Testing HDR - photos of old record players and cameras

[uncuffed]

I found a couple of old record players and cameras so i decided to try to do them in hdr. Other than these ones i have only tried the basic principle of hdr shooting so i would appreciate some feedback.

All in all im quite pleased with them but on #2 i would like to get rid of the "halo" effect around the boom thingie but i couldnt do it without taking away some of the hdr effect, any ideas?

[Colin Southern]

Hi Alex,

I'm not seeing anything HDR here - I'm guessing what you're referring to here is the "ultra tone-mapped look"? (or the "Photomatixed" look as I like to call it!).

[uncuffed]

I cant think of anything i could have done wrong, i took 5 different exposures on all compositions (3 on the black camera) and then merged them to hdr in photomatix. Thats the way most tutorials do it and i think it looks quite good.


Here is one of the orignals for comparing.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Alex,

I think you've fallen into the same trap that many others do in that HDR isn't a "look" - it's a set of techniques for capturing a range of values in a scene that can't be captured in a normal single exposure. Case-in-point, in the example you gave above, there is nothing so bright or so dark that it requires any special handling to be able to capture it; ie it's just a normal reflective scene with a total dynamic range of probably not much more than around 4 stops. The "look" you have is a typical Photomatix effect, but it's not related to HDR.

We've had a few "rubust discussions" on this in the past ... you might like to have a read of this thread and this one as a good starting point. This thread also.

[uncuffed]

Ahaa! I think i've got it now.

Im feeling a bit stupid but i now know what im looking for at least to do a HDR shoot

Thank you for your help Colin!

[Colin Southern]

Ahaa! I think i've got it now.

Im feeling a bit stupid but i now know what im looking for at least to do a HDR shoot

Thank you for your help Colin!

Hi Alex,

No no no - please don't feel "stupid" - it's a VERY common misconception - but one that a few of us here are working hard at correcting because the misconception is becoming so common, and unless we challenge it, it just gets passed down through the generations and becomes accepted (so I'm kinda hoping that "resistance ISN'T futile!"). Case in point - I picked up a new book by a pretty well known photographer the other day - and there he goes talking about "getting the HDR look from a single RAW capture" - Grrrrrrr.

[belong]

im a beginner in dlsr photography, but in my own humble opinion sir ALEX there's nothing wrong or lacking on the original image, i think just a simple tweak on ps, you can get the same result what you have done in photomatrix.
as sir colin what have said, there is no high dynamic range there that your camera cant capture.
in fact i just love the original image...