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This majestic Live Oak tree seemed to me to be the Queen of this meadow...surrounded by her adoring Court....
This is a high dynamic range image - three shots blended together in an attempt to capture the nuances of light and color present to the native eye.
This was taken handheld with a Nikon D80 coupled with a Nikkor 18-200 VR lens. The blending of the images was done with Photomatix software.
If you are interested in trying out the technique, you can download a free trial of Photomatix at www.hdrsoft.com
A handheld multiple exposure blended image shot with a Nikon D70 and blended with Photomatix software.
As with all high dynamic range imaging, this is much better when viewed at the larger sizes.
If you haven't tried using this method and the software, you can download a free trial at
One of the best descriptions I've ever heard of the appeal of photography is allowing us to capture a moment in time before it passes....and to preserve it.
As you might imagine, this sunset over the Gulf of Mexico was one such moment for me - the dark foreboding clouds coupled with that intense orange coloring that lasted but for a few brief minutes.
This was shot off our balcony on a cruise ship. I used my Nikon D70 to take three continuous shots using auto exposure - one over exposed, one under exposed and one properly exposed. Luckily the sea was calm and I was able to use the railing of the balcony as a makeshift tripod.
The resulting three images were blended with Photomatix software to make this final image. If you're interested in trying this technique, you download a free trial of Photomatix at www.hdrsoft.com
I have continued to experiment with creating blended HDR images using one RAW file. I take a handheld shot with my Nikon D80 and then using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom I create three files - one overexposed (+1.0), one underexposed (-1.0) and one correctly exposed (0.0).
I then blend those three files together with Photomatix software to create a high dynamic range image that more closely resembles this magnificent nature moment when it is viewed in person. The three exposures allow for more nuances of color and light.....
If you'd like to download a free trial of Photomatix and try the technique yourself, you can find it at www.hdrsoft.com
"Copyrighted by Jeff R. Clow - All Rights Reserved - No Unauthorized Usage Allowed"
The biggest collection of rusty classic cars, spare parts
and trucks I've ever seen at the Royal GR private workshop.
The tiny 12th century church of St. Oswald's is almost all that remains of the lost village of Widford, Oxfordshire. In the 14th century there were thirteen houses, a mill, a manor house and farm buildings but it is thought that the Black Death caused the settlement to be abandoned.
Previous photo shows the inside of the church.
The church was built over the remains of a Roman villa and still retains some Roman paving in the chancel. On the walls there are some interesting 14th century murals, while the high-backed pews date from the 18th century. The little church is so delightful that it has been used as a film set, most recently for the marriage of Lorna Doone in the TV series.
Notes compiled from the Oxfordshire Limited Edition web site.
This is an HDR image derived from three exposures combined using Photomatix software.
Bridalveil Creek is spring-fed, so it isn't as dependent on spring snowmelt as some of the other waterfalls in Yosemite Valley, but its flow can still get pretty meager in dry years.
I produced this new version in Adobe Lightroom 5 and HDRsoft's Photomatix 5 (HDR) software.
If you look carefully you will see the silhouettes of a man and woman. The lady was taking pictures with a DSLR.
Thanks for looking.
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Tokina 11-16 F2.8
Tripod: Manfrotto 055XPROB + Manfrotto 498RC2 Ball Head
Aperture: f/16
HDR: 3 images
ISO:100
Software: Adobe Lightroom 3, Adobe Photoshop CS5, hdrsoft Photomatix Pro, Nik Silver Efex Pro
Dell U2311H 23" IPS LCD Monitor ...Uncalibrated ... sorry :(
There is something almost surreal about standing below an aging grain elevator and looking up at that magical blue Oklahoma sky...
This is a handheld multiple exposure high dynamic range image blended with Photomatix software. If you'd like to try the technique you can dowload a free trial at:
This is another variation of a picture I posted last week.
It's been raining non stop for the past two days.
Have a great suday my friends.
Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West. But this treasure is much more than a monument. Towering monoliths exist within a vast plateau and canyon panorama. You can experience sheer-walled, red rock canyons along the twists and turns of Rim Rock Drive, where you may spy bighorn sheep and soaring eagles.
(source www.nps.gov/colm/index.htm)
An overcast dreary day still has an appeal to my eye....the stark beauty of nature at rest seems to come through on this image.
A High Dynamic Range (HDR) image using three exposed frames set at different shutter speeds (at the same constant aperture) and shot in rapid fire sequence.... and then blended with Photomatix software.
I think this is MUCH better if viewed at the larger sizes. The reason the horizon is tilted is because I was using a rickety old fence as my makeshift "tripod".....
Here's the link to Photomatix if you'd like to give it a try yourself. They offer a free trial and I find the technique fascinating:
The Story
At this time of year the autumn colours are visible throughout the Lake District. The once green braken reduced to a mass of brown.
This shot was taken looking towards Rydal Water after leaving White Moss Wood.
The Shot
3 exposure shot (-1,0,+1) from using my D200 and a Nikon 24-70mm handheld.
Opened in Photomatix with detail enhancer set to default.
Then modified using Topaz Adjust , to increase colour and sharpness.
Saturation then boosted and contrast adjusted using curves.
The noise reduced with Noiseware .
Sensor dust spots and blemishes removed and the shadow added.
Music
The Book
The Cipher Garden: A Lake District Mystery by Martin Edwards
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Comments, advice, tips and critique always welcome.
Please feel free also to add notes and tags you feel appropriate
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This is locally know as the Pirates tower. I ran into a family that live near by and they recited a story about how the home owner that lived in the home at the the top of the tower used to dress up like a pirate and walk the streets and pubs telling people that he has hidden coins in the boards of the spiral staircase that leads to the top, for the kids in the area to find if they explored it well enough. The kids in the area spent a lot of time in that tower. :)
Located at Victoria Beach cove in Laguna beach. It is 3 exposures combined with the "Merge to 32 bit" plugin by HDRSoft.
Please leave a comment if you like this photo. It's the easiest way for me to interact with my contacts and respond by visiting your stream. If you have any questions about this photo or about photography in general, I will do my best to help, just post a comment or send me a Flickr mail and I will respond as quickly as possible.
For those of you new to photography, I would like to provide you with some very helpful videos that will help you get more from your photography. They were very useful to me while I was learning and I hope that they will help you out as well. Just click the link below and on the left side column there are pre-made playlists on everything you could ever want to know about photography. I hope you enjoy them and as always my friends "Happy Shooting"
I revisited this HDR image sequence to see if I had learned anything since I first started experimenting with HDR imagery. I used Photo Shop CS3 for all the work starting with HDR merge and basic tone mapping using the local adaptation option. Afterward, I used a variety of adjustments layers including exposure, levels and photo filter. It looks a bit better than the one I processed in 2009. However, photomatix HDR software does a better job of tone mapping.
©2009, Ken Szok All rights reserved
A blend of three long exposures...
Blending is a complex subject, meant to replace Graduated Neutral Density filters that have been a mainstay of landscape photography for many years. GND filters can be very expensive and they scratch easily, so a Photoshop workaround is a very good alternative.
luminous landscape have a tutorial about blending:
www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml
Basically I take a number of photos of the same scene using a sturdy tripod and a remore cable, then I blend the photos together using PS Elements. The newest PS CS2 has a feature called "HDR" (high dynamic range) that will do this for you. There is also software specifically for this:
I've written a tutorial in the technique group that addresses this:
The Story
In the small village of Medbourne in South Leicestershire lies the delightful church of St Giles.
The Shot
3 exposure shot (-1,0,+1) from using my D200 and a Nikon 10.5mm lens mounted on a Manfotto tripod
Opened in Photomatix with detail enhancer set to default.
Then modified using Topaz Adjust , to increase colour, detailing and exposure.
Saturartion was then adjusted.
The noise was then reduced using Noiseware set to the maximum setting followed by an adjustment of sharpness to the desried level.
