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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> In Love with HDR / Tone Mapping
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01/21/2008 01:33:17 PM · #1
I recently picked up a copy of Photomatix because of all the buzz there has been around HDR+Tonemapping. I opted for the Photoshop CS3 plugin rather than the standalone. I'm not sure if I cut myself short on some features, but ohwell...

In any case, I can't stop visualizing photos finalized using this process when I shoot. Is this some sort of sickness I can take rehab for? Is anyone else as sick as me?

Here is my sickness:




Some are a little more cartoony than others, but I don't even care...

Does anyone else suffer from this? I could use some support from my peers...
01/21/2008 01:39:36 PM · #2
Lots of people suffer from it. You'll get over it. But while you are reveling in it, for gawdsake watch your haloing. It may not be obvious in the larger versions, but look at the thumbs and see how often you are producing very distinct large, soft halos around your subjects.

R.
01/21/2008 01:40:19 PM · #3
This guy is a master at both lucis art and HDR.
Linky
01/21/2008 01:51:47 PM · #4
yea the haloing is real tough... they are not as prominent in the larger photos, but i know exactly what you mean.
Is there a way to beat this? perhaps some burning?

Message edited by author 2008-01-21 13:54:17.
01/21/2008 01:52:56 PM · #5
Originally posted by totaldis:

yea the haloing is real tough... they are not as prominent in the larger photos, but i know exactly what you mean


Play with your radius sliders...

R.
01/21/2008 01:54:29 PM · #6
too fast...
01/21/2008 03:35:51 PM · #7
Originally posted by roby21112:

This guy is a master at both lucis art and HDR.
Linky

Wow, some of those are great. I really like the dark feeling, but retaining the color vibrancy. They look slightly surreal. I like the portraits as well. Is this an HDR technique? Mostly I associate HDR with kinda weird looking toon-ish shots, but these - not so. Anyone care to explain how they're done?
01/21/2008 03:43:17 PM · #8
Originally posted by smurfguy:

Originally posted by roby21112:

This guy is a master at both lucis art and HDR.
Linky

Wow, some of those are great. I really like the dark feeling, but retaining the color vibrancy. They look slightly surreal. I like the portraits as well. Is this an HDR technique? Mostly I associate HDR with kinda weird looking toon-ish shots, but these - not so. Anyone care to explain how they're done?


The cartoon look comes from pushing it to extremes, with the dark values raised and the bright values lowered so they are within a couple stops of each other, and then the local contrast is bumped to hammer the details. It doesn't have to be done this way.

I can't tell you exactly what he does because I haven't seen his originals. But I can tell you that light-to-moderate tone mapping combined with apply image in soft light mode and then diffuse glow filtration can produce some effects similar to a few of these shots.

Before and after with tone mapping and high pass filtration:



R.
01/21/2008 04:26:56 PM · #9
Interesting. Thanks, Robert. That's definitely a step in the right direction, but it seems like he's doing something else - maybe just some custom burning. I'd give a dollar to see some of his originals. =)
01/21/2008 04:47:25 PM · #10
I've downloaded but am only using the trial version at the moment (not sure how easy it is to transfer to a new computer, if I get one). This is my only effort so far and I can see the difference...

However, I lost a lot of blue from that patch in the sky (and I obliterated the watermarks ;-Þ).

Message edited by author 2008-01-21 16:48:23.
01/21/2008 06:13:56 PM · #11
Originally posted by smurfguy:

Interesting. Thanks, Robert. That's definitely a step in the right direction, but it seems like he's doing something else - maybe just some custom burning. I'd give a dollar to see some of his originals. =)


Oh, I am sure he is; I was just illustrating a point.

R.
01/21/2008 06:22:50 PM · #12
Here are some tone-mapped images that I did using only one exposure:

.
01/22/2008 02:22:38 PM · #13


There are a few HDR images i have done using photomatix here
01/22/2008 02:37:15 PM · #14
You're definitely not the only one.. I'm still having fun with shots I took over 6 months ago! There is no doubt about it that HDR/tonemapping is the most powerful tool digital photography has seen in a while (there is even one on the front page!)

It's really interesting how you can take a relatively bland scene and turn it into something out of this world (referring specifically to Herring River, Clearing Storm by Bear_Music)..
01/22/2008 02:46:45 PM · #15
It's not the be all and end all and it's definitely not for all images.

However, I like the effect on this one.

[thumb]636608[/thumb]
01/22/2008 02:53:13 PM · #16
And look here
01/22/2008 02:59:03 PM · #17
While it hasn't always been accepted on this site (except pretty well in this case ), I wouldn't live without HDRI in the real world since that's what sells :-)

In the real world I've sold versions of not only the previous, but of this .

