Author Topic: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - very cool!  (Read 30576 times)

Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - very cool!
« Reply #30 on: May 04, 2013, 01:33:01 AM »
The rear of 505 at sundown +/- 30 minutes  might give you some great results just looking at the one Holy Trinity Photo above.

Believe it or not, that was taken 7 minutes after sunset. The +2-stops exposure made everything look much brighter than it was.

Meanwhile, here's a typical Hackensack sky:

« Last Edit: May 04, 2013, 01:37:15 AM by BLeafe »
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Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - BENDIX & TICK TOCK DINERS
« Reply #31 on: May 05, 2013, 03:00:00 PM »
Click on the Bendix one to enlarge.

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Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - PARK-ROOF-RIVER
« Reply #32 on: May 19, 2013, 05:00:30 PM »
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Offline BLeafe

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High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - My first HDR PHOTOSTITCH
« Reply #33 on: May 23, 2013, 06:33:21 PM »
When the Editor asked a while back if an HDR photostitch was possible, it sounded easy enough, so I said it was. Turns out it's doable, but - as I did it - it's limited and was a LOT of work.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized I wouldn't be able to shoot anything that involved clouds, the sky, the moon, etc. because a lot of long exposures are required for HDR and during that time, clouds move, the sky darkens, and nothing stops the moon. Steadiness and consistency are HDR staples.

I do like shooting carnivals at night, but haven't done a photostitch or HDR at one, so since Holy Trinity Church's carnival was this week, I decided to try both.

The wet week aside, Friday and Saturday nights are always jammed and since I need some maneuvering space aound my tripod, I went last night. The downside of that is that a photo of a carnival without big crowds isn't very exciting.

Bright lights are also a problem with HDR, but maybe they wouldn't be too bad (they were very bad).

I had to turn the camera sideways because of the amount of interesting verticality at close range. This meant I would have to take more photos. An average stitch for me is about 6 photos. This one was 10 (x3 HDR exposures for each photo) for a slide-to-slide 360º.

So how do I actually put all this together and make an HDR photostich? Having never done this before, I figured I'd make 3 stitches - one for each exposure - and then HDR the 3 together. Good in theory, bad in practice. HDR compresses everything and I wound up with something that was about 2" high.

The only other possibility was to HDR the 30 full-size files in groups of 3 and see if I could stitch the 10 results together. It worked.............but it doesn't look that great.

I expected 3 or 4 lens reflections from the bright lights, but not a hundred (plus other sky weirdness). I've only seen that happen when there are lots of tiny water drops on the lens. I had also done a regular 10-photo stitch before the HDR stitch attempt and while the problem showed up there slightly, this is horrible.

Of course, I have to realize that I'm doing this with a compact camera and unsophisticated free programs and stubbornly didn't bother to look for tutorials or advice online, so you get what you pay for.  I'll learn from this and, hopefully, do better next time.

And, yes, I realize that some of the attendees had the nerve to bring their faces to the carnival, but everyone knew I was photographing (some tried to jump in and ham it up), I was out in the open in a bright area, my bright orange timer light was flashing furiously before each exposure, and the cop in the far right frame questioned and cleared me.

My advice? Make believe the lens reflections are balloons.

As usual, click to enlarge.

« Last Edit: May 23, 2013, 11:25:47 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline Editor

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - very cool!
« Reply #34 on: May 23, 2013, 10:34:30 PM »
Very trippy.  I like it.  The lens reflections don't bother me at all. The vibrant-colored lights are what make the HDR images interesting to look at, - like the diner shots you've taken.



Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - My first HDR PHOTOSTITCH
« Reply #35 on: May 24, 2013, 09:08:11 PM »
Did anyone notice the bad chop job that the stitching program did? Just to the right of the Funnel Cake stand, the Zeppole Calzone stand got halved. It's not instantly obvious because not much else in the vertical stitch line looks too bad - especially the trees.

As I mentioned previously, I had done a regular stitch (small version below) before I tried the HDR version. In it, you can see both stands as one complete unit and also that more people are clearer because there was only one exposure for each of the 10 component images instead of three.

A lot fewer lens reflections are evident, but without the 2-stops-over HDR exposure, the church and the trees are barely visible.

