# First real attempt HDR Black VXR



## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

My first attempt at HDR...


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

It don't half look great, but what's involved?

Do you just buy a camera that takes HDR pics, or do you take two seperate pics, and combine??


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

joe_0_1 said:


> It don't half look great, but what's involved?
> 
> Do you just buy a camera that takes HDR pics, or do you take two seperate pics, and combine??


I just took photography up last November so dont ask me lol

Basically exposure bracketing i think is the correct term, my camera does not have this so i have to do it my self, take normal pic then again with exposure -1, -2, +1, +2. Now the underexposed pics show the sky perfectly but cant hardly see the car where as the over show the car and ground in perfect detail but the sky is blown white, i tried photoshop cs4 to create HDR but the pro's advised Photomatix which is what i used here, you merge them all to create a High Dynamic Range picture with the best detail from all shots.

Lots of settings and adjustment available so it will take a bit of time to master but for a first shot i think its not bad! You can go over the top which i personally dont like although i did play to see what i could create before settling with the above.


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## mouthyman (May 1, 2006)

looks great :thumb:


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## J55TTC (Apr 11, 2008)

Fan-diddly-tastic if you ask me :thumb:


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

bloody marvelous.
would love to do similar


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## andye (Apr 15, 2007)

Very good :thumb:


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Thats great, I've gotta try this :thumb:


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

Great shots! Just a comment if I may.

I would clone out the van, bench and lamp in the first shot (or crop them).
Second shot, I would clone out the arm of the digger in the back ground.

Tell me to shut up if you like. :lol::thumb:


Maxtor.


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## mark998 (Jan 16, 2009)

pics look great :thumb:

i keep meaning to try some HDR shots but always forget my camera when i go out in the car


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

Maxtor said:


> Great shots! Just a comment if I may.
> 
> I would clone out the van, bench and lamp in the first shot (or crop them).
> Second shot, I would clone out the arm of the digger in the back ground.
> ...


Cheers Maxtor just burst my bubble lol

Nah you are completely right, my problem here is i am so excited about he whole HDR thing i never actually looked at what is in the picture, I will have a play and post it back up when i get a chance.


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

Mr Mike said:


> Cheers Maxtor just burst my bubble lol
> 
> Nah you are completely right, my problem here is i am so excited about he whole HDR thing i never actually looked at what is in the picture, I will have a play and post it back up when i get a chance.


Sorry mate.

I know what you mean about being excited tho, I have been meaning to play around with HDR myself (if I can get the time).

It does look better tho (I have just had a play in PS, hope you don't mind).

Maxtor


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

Maxtor said:


> Sorry mate.
> 
> I know what you mean about being excited tho, I have been meaning to play around with HDR myself (if I can get the time).
> 
> ...


Dont mind at all, feel free to post it up Please!


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

Just a quick go mate.










Maxtor.


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

Maxtor said:


> Just a quick go mate.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cheers, much better without. I will have a play myself and see what i come up with, maybe remove maybe crop see how it looks.


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

perfect.

arent there any filters in photoshop that would simulate that effect?


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

Cracking stuff, and not overdone like a lot of people do :thumb: The second image is the one for me, not keen on the orange reflection on the side of the car in the first pic, but they're both darn good.


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## Roy (Jan 17, 2007)

Am I the only one seeing a ghostly figure by the back of the van in the first pic! :doublesho


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## dubnut71 (Jul 25, 2006)

Great results, I did similar but with my white Leon and it turned out a bit "grey" in the white car where the shadows were but pleasing nonetheless. Stick with it mate, HDR is great!!!!

BTW Where's the pic taken? Stoney? Bervie?


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

Roy said:


> Am I the only one seeing a ghostly figure by the back of the van in the first pic! :doublesho


Never noticed until you mentioned it, there was a guy there but he obviously moving around during the shots so he ghosted



dubnut71 said:


> Great results, I did similar but with my white Leon and it turned out a bit "grey" in the white car where the shadows were but pleasing nonetheless. Stick with it mate, HDR is great!!!!
> 
> BTW Where's the pic taken? Stoney? Bervie?


Stoney


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

Thanks for the info.

My camera doesn't have an exposure setting though ?

A,M,S,P, etc, would I need to go into manual and play?


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

joe_0_1 said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> My camera doesn't have an exposure setting though ?
> 
> A,M,S,P, etc, would I need to go into manual and play?


I normally use A aperture priority, you should have an exposure compensation on your camera, maybe check the manual if you dont know. You just take the exactly the same pic, tripod required and under expose -1 -2 then wind the other way and over expose +1 +2 plus the normal at 0 then i used Photomatix to merge as HDR High Dynamic Range. Basically takes all the bright and dark and mixes it all together to expose everything in the shot perfectly.


