2004 M3 - My First Attempt at HDR Photography

[96INFMSM3]

Here's a picture I shot today with a Nikon D90 I bought off a friend. I took three shots and blended them using an HDR program (High Dynamic Range). I'm pretty impressed by the results. Let me know what you think.

[the devil]

well I'm a noob at taking pictures and I suck at PS, but i really like this shot

[96INFMSM3]

Yeah, I'm pretty new at the whole photography thing myself. I just read some of the manual and started taking pictures. Then I found a few photography websites that talked about HDR so I downloaded a program that helps you make photos like the one I posted. Thanks for the compliment.

[Baker318]

Not that I advocate HDR or anything...

but the car looks a bit overdone. prolly cuz the paint is producing the widest range of tones.

it was bright out amirite?

HDR works best with the widest possible range of tonalities (meaning good, even mix of shadows, midtones, highlights). Try either a different time of day or using more exposures (more brackets) to achieve a more satisfying result.

Also...make sure you bracket with your shutter speed, not your aperture. Though it may seem counterintuitive, changing your aperture (f/ number) will not only change exposure, but depth of field as well...which creates focal problems when creating and toning an HDR (which is what the software you downloaded does. photomatix?)

All dat aside, good first attempt. I've seen first year photography students at my university produce lower-quality HDR images. Here's one I did two years ago of part of the Rochester (ny) skyline. It's super overdone, but was meant more to exhibit the tonal range of the photo. Good luck, and feel free to pm me with any questions you may have regarding HDR or photography in general!



for reference, this particular image was a tasty blend of 17 different exposures, bracketed at 1/3 stops from 2 stops under to 2 stops over (exposed)

[adamnur]

That turned out pretty decent. What program did you use?

[JeremyClarkson]

Can any decent DSLR take HDR photos?

[96INFMSM3]

@Baker318: Thanks for the tips, on my camera it lets me set it up for bracketing up to three exposures. Do you know how to get the camera to take more than three photos with different exposure settings without taking a photo, then changing the settings, then taking another photo, changing the settings again, etc? Also, what program did you use for the photo you took of the skyline? What settings do you normally adjust once you get it in the program?

@adamnur: Thanks, I used Photomatix

@JeremyClarkson: Yes, any DSLR can take photos that can be processed and tone mapped into an HDR photo. You take at least three pictures of the same scene: one over exposed, one normal exposure and one under exposed. Then you load the three photos into an HDR program that takes the best parts of each exposure and creates a surreal looking photo from that. Google Photomatix Pro and check out their website for an idea of how it works.

[canisM3]

there is a way depending on the camera you have infmsm3, just check out your manual, it does an automatic 3 shot and adjusts the exposure levels for you.

[dcskate102]

Rochester has a dinosaur bbq?!? More info is needed now.

[carfan63550]

looks very nice..

[c wentz]

pretty good for the first try! keep it up!

[yoshioka90]

Rochester has a dinosaur bbq?!? More info is needed now.

LOL!! dinosaur bbq or Lucilles does sound good right now

very nice picture nonetheless my friend is currently workin on some HDR for my car too! cant wait

[96INFMSM3]

@535iDan, I used the multiple shot bracketing feature on my Nikon D90 camera. My question was whether there is a way to increase the number of pictures it takes (beyond the normal 3 pictures) while changing the exposure on its own. For example, Baker318 said that he took 17 pictures to make the HDR in his post. I'm wondering how he took so many different shots without moving the camera significantly. Even if he had a tripod, touching the camera to change the settings would still have moved it.

[volcomnator999]

hdr



lulz

[whitebeast]

Looks wayyyy fake, but i really dont know camera shit, ha.

[greenE36]

Not that I advocate HDR or anything...

but the car looks a bit overdone. prolly cuz the paint is producing the widest range of tones.

it was bright out amirite?

HDR works best with the widest possible range of tonalities (meaning good, even mix of shadows, midtones, highlights). Try either a different time of day or using more exposures (more brackets) to achieve a more satisfying result.

Also...make sure you bracket with your shutter speed, not your aperture. Though it may seem counterintuitive, changing your aperture (f/ number) will not only change exposure, but depth of field as well...which creates focal problems when creating and toning an HDR (which is what the software you downloaded does. photomatix?)

All dat aside, good first attempt. I've seen first year photography students at my university produce lower-quality HDR images. Here's one I did two years ago of part of the Rochester (ny) skyline. It's super overdone, but was meant more to exhibit the tonal range of the photo. Good luck, and feel free to pm me with any questions you may have regarding HDR or photography in general!



for reference, this particular image was a tasty blend of 17 different exposures, bracketed at 1/3 stops from 2 stops under to 2 stops over (exposed)

I loved eating at that place when I visited Rochester!

[M3Alpine99]

Too much... just too much.

[e36 318i VERT]

Too much... just too much.

exactly this.

[hi its me alec]

definitely too much. HDR looks great with the right adjustments. your shot looks crazy, but crazy != good