Let me see: Disney HDR's

[jtimmons]

Let's see some Disney-fied HDR photos.

 

[polkadotladybug]

Um - am I the only one who has no clue what HDR is?

 

[Master Mason]

HDR is High Dynamic Resolution. Essentially you take several photos of the same thing, with different exposure levels and combine them together, you can create quite stunning photos this way.

Take a look here http://stuckincustoms.com/?p=548 for examples

 

[MarkBarbieri]

HDR is High Dynamic Resolution.

I believe that it stands for High Dynamic Range.

Camera sensors (and film for that matter) are limited in the range of brightnesses that they can see. In any one picture, you might have some part of the picture that is completely black and another part that is completely white. In real life, those black and white parts might have actually had more visible detail, but the camera couldn't capture them all in one photo. "Dynamic range" is the term used to describe the difference between the brightest and darkest light levels that a sensor can capture.

HDR gets around this limitation by combining pictures. If you take a picture with different shutter speeds, you'll get different exposure levels. In one picture, the areas that were completley black might now be visible at the cost of having even more areas that are completely white. In another, the areas that were completely white might now be visible at the expense of having more of the picture that is completely black. Photoshop can combine all of those pictures taken at various exposure levels so that one photo has a much wider dynamic range than the original sensor was capable of recording.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

So... could I use exposure bracketing and then combine the pics?

D4D

 

[Master Mason]

I believe that it stands for High Dynamic Range.

Camera sensors (and film for that matter) are limited in the range of brightnesses that they can see. In any one picture, you might have some part of the picture that is completely black and another part that is completely white. In real life, those black and white parts might have actually had more visible detail, but the camera couldn't capture them all in one photo. "Dynamic range" is the term used to describe the difference between the brightest and darkest light levels that a sensor can capture.

HDR gets around this limitation by combining pictures. If you take a picture with different shutter speeds, you'll get different exposure levels. In one picture, the areas that were completley black might now be visible at the cost of having even more areas that are completely white. In another, the areas that were completely white might now be visible at the expense of having more of the picture that is completely black. Photoshop can combine all of those pictures taken at various exposure levels so that one photo has a much wider dynamic range than the original sensor was capable of recording.

Hey I was really really close

 

[MarkBarbieri]

could I use exposure bracketing and then combine the pics

Yes. Just make sure that you are bracketing the shutter speed and not the aperture. If the aperture changes between shots, there will be differences in the out-of-focus areas of the photos that will prevent them from combining well.

I should have also mentioned that these photos must be taken with a tripod. It's essential that all of the photos be identical except for shutter speed.

 

[Groucho]

I should have also mentioned that these photos must be taken with a tripod. It's essential that all of the photos be identical except for shutter speed.

I think most HDR tools (including Photoshop's built-in script and stand-alone ones like Artisan) can do slight adjustments if the pictures are nearly the same.

A tripod is certainly beneficial, but I think if you have your camera in bracket mode and hold it very steady, you can probably get acceptable results. You'll likely to have some inconsistencies for any outdoor photos anyway, like leaves blowing in the wind, etc.

(This is assuming that bracket mode is adjusting shutter speed, not aperture - I would guess that it will work as desired when shooting in Av mode but I'm not positive.)

 

[Ducky4Disney]

Aw crap, I have Photoshop Elements 4.0 loaded on my laptop and that won't do it. I have a full version of Photoshop around here somewhere... I want to try this!

Um... I'm guessing the images have to be RAW, right?

D4D

 

[Anewman]

Aw crap, I have Photoshop Elements 4.0 loaded on my laptop and that won't do it. I have a full version of Photoshop around here somewhere... I want to try this!

Um... I'm guessing the images have to be RAW, right?

D4D

Raw is not required...

 

[tinksdad]

I don't have any Disney HDR shots, but they are pretty easy to do. I like the tripod approach as well. Most of the DSLR's have pretty fast multi-shot mode or shutter release capability. Add that to a 3-7 shot bracket with about 1-2stop between it can get you some interesting shots. Here is a shot taken right at dusk with five total shots with one stop between. The middle shot being the metered shot, the rest, plus and minus from the metered shot to fill in the dynamic range.

Photoshop can blend them together, but I've gotten better results from Photomatix Pro. The tone mapping is more complex and yields better results. I don't like the real "fakey" HDR shot, prefer the more realistic ones. You can get that from PP.

another;

 

[Anewman]

I Converted a couple "single shot" Raw exposures to HDR using CS3 tonight, some came out not so good and some were ok. First time I really play with them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/Manobeer/Untitled_HDR5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/Manobeer/DisneyLand/Untitled_HDR4.jpg

 

[barrie]

I don't have any, but here is a link to stuckincustoms' WDW photos. He has some amazing photographs.

 

[woj68]

Trey from Stuck in Customs has some really stunning work. I usually check in on his site every few days. BTW, he has a great tutorial for anyone interested trying HDR photography.

Here's an HDR pic he took of the ToT.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/461501271/in/set-72157600078580588/

 

[Ducky4Disney]

OK, I'm an idiot. This is well established. I have a 15 month old and he sucked away all my brain power while in utero. Yesterday I poured coffee into my cereal.

I really want to try this, but I need the HDR for Dummies version. I guess Dummies shouldn't be doing HDR's, which is why I haven't seen that tutorial yet. I've looked at the Stuck in Customs website, which is awesome, but it needs to be written in crayon in order for me to comprehend it.

le sigh

D4D

 

[jfulcer]

Gonna be in WDW next week. I think I'm going to find some pictures to do this to. Woo hooo.

 

[jfulcer]

I really want to try this, but I need the HDR for Dummies version.

Basically, you are taking 3 (or more) pictures with a camera on a tripod. You use something called exposure bracketing which means you'll take a photo at the correct exposure, and 1 or more above and below the correct exposure.

Special software, in this case Photomatix, takes those multiple photos and merges them together and attempts to increase the range of colors/shading/etc in the picture - the 'Dynamic Range' part of it. The effect appears are more of a range of colors/shades/etc.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

See? Why didn't you say so!

No, really - I kinda got that part. The images don't have to be RAW? Photoshop can combine pics for this effect? What about PS Elements? I haven't seen it there so I am guess not.

Thanks for putting up with my repeated questions about this process! (I mean that)

D4D

 

[jfulcer]

See? Why didn't you say so!

No, really - I kinda got that part. The images don't have to be RAW? Photoshop can combine pics for this effect? What about PS Elements? I haven't seen it there so I am guess not.

Thanks for putting up with my repeated questions about this process! (I mean that)

D4D

No, as far as I understand they do not have to be RAW. Better, but not 'required'.

I have seen comments about Photoshop CS being able to do this, but I don't know if Elements will. Most likely not, since it's a less expensive product.

 

[bostran1]

Both Photoshop CS2 and CS3 can make HDRs. However, Photomatix does a much better job in my opinion. You can download a demo and goof around with it as much as you want www.hdrsoft.com. Just download the program, read the quick tutorial (if you want) and try them out! The most important part is messing around with the tone mapping tool in photomatix.

Here are my first two attempts. As you can see, they are terrible! The first one was taken with my ancient Canon P&S and the Fenway park one was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT. Both done without a tripod.