It has been a while since I have done a HDR of any description. One of my own favourites is this one

So, when the chance arose from visiting the same area (Queenscliff, VIC) I wandered down to the coastal railway, and lucky for me, with the Easter holidays upon us, it looked like they’d ‘dressed’ up one of the engines to look like Henry (from the Thomas the Tank series on TV)

I did two takes on this, both were 3 shots (shot in RAW), 1 stop apart, hand held (well, sort of, I was resting on a wire fence)

Shot with a Canon 40D, with a Sigma 10-20 attached (and polariser)

Processed and Tonemapped in Photomatix, finished off in Photoshop.

© Henry – #1

You can find a larger version here

This is a closer shot of ‘Henry’ I quite like the “cartoony”  look and probably works better with the subject chosen.

© Henry – #2

You can find a larger version here

No, I have’nt got rid of my HDR urge (although I have been slack with my uploads)

The Boot refers to my shot I took tonight, I should do a few more over the weekend, they will be of the Hot Rod variation (and maybe a seascape thrown in)

Without further ado, I give you, a cropped section of, The Boot.

© The Boot

Processed in Capture One. In Photoshop, use of ReDynaMix was applied in sections, with some masking in use.

A larger version can be seen at RedBubble

On an earlier post, March I think, I had links to other people takes on HDR, or derivatives of. I’ve decided to re-visit and post up some links of HDR work that I admire.

Birgitta’s 1989

Dave Warren’s Sunrise Over Inquisitive Eyes

Ben Pacificar’s Anger Management

Jason Connolly’s Rust in Peace

Matt Halls’ Midnight Views in Windy City

The above have many more HDR work in their portfolios over at RedBubble

All quality work I’m sure you’ll agree, have a look around and enjoy, I know I would.

Tried out a different program for producing HDR shots. ReDynaMix is its name and if interested it can be found here

I used a single file JPG, only because I haven’t checked to see if it does RAW files. Has real time viewing window as you adjust the sliders. I got an “out of memory” a couple of times ( I had Firefox, Capture One and Photoshop running at the time) I thought 4GB would enough memory, maybe my ‘puter was having an off day.

Anyway, just thought I’d post up a result, it’s a busy photo, but I’m happy with the outcome.

© Old Pump at “Wandi”

Here’s a technique that was shared with me, and one that I never even thought of, and that was to tone map the HDR, twice!

While not earth shattering, it does throw up some interesting effects in the end result is a little “grungy” but rather than overall, it seems to occur in smaller pockets of areas. These could be taken further with a little burning and dodging.

The general idea is to process in Photomatix and after being tone mapped, save as a 16BIT TIF, reopen in Photomatix and tone map again.

Here’s a small segment of a photo I used this technique on, a larger photo can be found either here or here

© Safe Harbour

I think the technique may be of use when are there are pockets of shadows, for example, dappled light under a tree. Hope someone finds this useful.

We’ve all seen HDR is some shape or form by now, but I was wondering, what would it look like if only a portion of the photo was HDR?

Rather than show you my experiments (and bore the pants off you) I found the best results came from, not only making a portion HDR, but the remaining part of the photo, to be desaturated.

© Meaty Yellow Ford

Isolating subjects, such as the car above, work well with this style. I don’t think it lends itself to landscapes, for example, but why not experiment, it costs nothing.

*Meaty Yellow Ford can be found on my 2009 calendar, click here.

Haven’t had the chance to process my Bright HDR shots, well, ones of the scenery anyway. So here are a few close ups of a Jazz Band that was playing at their local festival.

Visit back next week as I venture off to Bright (VIC) for the Autumn Festival, those golden colours are bound to come up a treat with HDR.

Just thought I’d have a short posting, but rather than bore you with my work, here are some links to what other people are doing with HDR.

Hans Kawitzki
Veranda 2
a good example of retaining detail in shadow areas

Jake Easley
Joy Ride
HDR doesn’t have to be in colour

Dave Warren
Empty
&
Bartek Kuzia
The Church Benches
Interiors make good subjects

Shane Smart’s Windswept and Heather Hartkamp’s Metallic Sunset showing that exteriors are worth exploring too

A couple of other favourites worth looking at are Mel Brackstone’s Autumn in Otago, Heather Rivet’s Rock and Ice, and last but not least, Peter Marin’s In My Element.

I’ve been reading quite a bit on people’s feeling about HDR, and two things that seem to come up more often than not is, most people think HDR has been done to death. You could argue so has Black and White, but the one that gives me the biggest laugh is “HDR all look the same” I’m sure if you clicked the links above, you’ll see quite a diverse style of HDR being used, they indeed do NOT all look the same.

All links above are from photographers who are currently displaying their work on RedBubble

Went to check out Melbourne’s Moomba Waterfest last weekend with a few fellow photogs, lots of colour and excitement on both sides of the banks of the Yarra River. After a dismal February weather wise, March has turned it on, with huge crowds turning out. Quite enjoyed the evening / night, as I wasn’t intent on capturing anything in particular, just good to get the camera out and snap away for the sake of it, I even left the 50mm on just so that if I really wanted a shot, I’d have to use the old legs to zoom in and out.

© Chairs Overhead

Nice to see all the smiling, happy faces around and it seemed for once, no one was bothered if they were being snapped by some idiot like me, it’s amazing what winning a stuffed animal will do to people.

© Happy Winners

The Light show in the evening was quite spectacular and for a moment, I was wishing I’d dragged the tripod along. Certainly a worthwhile date to stick in next years diary.

Both shots above were single RAW files, HDR file generated in Photomatix, tone mapped there too. Photoshop used to adjust contrast and curves, and high pass filter used.