Nice! Please go back and re-shoot, bracketing the exposure and combine so it is HDR. I want to start playing with that and want some motivation

I can do HDR, but it wasn't the goal for this shot.

I shoot RAW and the dynamic range of the sensor is more than enough to bring up the shadows here.

HDR can be fun, but focus stacking is more interesting to me because it is very helpful in landscape and macro.

 

I can do HDR, but it wasn't the goal for this shot.

I shoot RAW and the dynamic range of the sensor is more than enough to bring up the shadows here.

HDR can be fun, but focus stacking is more interesting to me because it is very helpful in landscape and macro.

Can you post an HDR next to a single exposure that you have done?

 

Can you post an HDR next to a single exposure that you have done?

I don't use HDR but next time I shoot I'll do that for you.

 

I don't use HDR but next time I shoot I'll do that for you.

I'm thinking of doing it today, but am too lazy to go outside and wander...I mention it because I have had it mind for a while and especially since getting a new camera....and happened to, just now, be looking at some software reviews and techniques, including just using PS CS5...

 

Can you post an HDR next to a single exposure that you have done?

By the way, that shot is very compressed to post it here.

I'm thinking of doing it today, but am too lazy to go outside and wander...I mention it because I have had it mind for a while and especially since getting a new camera....and happened to, just now, be looking at some software reviews and techniques, including just using PS CS5...

My 5DM4 will do a creditable in-camera HDR. The auto-bracketing is quite good too.

 

I'm thinking of doing it today, but am too lazy to go outside and wander...I mention it because I have had it mind for a while and especially since getting a new camera...

By the way, which camera did you get?

 

By the way, which camera did you get?

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/picture-this.110947/page-54#post-1341760

 

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/picture-this.110947/page-54#post-1341760

The SL2 is a nice little camera. I shoot Canon myself.

 

I'm thinking of doing it today, but am too lazy to go outside and wander...I mention it because I have had it mind for a while and especially since getting a new camera....and happened to, just now, be looking at some software reviews and techniques, including just using PS CS5...

By the way, you might want to download Canon's Digital Photo Professional and shoot RAW instead of JPEG. You will be able to recover a lot more from the shadows, fix the color temperature in post, and make really nice color correction.

I use Lightroom which I prefer but DPP is free.

 

By the way, you might want to download Canon's Digital Photo Professional and shoot RAW instead of JPEG. You will be able to recover a lot more from the shadows, fix the color temperature in post, and make really nice color correction.

I use Lightroom which I prefer but DPP is free.

I have and use the Canon software, I dumped Lightroom years ago. I don't use raw for any baseline shooting, but have on occasion.

I have Canon friends and Nikon friends, even an Olympus friend or two - it's funny, there is a great deal of allegiance....

 

I don't generally post family photos but I can't resist showing off my red heads. Son-in-law and two grandkids.

/QUOTE]

A very nice photo indeed.

 

I have and use the Canon software, I dumped Lightroom years ago. I don't use raw for any baseline shooting, but have on occasion.

I have Canon friends and Nikon friends, even an Olympus friend or two - it's funny, there is a great deal of allegiance....

Lightroom has gotten better over time, and I need the asset management part. The interface is also friendly for me. I have several other options for processing, and I do use them for their strengths, but the catalog stays in LR.

I have a lot of kit, and though I have a Sony mirrorless camera, a small one, I am a Canon system person and I am happy with it. I have a large collection of L glass, and I really like the ergonomics of the Canon bodies. My two main bodies, a 5DM4 and a 7DM2 have the same controls and I've set them up the same. My 6D full frame backup body is a bit different but still ergonomically better (for me) than Nikon or Sony bodies.

 

Lightroom has gotten better over time, and I need the asset management part. The interface is also friendly for me. I have several other options for processing, and I do use them for their strengths, but the catalog stays in LR.

I have a lot of kit, and though I have a Sony mirrorless camera, a small one, I am a Canon system person and I am happy with it. I have a large collection of L glass, and I really like the ergonomics of the Canon bodies. My two main bodies, a 5DM4 and a 7DM2 have the same controls and I've set them up the same. My 6D full frame backup body is a bit different but still ergonomically better (for me) than Nikon or Sony bodies.

Now I am angry at CS5 because it will not take my raw files. Looks like I have to go install DNGconverter *drat*

Edited to add: OK, this is quite cool and I could see spending a couple of thousand hours with it. The one below is from combing 3 exposures and, of course making it much smaller and as a lowered quality jpg and so on. It is not great, but I see what is going on...been playing with 5 exposures and messing around with all the settings. Cool stuff.

 

Now I am angry at CS5 because it will not take my raw files. Looks like I have to go install DNGconverter *drat*

Edited to add: OK, this is quite cool and I could see spending a couple of thousand hours with it. The one below is from combing 3 exposures and, of course making it much smaller and as a lowered quality jpg and so on. It is not great, but I see what is going on...been playing with 5 exposures and messing around with all the settings. Cool stuff.

HDR can be very cool, and for highly specular subjects like that it can help a lot!

 

In case anyone is interested....(and believe me, I know that I am just playing and learning). The dynamic range of the contrast in a pic, like a jpg is limited and is not independent of the exposure. Take these two pics taken at different exposures.



In HDR, you can combine the pics and preserve the total dynamic range of contrast (assuming you know all of the settings and details - which I don't...yet). So, you can get this:


While this is a, somewhat, mundane example, if you look on the web, you can see some very impressive scenes where they take on a pleasant but surrealistic look to them.

 

HDR can be very cool, and for highly specular subjects like that it can help a lot!

How to choose the range of contrast that is desirable, apart from trying several combinations? It is easy enough to bracket, but choosing is not, at least to me.

 

How to choose the range of contrast that is desirable, apart from trying several combinations? It is easy enough to bracket, but choosing is not, at least to me.

Generally speaking, you won't gain much over three shots at -1EV, 0EV, +1EV unless the scene includes very bright highlights and/or very deep shadows. But, you can estimate what you need depending on the result you want. For example, if the scene exposes well for highlights, but the shadows have detail you want, add +EV shots. If it's something like a sunrise where there is a very bright spot and some bright highlights around it, concentrate on -EV shots. For the general case, three shots can do most of what you want, +1, 0, -1.

Then you can adjust empirically.

 

So far as choosing a desirable result, that's practice. Though some software aids in that.

 

But the way, the shot you commented on has motion in it, and that's not HDR friendly.

 

In case anyone is interested....(and believe me, I know that I am just playing and learning). The dynamic range of the contrast in a pic, like a jpg is limited and is not independent of the exposure. Take these two pics taken at different exposures.
View attachment 172763
View attachment 172762

In HDR, you can combine the pics and preserve the total dynamic range of contrast (assuming you know all of the settings and details - which I don't...yet). So, you can get this:
View attachment 172764

While this is a, somewhat, mundane example, if you look on the web, you can see some very impressive scenes where they take on a pleasant but surrealistic look to them.

Ray, can you post a pic of the other side of the coin?