HDRI Help!

[ragingfish]

Ok, so after seeing 06MaxxSS's HDRI shots in his thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19475&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

I've now become determined to learn this awesome trick myself. So I went out today, and took a crapload of pictures. I came home, and tried to create some HDRIs in both PSPX2 and Photomatix Pro. I'm getting frustrated, though, because my processed images are just not coming out with the vibrant and brilliant results I want.

Before anyone asks, I took the shots on my dad's Canon PowerShot S5 IS. I used Aperture Priority mode, locked it to 80 ISO, and set the AEB to -2, 0, +2.

So for one example of my frustration, here are three source images:


And here is the HDRI merge. See how unimpressive it is?


Click any of the above for full size photos. Can anyone give me some friggen advice here before I go nuts????

[Froboy7391]

Re: HDRI Help!

The sky doesn't have enough going on maybe? In MaxxSS's they're are clouds everywheres but your sky is very flat and not much change. I'm no expert but that could be it.

[Dextar]

Re: HDRI Help!

I tried to do these myself with the How-To that's on the link I posted and mine don't turn out anything close to those.. they have to be using a filter system in photoshop or something!

[06MaxxSS]

Re: HDRI Help!

one comment & one question.

Are you shooting the photos in raw?? you should be, and they should be freakin huge when you put them on your comp.

second, the only thing that your pic is missing is a stunning white chevy

oh..... and try 5 levels of exposure... the standard pic, +50, +100, -50 and -100... try that and let me know how you make out... also it helps if you take a pic with lots of natural contrast... like a bright colored car against a dark sky or treeline or something.... good luck!

[jnak]

Re: HDRI Help!

To me, the fence in the foreground seems to hold everything back..it keeps the picture from popping out at you like 06MaxxSS's pictures do.

[ragingfish]

Re: HDRI Help!

one comment & one question.

Are you shooting the photos in raw?? you should be, and they should be freakin huge when you put them on your comp.

Unfortunately, the S5 does not support RAW. I looked at a bunch of different tutorials on HDRI, some specifically for the S5, and they said it can be done without RAW.

second, the only thing that your pic is missing is a stunning white chevy

Ironically, the owner's manual for the camera also says it does not support shooting of white Chevys!

oh..... and try 5 levels of exposure... the standard pic, +50, +100, -50 and -100... try that and let me know how you make out... also it helps if you take a pic with lots of natural contrast... like a bright colored car against a dark sky or treeline or something.... good luck!

Umm, what do you mean by the +50, +100, etc? The camera for AEB shows a scale that goes from -2 to +2. Do you mean do -2, -1, 0, +1, +2? And unfortuntely it only supports 3 different exposure shots in a series, so I guess that means to do 5 I'll have to do a second AEB series at a different exposure setting?

As for pictures that need more contrast, as I said, I took a shite-load of pics yesterday, would something like this group be more ideal:

[06MaxxSS]

Re: HDRI Help!

To be honest I dont know a ton about it, Im very new to the whole thing also... Youve all seen the only pics ive ever taken. my roommate is the smart one when it comes to this stuff, hes outta town but I'll ask him to post when he gets back.... hes a member here to he just lurks around... lol 1 post I think. He will be able to help you way more than I can... be patient... hes home tonight I think.

[ragingfish]

Re: HDRI Help!

To be honest I dont know a ton about it, Im very new to the whole thing also... Youve all seen the only pics ive ever taken. my roommate is the smart one when it comes to this stuff, hes outta town but I'll ask him to post when he gets back.... hes a member here to he just lurks around... lol 1 post I think. He will be able to help you way more than I can... be patient... hes home tonight I think.

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

[stahlight]

Re: HDRI Help!

Most HDR pics are very plain. What you cant see in your third one is that it has dynamic range unlike any camera -- it is close to what the naked eye might see.

Now to get HDR to look whack, you'll need to go into photoshop CS2 or CS3 and when you do an HDR merge, monkey with the transfer curves and the HDR methods (part of the HDR wizard.) Then funky effects will u get:

http://stahlight.deviantart.com/art/Helter-Swelter-59971579

You have to check this one out at deviant art...

[stahlight]

Re: HDRI Help!

OK so couple more thoughts:

HDR stands for high dynamic range. So in order to have HDR you need photos with dynamic range -- try the similar shots in a more sunset environment... My $0.02

[ragingfish]

Re: HDRI Help!

Will try to find some more sunset shots next time I have a day off.

monkey with the transfer curves and the HDR methods (part of the HDR wizard.)

asphincter says what?

[CaptRage]

Re: HDRI Help!

I have made a few HDR's, some of them look better than others, most of it depends on the lights and darks in the original picture. The point of it is to make the lights and darks show up at the same time. The actual HDR looks no different that what the image is at normal exposure. The tone mapping is what brings out the darks and lights.

I have found that a cloudy day with lots of variations in light make for some of the best pictures. A clear sky does not have much contrast to get that "Gotham city" look.

You can take 3 separate pictures, with a tripod of course and having one over and one under exposed, you can even do 5. I usually just take one in RAW and post expose them.

Keep trying and messing around with the tone mapping. Some pictures are just better than others.

That is my 2 cents.