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Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - HOLY TRINITY CHURCH
« Reply #36 on: May 24, 2013, 09:17:15 PM »
As I was walking down Pangborn Place toward the Holy Trinity Church carnival two nights ago, I noticed how lit up the side of the church was from the carnival lights, so I did a couple of HDR's on it after I shot the carnival.

The moon was in and out of the clouds, so I had to capture that, but the more interesting thing I saw was the shadows of the ferris wheel on the church.

On the other HDR image, the 2-stops-over exposure was for 15 seconds. As soon as I hit the shutter, I saw the headlights of a car that had just turned onto Maple Ave from Main St. I was hoping that the car would move slowly and stay out of my frame and not reach Pangborn in those 15 seconds, but it did (the lights are not from the car parked in front of the church).

Under the "ONE WAY" sign, there's a bright, reflective "DO NOT ENTER" sign that I blacked out because it's probably not the best thing to show near a church's front door.

« Last Edit: May 25, 2013, 01:31:26 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - very cool!
« Reply #37 on: May 24, 2013, 09:55:57 PM »
The word "surrealistic" defines the second Holy Trinity photo.

Offline BLeafe

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Yesterday was Memorial Day. I've always wanted to get pictures - especially HDR pictures - of the George Washington Bridge when it was illuminated and the flag was flying.

Of course, they took the flag down early yesterday. There was a big stink a couple of years ago about the Port Authority doing that. I thought it was resolved that the flag would stay up at night on holidays, but apparently that's only on July 4, when I'm usually shooting the Hackensack fireworks.

It's just as well - HDR shots of the flag wouldn't come out well if wind was moving it.

The next problem: Fort Lee Historic Park - where I wanted to shoot from - closes at dusk. Fortunately, I was informed by a Palisade Interstate Park cop that it closes to CARS then............I could still go in on foot.

So I did.

I shot 14 sets of 3 images each, starting at dusk and ending with a black sky. The black sky HDRs turned out to be the worst ones............HDR made them come out very weird. I like weird, but those were bad weird.

Just like the HDR image I made of the Bergen County Courthouse, what is white becomes yellow. All the individual exposures I shot show white illumination, but the HDR program says otherwise. Maybe I need an HDR program that contains Pepsodent (there's an old TV commercial reference for you).

Actually, I like the yellow. I can't find any lit-GWB images online that are that color, so they're unique.............for now, anyway.

The first image below was taken at 8:23pm. It's a nice, mellow HDR look. The second and third pictures (8:42pm) are the same HDR image - just manipulated differently. The fourth image (8:51pm) is my favorite.

The great range of visual information that HDR provides is shown to full advantage in that image. Every apartment building, every tree near the NY tower base, and every distant lane-informing overhead sign is clearly visible. You wouldn't see any of that in a normal night photo (well, maybe the signs............but not as clearly).

I chopped off the upper part of the NY tower because - as you can see in the other shots - most of it wasn't illuminated. This let me get closer views of the bridge's sparkling "necklaces" and that stunning Hudson River surface, which seems to reflect more light than the original sources put out.

When I was shooting, there were maybe 4 or 5 other photographers there. By the time I was finished, no one else was there. And not a single light was left on anywhere in the park - not the parking lot, not the road, and not the paths. It was a VERY spooky walk back to Hudson Terrace, but a compacted metal tripod in my hand was a comforting companion.

« Last Edit: May 28, 2013, 05:30:26 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline BLeafe

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High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - 29 LINDEN ST.
« Reply #39 on: May 30, 2013, 04:37:16 PM »
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Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - 29 LINDEN ST.
« Reply #40 on: June 02, 2013, 10:55:13 PM »
Tonight's was a little on the insane side:

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Offline BLeafe

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Re: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging - The new Anderson St Station
« Reply #41 on: April 23, 2014, 04:25:47 PM »
Before the station signs go up,  I decided to make some regular HDRs from multiple angles. I was interrupted by a train, but couldn't run to the front of it (halfway up to Clinton Place), set up, and take 3 shots before it left, so I got one shot of it and combined it with a station shot.

That looked bad, so I used an option called ghost reduction and it seemed to eliminate the station, but still left a weirdly-cool HDR image of the train that was ripe for some manipulation.

When the signs DO go up, I'll probably repeat the process so Ol' Homer knows where it is and stays oriented.   ;)

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