Sensor dust spots and blemishes removed and frame added.
Music
Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley
The Book
Ghosts in Sunlight by Gretta Curran Browne
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Comments, advice, tips and critique always welcome.
Please feel free also to add notes and tags you feel appropriate
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Photo Project 365: Day 1 - January 1, 2011
Week one theme: HDR
With this image I was in a hurry. I had the idea of shooting the creek by my house on the way home today from a new years eve party I attended last night. I had company with me and time was limited so I walked to the creek and set up the tripod, fired off a bunch of shots, and went over it real fast on the computer when I got home.
So before midnight I was experimenting in CS5 and trying new things and wasn't happy with what I had done but in the last few minutes I tried something and was happy with it considering I was rushing and just trying new things. Today I should make the deadline with no problems... hopefully.
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 (11mm)
Tripod: Manfrotto 055XPROB + Manfrotto 498RC2 Ball Head
HDR (3 exposures)
Software: Adobe Lightroom 3, hdrsoft Photomatix Pro 3.2, Adobe Photoshop CS5
Dell U2311H 23" IPS LCD Monitor ...Uncalibrated ... sorry :(
July 9, wonderful clouds.
My last shot before going to work
Press "L" to view it on Black
Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Samyang fisheye 8 mm
ISO 200; f/8
HDR from 3 exposures (-2; 0; +2), handheld
Processed with Photomatix Pro
Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional
Curve correction with GIMP
Resizing and watermark with Fastone resizer
A big thanks to everyone for visiting! This photo has 55'000 views and 550 favorites!
View Large 'Edit Away' On Black
(This is a re-edited HDR of Forest Railroad Bridge)
Note: Below tutorial was written for Photomatix Pro 2.22. Photomatix latest software version has similar but slightly different settings.
The quest for the perfect HDR - A Photomatix Tutorial
I’ve had a few people ask me how I make my HDRs, so I decided to post the guide here.
I’m not really explaining what a HDR is, as that has been explained really well before. (Check the links there too)
I use Photomatix, which you can try for free and download here: www.hdrsoft.com
I use the full (pro) version, which gives you the option to do Tone Mapping. I didn’t have that option with the free basic version, so you will have to buy the pro version as far as I know to make HDRs and to tone map them.
I almost always used a tripod so far, and generally make 3 exposures (3xp). These xp would all be 2 stops apart. So one with the highest xp (xp +2), one with xp 0, and one with the lowest xp (xp -2). For some photos I also used 5xp, where they are all 1 stop apart. I shoot JPG, as my camera doesn’t have RAW shooting options. :( Sponsor me for a new camera? :) Donate with Paypal
One thing you should keep in mind is that more xp has its advantages and or disadvantages.
Advantages of more xp
Higher color range - More different xp to get the color information from.
Less blur in some cases - If you are photographing things that are close to you in windy conditions, like leaves on a tree that are 1m or closer away from you, taking 5xp or even 7xp or more, will make sure that at least some of the photos will be aligned. This reduces blur on the final HDR because the 1 or 2 photos that might be unaligned will not be as visible if you have 5 that are. If you would only take 3xp, there is a great chance that if one of them is unaligned, it will show pretty clearly in the HDR, which is not always nice. I am not talking about soft blur, which usually does look pretty nice; I am talking more about seeing two leaves overlapping each other for example, which is not what we want. The more xp you take, the higher chance you have of your unaligned photo turning out to add soft blur, which is good.
Disadvantages of more xp
More work & takes longer – Logically, you are going to have to take an extra 2 or 4 photos. Sometimes you have to work fast because of changing conditions or movement, photographing people that have to sit still for a long time is hard for example.
More possibility of unaligned photos – Of course, the more photos you take, the higher the chance is that you get one that is not aligned. With only 3xp, if you are fast and your camera is stuck securely, and it’s not windy, you have a good chance that you won’t have any unaligned photos. But if you take 7xp there might just be one or two that won’t be aligned. Still, this might be part of the advantages as I explained above, since that might result in an accidental soft blur.
