[DarkFireGT]

Not a bad first attempt. It's a bit dark, but overall good.

[highvolts]

Love the car! Its a little dark, like DF said, and one other thing was that the background was too busy (Power Lines, Street Lights, etc...) With all that said, I still like it! How many pictures did you take?

[Capt. Simiain]

Originally Posted by highvolts

Love the car! Its a little dark, like DF said, and one other thing was that the background was too busy (Power Lines, Street Lights, etc...) With all that said, I still like it! How many pictures did you take?

Not enough pictures (thats the best set). I do need to find some better scenery, which will be easier in the coming months now that our rainy season should be ending soon

[Pook]

Interesting thread this for me as a Photogapher. Some good advice already posted here so no need to repeat anything, just remember a few things:

HDR, or ANY effect applied post-production will not make up for a poor photo... either technically, or compositionally. It's meant to enhance only.

Second: Tonemapping. Don't go over the top. The point of HDR is not to create wacky special effects, and when you do, it just looks like you've run it through a Photoshop filter, and looks cheesy. The point of HDR is to keep detail in shadows as well as highlights... simple as that. While a slight overcook in tone mapping can look good, remember.... less is more.

Don't get too caught up in the whole HDR thing.. HDR is something that you can do to photo that's already great, but it won't rescue a poor one. Take the time to look around the viewfinder first... watch for the pitfalls such as power lines, trees out of people's heads, or in this case, car roofs etc. Think about where you place the car in the frame: Don't just stand there and take it from your eye point, as usually, it's a crap place to be to take a photo. Think of getting low, or high, or maybe place the car in an unusual place within the frame. Don't just put things in boxes from your normal standing eye level.

A tutorial on photography is way beyond this thread... but Google is your friend


Some HDR stuff of my Mustang.













Another thing to rememebr, is that HFR workds best when using more than one exposure, rather than trying to create a HDR set from one. Use a tripod... take a range of shots starting around 2 stops under exposed, then 1 stop under, one dead on, one 1 stop over, then finally 2 stops over. Use those 5 to create a HDR image, then tone map it so it doesn't scream "HDR" at the top of it's voice

I use Photomatix. Not found anything to beat it so far.

[DarkFireGT]

Nice work. I don't care for Photomatix because the results generally come out grainy, and the whole point to digital photography, to me, is having crisp large res images.

I completely agree with overcooking. There's a time and place for it, though. Pictures of rusting junk looks great when you turn up the juice. But at that point it's more art, and less representation of real life. I also agree that HDR can't save an image, only enhance it. I never fake HDR. I've tried tone-mapping a RAW. It just doesn't "do it" for me.

Mine are even less cooked than yours heh.

[Pook]

You using Dynamic Photo HDR? I find the interface too simplistic, and it doesn't give me enough control. Never tried artizan, or whatever it's called, so I may give it a whirl.

Photomatix can produce noise free images if you have good quality RAWS. You really need to feed it 5 seperate exposures tho, not adjusted images from one exposure.

[DarkFireGT]

Yeah, for the most part I used DPHDR. Sometimes I go back to Artizen. Every once in a while, I try Photomatix, but usually am not happy with the results. What I really like about the latest version of DPHDR is the curves and light masking features. They make a huge difference in producing realistic results. When I'm doing HDRs of cars, all I'm really trying to do is keep the details, like tire tread and grill features. So the light masking helps in keeping it from getting over cooked.

[GreyDiesel]

Great shots Pook. I love that you placed the car infront of the storm cloud. That was good thinking for later HDR processing.

Here is my recent photo. I am looking forward to waxing and polishing the car and going out for a real photo shoot. This was just taken in a brief moment while driving to a wedding.

[DarkFireGT]

I normally don't like the overcooked ones, but that looks pretty good.

[DarkFireGT]

Went back and overcooked one with Photomatix for the heck of it.