In my experience, people who buy finished products aren't so caught up in how it was taken; they want to see what they remember seeing (or wish they had seen) with their own eyes. That's where well-done HDRI comes in; it can better represent what our eyes can see than what our camera can capture in one exposure. Robert ( Bear_Music)is a great example of this kind of photography :-)
01/22/2008 03:42:02 PM · #18
Originally posted by Dudski:

You're definitely not the only one.. I'm still having fun with shots I took over 6 months ago! There is no doubt about it that HDR/tonemapping is the most powerful tool digital photography has seen in a while (there is even one on the front page!)

It's really interesting how you can take a relatively bland scene and turn it into something out of this world (referring specifically to Herring River, Clearing Storm by Bear_Music)..


Right. Here's the thing of it: that "bland" original image represents the camera's failure to capture what I am seeing (and what you'd have seen had you been there with me). The image isn't accidental, I stopped and made it because I SAW a striking image, right there in front of me. The eyes can see this stuff very well. There's nothing "added" to the image, that's for sure; it's just been "amplified", is the best way I can put it.

And isn't that the job of the artist? To amplify what he sees, or what he hears, or what he feels, and make it absolutely SING to the eyes, and the ears, and the heart? Why do so many people seem to think a photographer is "cheating" if he uses techniques to amplify and focus what he sees? That's always bugged the heck out of me. They used to say it about Ansel, too; "It's beautiful, it's stunning, it's powerful, but it ain't REAL! Here's what it REALLY looks like (pulling out a snapshot of El Capitan at high noon)."

I don't buy that at all. I don't "mind" it when photographers make it their goal to "record" an image "exactly as it is", but I still think they are telling just as many lies as I am :-) They COMPOSE their images, choosing what angle to shoot from, what to exclude and what to include. They make conscious (or unconscious, if they just don't care) choices as to what lens to use, whether to shoot B/W (is THAT "real"?) or color, what ISO to use (Is that frozen spume of spray "real"? In what sense?), a myriad of choices even for the "straight" photographer.

But that's not what I choose to do. I am seeing with the mind's eye, and I want you to see what I saw :-)

R.

Message edited by author 2008-01-22 15:42:36.
01/22/2008 04:17:54 PM · #19
"Before" and "After" HDR (also straighten, perspective adjustment, crop,...)


01/22/2008 05:36:04 PM · #20
Originally posted by totaldis:

I recently picked up a copy of Photomatix because of all the buzz there has been around HDR+Tonemapping. I opted for the Photoshop CS3 plugin rather than the standalone. I'm not sure if I cut myself short on some features, but ohwell...

In any case, I can't stop visualizing photos finalized using this process when I shoot. Is this some sort of sickness I can take rehab for? Is anyone else as sick as me?

Here is my sickness:

Some are a little more cartoony than others, but I don't even care...

Does anyone else suffer from this? I could use some support from my peers...


I like HDR, but not when it's overdone like those are. It looks too gimmicky to me...just my opinion nothing more.
01/22/2008 11:21:11 PM · #21
I like gimmicky...
sanjuro. I love all those curve pictures of the buildings. They are fantastic!
01/23/2008 05:43:29 AM · #22
If Mathieu Moindron (Krizalid - see linky above) gets those results with Photomatix, I may have to rethink my stance on HDR. Looks a lot like Joey's stuff, but i've never heard him mention Photomatix... anyways, the more I see of the tasteful HDR pics, the more i'm leaning towards it. Every time i've used it (which is only using that Wukong thing Simms was speaking of), it just doesn't look right.
01/23/2008 05:57:46 AM · #23
I think Bear explained it right.. The camera does not do a very good job of capturing the ACTUAL view AS SEEN by the viewer and IMHO Tonemapping/HDR enhances the image to as real as it can get. Of cause, you can overcook it too like I like doing often for that 'cartoonish' look. Not all images polish up well with tonemapping ..

Message edited by author 2008-01-23 05:58:27.
01/23/2008 11:04:18 AM · #24
I don't think this looks real to me at all. I have tried it and like some outtakes but not all. Almost a depressing feel to it with a lot of burning and dodging look to me. I guess I just don't see it. I do however really like it applied to music cd covers.
02/01/2008 10:03:59 AM · #25
I'm also in love with tone mapping, but I don't have the money to blow on additional software. I have photoshop, but I don't like the tone mapping procedure used when converting from 32bit to 8bit.

I did find a masking technique to do the same tone mapping. It's an easier straight forward method using masks.

I've always done this technique using masks, but this technique is easier. I could easily build an action for it.

Enjoy
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