Soft blur
I have used this technique on some of my HDRs, and I think it looks very nice. So how do I do this? Well, if you haven’t found out yourself yet, it’s pretty easy. Blur one of the photos; usually I take the middle one or one that is a little overexposed, xp 0 or xp +1. However you do this is of course up to you, and I will let you experiment for yourself with that. I used Gaussian blur in Photoshop with a blur of 5 or 10 pixels.
Then you make the HDR as normal, and I have done this in 2 ways so far. Let’s say we have a photo that we made 3xp of and we use xp + 1 to blur. Either you can replace xp +1 with the blurred version, and make a HDR of 3xp of which one is blurred, or you can add the blurred version to all 3 originals. Then you will have 4xp. I like this result better usually and it’s not really more work.
Tip: Make the HDR from the normal exposures first, then blur one of the exposures, and add it to the other exposures, take them into Photomatix again, and use the button “Previous Settings” to get exactly the same HDR coloring and contrast etc as you got in the non-blurred HDR.
Edit: To get a blurred photo, of course you can also just set your camera to macro mode or make an unfocussed photo by focussing incorrectly. Doing this gives different results than blurring with Gaussian blur in Photoshop.
Edit 2: Lately I have been using a different method. Finish the HDR, then open it in Photoshop. Double the layer, and do a gaussian blur between 10 and 50 pixels or so. Set the layer to "overlay" mode and reduce the opacity to 50% or so if that looks better. Play around with the brightness and saturation of the blurred layer as this can give some nice effects as well. I sometimes also only blur certain parts of an image if that looks better.
Tone Mapping
This it one of the most important steps in getting a nice HDR. Take your time for this. I spend more time tone mapping sometimes than taking the photos.
I will explain the tone mapping in Photomatix, as that is the only program I have used so far.
If tone mapping is a magical machine that can create beautiful dreamy photos, then this machine has 7 weird dials and levers that can help you find the right combination of the perfect HDR.
Of course I must say that making a perfect HDR also requires perfect photos… :)
I will explain these "levers and dials" only as far as I know, I am no pro, I just try things out myself as well. The italic text is from Photomatix’s help file.
Luminosity
Adjusts the brightness of the shadows and the amount of local contrast enhancement. Moving the slider to the right has the effect of boosting shadow details and brightening the image. Moving it to the left gives a more natural look to the tone mapped image.
Slide this to the left to make the image generally darker, and to the right to make it brighter. I have more often used it to make things brighter so far, because I love bright daylight images, but if you want a more natural, or darker image, maybe the left side is better.
Strength
Controls the strength of local contrast enhancements. A value of 100% gives the maximum increase in local contrast.
Be very careful with this setting. This is one of the strongest edits. Play with it as much as you like, you will see the difference. It depends as well on what your photo is. If you have clouds in the photo, setting this higher than 50% often creates grey shadows on clouds that are the typical ugly HDR. I have only seen a very few HDRs with dark clouds that looked good. I only set this to 100%, or often around 70% when I have few or no clouds or sky in the photo. This setting can be set lower to reduce halos around clouds and other subjects in your photo as well.
Color Saturation
Controls the saturation of the RGB color channels. The greater the saturation, the more intense the color. The value affects each color channel equally.
Set this low to create a flat image with less color, or to the right to make a bright colourful image. I often set this (too?) high, because I love color.
White Clip & Black Clip
Both sliders control how the minimum and maximum values of the output image are set. Moving the sliders to the left increases global contrast. Moving it to the left reduces the clipping at the extremes. The White Clip slider sets the value for the maximum (pure white or level 255). The Black Clip slider sets the value for the minimum (pure black or level 0).
I usually set White Clip anywhere between 0.250% - 5.000% and Black Clip pretty low around 0.100%. Setting black too high, often creates halos around clouds, and makes the image seem weirdly dark.
Smoothing
Controls the amount of smoothing of luminance variations. A higher value tends to give a more natural look to the image. A lower value increases sharpness.
