AM · #9

Great Idea, I'm in. I'll definitely be in the lower group( 4.5 now). Look forward to smashing up a ribbon winner!! Hehe.

hahn23

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

06/07/2010 11:23:50 AM · #10

Okay, I'll be happy to participate in this. There are some logistical problems, however. The size of the RAW originals, which I use directly for 64-bit processing in Photomatix (plugin of Aperture 3) are about 26 MB each. I used three. Not really feasible to upload those for anyone to try to emulate results. Smaller, compressed files could be uploaded, but the compression process would discard the very image information needed by the software to do its "magic". I strongly believe that much of the frustration for some comes from trying to use JPG files for blending images to enhance details in shadows and highlights or compress tones.

Of course, there are various techniques one could employ to generate the end result. However, the big payoff comes from blending multiple images (with all the image info available).

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

06/07/2010 11:35:54 AM · #11

Originally posted by hahn23:

There are some logistical problems, however. The size of the RAW originals, which I use directly for 64-bit processing in Photomatix (plugin of Aperture 3) are about 26 MB each. I used three. Not really feasible to upload those for anyone to try to emulate results.

I plan on making my orignal RAW file available using yousendit.com. It will e-mail a link and also give you a link you can post to the file. Good for a week or 100 downloads. There are many other free options to make a large file available without uploading it here.

Then there is the issue of those that can't read the RAW format from your camera. One could also post the TIF or JPG output in a similar manner.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/07/2010 12:57:09 PM · #12

Originally posted by vawendy:

Sign up here! Somewhere between halfway and 2/3's of the way through the week, I'll arrange the sign-ups into two groups: the over 6.0 and under 6.0. When you grab originals to HDR, grab them from the opposite group and post your results.

Sign up now, but remember, DO NOT POST YOUR ORIGINALS NOW. Wait until the challenge is over.

This was my first exposure (pun intended) to working with this technique. It was a real pain ...

I've already posted resized originals to my Workshop folder, with links to them in the additional info area on the photo itself, so they will be available as soon as the voting closes by looking at the entry.

The program I used recommended working with scaled-down versions to speed up experimentation, then use the full-sized images once you have the settings you want. I think posting "resized originals" should be OK for the purposes of this exercise, but if anyone thinks the full-sized images would be significantly better I can post (or email) those as well.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

06/07/2010 06:07:42 PM · #13

bump for the evening crowd.

JustCaree

Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS

06/07/2010 06:25:08 PM · #14

ill be keeping an eye on this thread... just to see how it all turns out... but I dont think im up for it... my HDR ego has taken a bruising and until I learn how to work the iamges better Im going to stay clear.

Prash

Nikon D90

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

06/07/2010 07:54:19 PM · #15

Originally posted by JustCaree:

Carrie, if you ask me, you should. This would be an excellent opportunity to learn, and see how others would process your images. I for sure would be partaking...

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

06/07/2010 07:56:30 PM · #16

Originally posted by JustCaree:

If you don't want to do it in a public forum I'm sure there's a few people that'd be willing to play with your images and provide you with the tips privately.

Message edited by author 2010-06-07 19:58:53.

JustCaree

Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

06/07/2010 07:57:39 PM · #17

Ok Ill think on it... Im scared of HDR lmao

curtpetguy

Canon EOS-50D

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

06/08/2010 12:54:50 AM · #18

ok, I'm in since I need a major hdr makeover at 4.231 now

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/08/2010 01:00:55 AM · #19

I'm willing to work with some people on this, but I'll have certain quality requirements to undertake it. Nevertheless, one of my particular areas-of-experience is pulling a better dynamic range out of single, RAW exposures, when multiple image HDR isn't feasible, so I'll be gald to share some of that.

R.

Pug-H

Pentax K10D

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax

06/08/2010 01:18:15 AM · #20

This is a great idea, Wendy. Pity I didn't get around to making a shot for the challenge. ;-)

davisambrose

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/08/2010 01:24:04 AM · #21

Great idea Wendy. I am in.

Alex_Europa

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

06/08/2010 01:43:50 AM · #22

Signing up... :-)

- Alex

06/14/2010 12:55:00 PM · #23

Ok -- the torture is, in fact, over.

Post your originals here!

Here's the rules: If you scored above a 6, take someone's originals with a score less than 6 and show us what you did. If you score below a 6, playing with a successful shot and see what you can do!