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Loosk great - very moody.


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## mteam (Dec 8, 2007)

joe_0_1 said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> My camera doesn't have an exposure setting though ?
> 
> A,M,S,P, etc, would I need to go into manual and play?


Joe you can set bracketing button on the top next to the program dial

Very nice Mike

not overdone:thumb:
did you use the tone compressor or details enhancer in photomatix


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

mteam said:


> Joe you can set bracketing button on the top next to the program dial
> 
> Very nice Mike
> 
> ...


I hope to keep my HDR efforts subtle, not really a fan of the OTT to be honest. I used the Detail Enhancer, I didnt find I could create what i was looking for using the tone compressor. Great bit of software, makes you want to go and take 3 -7 shots of anything just to play with it lol


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

what are we meant to be looking at??


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

mike can you post up the 4 seperate photos that were taken to put that 1 image together?

would just like to see whats involved, as im not familiar with things like this


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

johnsastra16v said:


> mike can you post up the 4 seperate photos that were taken to put that 1 image together?
> 
> would just like to see whats involved, as im not familiar with things like this


I actually took 7 pics to create the 2nd HDR shot, see below and imagine the other 5 pics in the middle going from one extreme to the other...

+2









-4









As you can see the +2 is well over exposed and show lots of detail on the car reflections but the sky is blown where as the -4 shot has no detail on the car but the sky looks correct, basically after you take your set of pictures I used Photomatix to create HDR High Dynamic Range pic which merges them all together with all the detail required.

Im new to this too and this was my first attemp, I think 3 to 5 pics are the normal for this but I kept stepping down until i got the sky looking correct which ended up at -4 so I thought i now have 7 shots and decided to use them all.


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

Hi mate,

can I ask a cheeky favour, I have just taken these pics:-




























Can these be merged to try to create a HDR image? I appreciate they're not perfect


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## mteam (Dec 8, 2007)

Heres my quick attempt Joe


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## NickP (Nov 20, 2005)

and another from me


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## NickP (Nov 20, 2005)

dubnut71 said:


> Great results, I did similar but with my white Leon and it turned out a bit "grey" in the white car where the shadows were but pleasing nonetheless. Stick with it mate, HDR is great!!!!
> 
> BTW Where's the pic taken? Stoney? Bervie?


I found the same - not easy with White


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

joe_0_1 said:


> Hi mate,
> 
> can I ask a cheeky favour, I have just taken these pics:-
> 
> Can these be merged to try to create a HDR image? I appreciate they're not perfect


A very quick shot, not going to score any points for this one but gives you an idea...


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

WOW!

Thanks everso.!

So I'm sort of hitting the right concept?


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

joe_0_1 said:


> WOW!
> 
> Thanks everso.!
> 
> So I'm sort of hitting the right concept?


Yeah Joe you have the idea, get Photomatix and get playing. I have to admit i spent around an hour with my two pics, i actually started over a few times cos i messed it up so bad, even after that i used Photoshop CS4 to make some minor adjustment to get what i wanted. I think it will take me some time to master it but if you have the time to play its not too hard, i try to keep them subtle as possible.

Not sure about the best number of pics to use but my 2nd one as mentioned used 7 pics so whatever you can be bothered with sounds like the best plan for me.


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

i just bought a new camera today, but couldnt find my old tripod to try these style of pics.
I'll be trying it tomo if i can find the bloody thing.

they look ace!

thanks for posting the seperate pics of the astra. nice to see how they are before getting put together


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

Mr Mike said:


> Yeah Joe you have the idea, get Photomatix and get playing. I have to admit i spent around an hour with my two pics, i actually started over a few times cos i messed it up so bad, even after that i used Photoshop CS4 to make some minor adjustment to get what i wanted. I think it will take me some time to master it but if you have the time to play its not too hard, i try to keep them subtle as possible.
> 
> Not sure about the best number of pics to use but my 2nd one as mentioned used 7 pics so whatever you can be bothered with sounds like the best plan for me.


Photomatix?

Thanks, I'll get 5 pics next time


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## johnsastra16v (Oct 7, 2007)

all seems to be going well...

ive just downloaded a full version of photomatix and installed successfully. i wont be getting the watermarked version either
next, i found my tripod afte searching all night,
and 3rd, found that my camera has a bracketing mode too, so im pretty chuffed

photos will follow tomo, hopefully they'l tun out as good as mikes


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## Kev_mk3 (Sep 10, 2007)

very good shots


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