I agree completely with Photomatix, and can only add that I prefer High, or Medium. I hardly ever use the lower settings, but have a look at them anyway just in case.
Microcontrast
Controls the accentuation of local details. The default value (0) is the optimal value in most cases. However, this control may be useful in the case of a noisy image or when the accentuation of local details is not desirable (e.g. seams of a stitched pano in a uniform area may become visible when local details are too much enhanced).
So I assume that with the default value they mean “Very Low”? Im not sure. At least, Microcontrast does what it says it does. It makes the contrast between small details Very Low, Low, Medium or High. I usually use Medium or sometimes High. I find the lower values make the image too flat.
For the rest you find buttons under tone mapping for Settings to use Previous tone mapping settings, Default settings provided by Photomatix, these have never looked good according to me, and load and save settings. Save your settings if you think they look good and you want to use them more often. I use preview size 768, which is unfortunately the highest, I would like a higher resolution. (Set this size to be default: View > Default Options > tab HDRI > Preview Size 768.)
Hope this all helps; I would love feedback or suggestions. Let me know what you do differently, I’m interested in everyone’s techniques, as HDR is a powerful tool that can give very nice results if used correctly.
I will post this guide on some of the HDR groups, as I think it will be interesting for everyone!
Enjoy your quest for the perfect HDR!
and if you’ve found it, let us know of course! :)
Christiaan
I went here after work, looking for some subjects for the HDR challenge. I noticed the tree on the left having some nice light and shadow on the bark. With a single exposure either the dark parts of the bark were noisy, or the bright parts were blown out. So a nice subject for HDR. This is a combination of 5 exposures. Combined with the 'Export to 32-bit HDR' Lightroom plugin from HDRSoft.
These are some Victorian homes nearby Alamo Square Park known as the "Painted Ladies". One of the cliche SF postcard views, I thought I would try my hand at shooting it since it's only a mile or so from my apt.... Also my first time using the Photomatix 3.0 beta from hdrsoft, it seemed pretty smooth.
Alamo_Square_20080102_0077_78_79_80_81_tonemapped
Another multi-expsoure blended shot....this time the opposite shoreline from the previous image in my photostream. This was taken in Northern Oklahoma and the grass fires there caused the sky on the right hand side of the image to turn a darker hue.
This is better when viewed at the larger or original size.
I've gotten a lot of queries about how I blended the image to improve the dynamic color range and my best advice is to use Photomatix.
You can download a trial copy for free here:
The drought in North Texas continues to drop the shoreline at Lake Lewisville. I believe we are down 24 inches below where we should be in rainfall year to date.
This is a handheld multiple exposure high dynamic range blended image. If you'd like to try the technique, you can download a free trial of Photomatix software at:
Another shot of Palazzo del Governo, Genova.
August 5.
I love the effect of the fisheye on the columns :o)
Press "L" to view it on Black
Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Samyang fisheye 8 mm
ISO 200; f/8
HDR from 3 exposures (-2; 0; +2), handheld
Processed with Photomatix Pro
Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional
Curve correction with GIMP
Resizing and watermark with Fastone resizer
The Story
One of my favourite UK holiday destinations is the quaint fishing village of Mevagissey on the Cornish South coast.
Still a fully working fishing village its Harbour is always a hive of activity.
The fish and chips are obviously excellent or if you prefer the Cornish Pasty’s are fantastic.
When the sea is calm the Inner Harbour has fantastic reflections as seen in this photo. You are lucky to get such calmness in the outer harbour, especially with the frequent movement of fishing and pleasure craft.
This shot was taken in the springtime as the sun was about to set hence the beautiful colours in the sky.
The Shot
This is from a single RAW file taken with a Nikon D200 and a 12-24mm wide angle zoom lens.
Opened with Photomatix .
The resulting file then had the saturations and sharpness adjusted
Sensor dust spots and blemishes removed and frame added.
The Music
Hues Corporation – Rock The Boat
The Book
Menhardoc - A Tale of Cornish Nets and Mines
by George Manville Fenn
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Comments, advice, tips and critique always welcome.