[GreyDiesel]

It is definetly a balancing process. I think overcooking looks best when you can get some clouds and sky in there, as that will add a lot of drama. Plus, I think it helps to turn down the saturation quite a bit. I may have pushed it too far with this image, but I am hoping to do a much better shoot later where I'll work more on keeping those tones that were lost to black. That said, I think overcooking is where you'll see HDR really come alive, and we'll probably start to see a lot more of it in mainstream advertising and media as folks get more used to the look. Just like reverb was considered an error at the advent of the electric guitar, then later spawned a whole new sound (Rock and Roll etc.), I expect what looks like an error today will be embraced as a whole new branch of photography.

[DarkFireGT]

I agree. There's actually a lot being used in the music industry right now. Clouds definitely make for better HDR. I don't like the way the red came out in photomatix, so I tried to fix it with PS but oversaturated a bit. Then again, art is completely subjective.

I threw a few more layers on it. That's better.

[GreyDiesel]

Rained today, I wanted to see what the overcooked HDRs would do with rain clouds. Here are a bunch more photos of my car.

[kooldawg6]

Originally Posted by GreyDiesel

Rained today, I wanted to see what the overcooked HDRs would do with rain clouds. Here are a bunch more photos of my car.

Great Pics!
The above pic...removed the 4X4 look!

Same pic with shorty antenna.

[kooldawg6]

Originally Posted by GreyDiesel

More fixed 4X4 look. Without and with shorty antenna.

[GreyDiesel]

awesome. That is exactly what I was thinking. The car is bone stock right now, and I am itching to get a better suspension or just lowered springs in the rear. That ass just hangs so high right now. And, of course, the shorty attena adds a lot too.

[DarkFireGT]

Again, I usually don't like the over cooked ones, but you're really pulling it off well.

[GreyDiesel]

Thanks Darkfire. I think the color of the car helps a lot with this particular technique. It is almost a BW photo, any color is very subdued. I like how it blends into the asphalt. I think, with a red car... this might just look odd. Though I do like the red tone on your recent overcooked example, it really pops. The suspension on your car really looks great. Is it a comfortable ride?

[DarkFireGT]

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing myself. The red just doesn't lend itself to that type of processing very well. It ends up getting over or under saturated.

The suspension is very comfortable. It's actually, dare I say it, more comfortable than stock.

[DarkFireGT]

I've got nothing better to do today. You'll probably see several more from me today lol.

Used Photomatix, Photoshop, and Nik Color Efex for this one.



Here's a building from a previous set that I just redid. I like this one alot.

[flyboy86]

Hey guys, you all seem to be excellent photographers, so I value your advice. Here are a few attempts I made at an HDR. I tried to hold back from "overcooking" it, I just wanted to make it "pop" some more. What are your thoughts, suggestions? I'm a noob at this, so your advice is greatly welcomed.

[GreyDiesel]

First of all, the new Bullitt grill looks amazing. I would not worry too much about painting the satin silver detailing on it, I think folks can get too carried away with the black out effect. A little satin sliver, or chrome here and there can really pop. Anyway... just my opinion (I am sort of responding your post about the grill, not the HDRS)

In regard to the HDRs, they are a good attempt. I think I am going to repeat my earlier comments about reducing the saturation. I think you can "cook" the images a bit more, to add drama, but you have to bring down the saturation, otherwise it just looks wrong. The sky in the sunset shot is really pushing the limit to my eye, too blue, and the red brick wall is screaming for attention, taking away from the car. I like the concrete shot the best in this series because it has very little color, and the texture works great.

I also like to go in and lighten and darken some areas (dodging and burning) after running the HDR filter. It can add a lot of depth. Just go in and darken the edges a bit, to really draw the eye to the center of the frame. Not too much, subtlety is key here.

[GreyDiesel]

Originally Posted by DarkFireGT

I've got nothing better to do today. You'll probably see several more from me today lol.

Darkfire, these are amazing. Ellie really takes to HDR much better than Scarlett (IMHO).
And it does not get much better than that barn shot.

[flyboy86]

Hows this one?

[DarkFireGT]

I think it's a great realistic HDR. The only thing I would do is bump the saturation a bit. The taillights are a bit desaturated.

I just picked up 3 strobes. Can't wait to see what I come up with.