HDR sunset experiment

[bugster0121]

Captured this February 2 in Woodbridge, VA. Set up with a tripod and used a 2 stop exposure bracket at F11, 1/25 sec and ISO 100. Combinded using HDR in photoshop and tweaked the colors a bit. C&C always welcome.

Tim

[Shadowman]

Perfect subject for HDR, however you should try to be as generous with the shadow areas as you were with the highlights.

[Andrew76]

Agreed with John. There doesn't seem to be much dynamic range here at all. It appears as though you've properly exposed the sky, at the sacrifice of the shadows. Maybe try again with more bracketing?

[Manfred M]

Agree with the others - a 2-stop bracket is not enough for this scene. The dynamic range of a shot like this can easily hit 20 stops from the brightest highlights to the darkest shadow detail.

[bugster0121]

Hi:

Thank you John, Andrew and Manfred. If I reshot a similar at 3 stops do you thinking tweaking in blending then pushing up the shadows would expose the darks better? I think I read somewhere that if I underexpose to begin with HDRs usually turn out better? Thanks again.

Tim

[pnodrog]

From what you have posted I am guessing you have only merged two or three images at 2 stop intervals. You could try bracketing 3 exposures at +and- of 3 stops or 5 exposures at 2 stop intervals. By adding exposure compensation you can effectively get asymmetrical exposure bracketing if required. e.g. at +2EC a bracket of 5 at 2 stop intervals would give you a set of -2,0,+2,+4,+6. For the scene you are capturing depending on the shadow detail you want I think a range of 6 stops would be the absolute minimum worth experimenting with.

[bugster0121]

Thanks Paul you are correct 3 pics at + 2. Will try exposure compensation next and with a different foreground as well next time.

Thanks

Tim