Please feel free also to add notes and tags you feel appropriate
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Combined use of single raw HDR and on-camera flash. The non-hdr shot was quite good, but HDR added some more detail.
I tried to balance the composition putting the shell in one corner and the sun in the opposite.
Tunis, september 2011
Take a look at my 2011 pictures
Press "L" to view it on Black
Press "F" to add to favourites
Camera: Canon Powershot S90
HDR from single raw shot, handheld
Processed with Photomatix Pro
Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional
Lens distortion correction with PTLens
Cropping and Curve correction with GIMP
Resizing and watermark with Fastone resizer
Does anyone find my borders annoying? Would you prefer it if there were no borders? Also, is this image too bright?
Again, at what seems to be my usual spot, practicing. This time on a clear night …. I seem to prefer clouds. I know I overcooked the colors a lot but when I decreased the contrast and de-saturated the colors I just didn’t care for it much. I’m going to try and tone down future images, or at least limit HDR, and / or try to make it hard to determine if HDR was even used. I’m just playing around and experimenting.
EDIT: This is a sunset. I should have mentioned it. Sorry.
Thanks for taking the time to view my image. :)
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 (16mm)
Tripod: Manfrotto 055XPROB + Manfrotto 498RC2 Ball Head
Tokina 11-16 ( 16 mm)
HDR (3 exposures)
ISO Speed 100
Software: Adobe Lightroom 3, hdrsoft Photomatix Pro 3.2, Adobe Photoshop CS5
Dell U2311H 23" IPS LCD Monitor ...Uncalibrated ... sorry :(
Winter colors coupled with a magnificent sky on a 80 degree Texas afternoon in February....
An HDR three photo blended image using Photomatix software for the blending.
Love is in the Air
I used Photomatix (www.hdrsoft.com/) coupon: KRISKROS, Topaz (www.topazlabs.com/745.html) coupon: KRISKROS and Photoshop CS6 on this HDR image. The coupon codes will give you about 15% discount.
Learn the "Painting with KK Brush" via my book @ www.facebook.com/hdrunleashed.
#HDR #PHOTOMATIXPRO #TOPAZ #PHOTOSHOP #CS6
Second shot of San Pellegrino lake, Trentino. As said before, I'm really satisfied of how Photomatix 4.1 auto-deghosting feature works on the water...
Press "L" to view it on Black
Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC (8 mm)
ISO 200; f/11
HDR from 3 exposures (-2; 0; +2), handheld
Processed with Photomatix Pro (auto deghosting)
Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional
Curve correction with GIMP.
Resizing and watermark with Fastone resizer
A sunrise from my collection, taken with a compact S90 camera while waiting for the train.
Take a look at my 2012 pictures
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Press "F" to add to favourites
LOCATION AND DATE - DATA e LUOGO DI SCATTO
Novi Ligure (Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy), 13th December 2011
CAMERA
Canon Powershot S90
SHOT DATA - DATI DI SCATTO
ISO 80; f/2; 1/50 s
HDR from 3 single raw shot, handheld
Other EXIF on flickr / Altri EXIF su flickr
WORKFLOW - FLUSSO DI LAVORO
° Rename: XnView
° HDR Processing: Photomatix Pro
° Noise reduction / Riduzione rumore: Noiseware Professional
° Lens distortion correction / Correzione distorsione PTLens
° Straightening: GIMP
° Cropping: GIMP
° Curve correction / Correzione curve: GIMP
° Resizing, watermark: Fastone resizer
It was a beautiful and easy walk, and the view was very good!
After taking this picture, I had a great lunch behind the shed! (the location of my only explored picture).
It is strongly recommended to view it on Black: press "L"
Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC (8 mm)
ISO 200; f/11
HDR from 3 exposures (-2; 0; +2), handheld
Processed with Photomatix Pro (auto deghosting)
Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional
Curve correction with GIMP.
Resizing and watermark with Fastone resizer