HDR photography

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Lyrt
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HDR photography

Post by Lyrt »

From Wiki: high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) is a set of techniques that allows a far greater dynamic range of exposures (i.e. a large range of values between light and dark areas) than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDRI is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to the deepest shadows.

The interesting thing with HDR is it’s only possible with digital material. It really is a new step in the constantly evolving world of photography.

It led me to think about the very definition of photography as it will be ten years from now on. I believe for most people, “noble” photography, if it makes senses, implies rolls of film, darkrooms and chemicals. Why? Probably because of “the hand of the artist”.

Nowadays, digital equipments have become available to the unwashed masses. Film photography will become marginal but will never disappear (like vinyl records). Photography and digital art will increasingly become intertwined and soon, new generations that have never even used disposable cameras will think they are one and the same.

The concept of photography as film photography will die with its supporters. Is it a good thing? I have no idea. I’m merely stating a fact.

Be that as it may, here are some HDR “images”:


Image

Image



And for something different :D


Image
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With The Grain
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Post by With The Grain »

I do not know what it's supposed to look like, but all those pictures look pretty fake to me, like a very well done cartoon. :-s
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

Yup, it’s typically HDR. Here’s a great portfolio of a HDR master. You’ll get a better idea of what it’s supposed to look like.
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ScottS
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Post by ScottS »

How do you acquire HDR photos?
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

ScottS wrote:How do you acquire HDR photos?
You have to take multiple exposures of the same scene and then generate an HDR image with a dedicated software, Photomatix being the best in my opinion. You’ll find a great tutorial here: http://stuckincustoms.com/2006/06/06/548/
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ScottS
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Post by ScottS »

http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/~cocidius/hdrtools/

Looks like you can do this for free!
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rustyblade
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Post by rustyblade »

Wow, those pictures are amazing, they look like a very realistic cartoon or out of an animated film.
Richard
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Trumperman
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Post by Trumperman »

I am seeing past the "cartoon". They are amazingly beautiful. The detail is stunning and the colours are beautifully rich.

Tres magnifique.

Bill
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

For comparison purpose, here’s what they look like with no hdr treatment:

Image

Image

Image
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fallingwickets
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Post by fallingwickets »

All I can say is the toast is making me hungry!! :lol:
de gustibus non est disputandum
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ichabod
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Post by ichabod »

The breakfast image is truly eye catching, almost a surreal still life.
Give us the luxuries, and we will forgo the necessities.
Give a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire, he'll be toasty for the rest of his life.
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salbev
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Post by salbev »

Yukio, splendid photos. i especially like the white lit up building at the end of the street in the first picture. it looks like the 'light at the end of the tunnel' or heaven to me. well done.
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Damn, I kind of hoped my post would trigger a debate about film vs digital photography. Many of us like traditional, sometimes “old-world”, antiquated paraphernalia, and I would have been curious to read what they thought of modern photography (and I’m in no way implying they are anti-modern).

Last instalment of the Small French Village series.


Image
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rustyblade
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Post by rustyblade »

I am jealous of your beautiful country (and photography skills). I'm too young for the film/digital debate. The only thing I'm against is the overdone airbrushing of people and passing off fake as real, etc.
Richard
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

You have the eye, Richard, that’s the most important requirement for photography. Just practise, practise and practise. Do you know that it’s actually your SOTD photographs about a year ago that made me dust off the D70 and buy a macro lens? Without those shaving boards, there are some aspects of my life that would be radically different. I would be shaving probably with a Fusion and Nivea foam, I would have made no progress in photography, I would still be wearing department store edt, etc. These past few months greatly changed my way of life.
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

Found an old picture. Two versions: vivid or pale. Nothing too fancy.

Image Image
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vcowman
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Post by vcowman »

i only shoot film. i hate digital cameras, as I find them to be "soul-less". i am 24.
Nik In San Diego
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Lyrt
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Post by Lyrt »

Which part is it you don’t like? The fact you don’t have a physical contact with rolls? The smell of chemicals? The “hand of the artist”? Does it lack something (what is “soul”?) or does it bring something you dislike (immediacy, bits, sRGB, etc.)? I have a friend who holds views similar to yours, minus the hatred.
CMur12
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Post by CMur12 »

Hi Yukio -

I have been really impressed with your photography, and I thank you for the images you have shared with us.

I have a closet-full of 35mm and medium format cameras from the 1960s to the pre-autofocus 1980s. To be sure, there are things I like about film. I love slides, and I would still like to get a medium format projector. What digital offers me, so far, is a great way to get prints from slides.

Aside from the issue of investing in an entirely new (digital) system, I am restrained from conversion to digital capture by the fact that I am left-eye-dominant and wear glasses. From the advent of autofocus technology on, they have clustered controls on the right back of all the cameras, right where my right eye and eyeglass lens are, making access to needed controls difficult. Then, of course, there is the joy of using the waist-level finder on a tripod-mounted, classic Twin Lens Reflex! :D

- Murray
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vcowman
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Post by vcowman »

I think there should be a difference between photography and CGI. Thats what I hate.

Sure, you can push and pull on your processing and mess around with different exposures, but with digital one has ultimate freedom (in a preverse sense) to modify and render the image into something completely different than the original. My concern is not for effiency or evolution, rather that an image loses it "soul" when you download it into photosoap and with three clicks make it "better", I think it loses something. I am not afraid of technology, nor am I nostalgic. I just dont think digital modification is photography.
Nik In San Diego
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