Subtle nighttime HDR

[nemopaice]

First post here.

Just recently got interested in HDR. Not the over cooked looking stuff, but as close to natures as possible. Aside from giving it more dynamic range, some of the processing techniques I've seen used, can enhance the image as well.

Anyhow, after playing with it for some time now, i think I am finally getting a more tasteful effect. At least in the majority of cases. So, I am offering up one I did a few days back for some critique and/or advise anyone might have.

This was comprised from seven exposures. Assembled and tone mapped in photomatix and the frame added in PS.

[rab3rd]

Pretty well done. Watch out for halos. I see some trying to sneek in around the taller pole on the right side near the trees. Still has the HDR look, but its not pushed too far at all in my opinion.

Nice composition, the use of the pole as a lead in line is working great in this shot.


Good job.

[Todd Lambert]

First, welcome to Pixtus!

I like the shot, not sure that the processing (HDR) does it justice here, though. Using HDR techniques tends to soften an image and in this case, the entire image looks very soft and almost out of focus. The nice thing about properly done night shots is that they can look very crisp, but in this image I feel that you've sacrificed that for some visibility on the log and foreground. I just don't think that's an adequate sacrifice in my opinion.

I think you could have achieved the same thing with a bit of light painting and you'd have gotten the lighter foreground without losing the crispness of the shot.

I think it's great that you're working with alternative processing on night shots, I just don't think you succeeded here.

[Stargazer77517]

Welcome aboard

Could you expand on the camera settings you used and how you went about capturing this image?
I agree with Todd, looks a bit out of focus. Many things could cause this.
The composition, I enjoy
Were these TIFF Images you used with Photomatrix (assuming you have 4.0 of course) or JPEG.

[nemopaice]

Hello, and thanks for the honest comments, it's refreshing....

Originally Posted by rab3rd

I see some trying to sneek in around the taller pole on the right side near the trees.

Thanks, yea I was watching that. I was trying to be a s careful as I could. I hate those halos....

Originally Posted by Todd Lambert

Using HDR techniques tends to soften an image and in this case, the entire image looks very soft and almost out of focus.

Something in the upload process or the small resolution in this post may have something to do with that? While it does look soft, it's actually sharper than it appears here. The way the light is playing on the image helps in the appearance of that too I think. Here is a 100% crop of the shack, You can see it's sharper that it appears in the photo above. Aside from the movement of the trees of course, can't help that much....

Originally Posted by Stargazer77517

Could you expand on the camera settings you used and how you went about capturing this image?
I agree with Todd, looks a bit out of focus. Many things could cause this.
The composition, I enjoy
Were these TIFF Images you used with Photomatrix (assuming you have 4.0 of course) or JPEG.

The image is from 7 exposures. I had the camera on a tripod and fired the shots with a remote. Also I had the mirror locked up to help prevent any camera shake from the mirror slapping up. The lens was set at 14mm and my f/stop set to 10.

I have my computer set up to automatically convert from RAW to photoshop's DNG format upon transferring. I used the DNG files in photomatix. After which I imported into PS and did nothing extra other than add the frame. I saved my copy as PSD and then resized using "bicubic sharper" and (I find that's best for reductions) Converted the color profile over to sRGB and saved that copy for posting.

I'm thinking maybe the size of the file makes it look less sharp? Not really sure?

[Todd Lambert]

I think it's just the inherent process of HDR that's the culprit here. I've yet to really see many HDR shots that are actually sharper than the original.

[nemopaice]

Originally Posted by Todd Lambert

I think it's just the inherent process of HDR that's the culprit here. I've yet to really see many HDR shots that are actually sharper than the original.

I agree there. The individual frames are definitely sharper, there's no doubt about it.

Again I do appreciate honesty. While it's always gratifying to here nice things (and of course I do want to here them, I'm not crazy) It's hard to improve or learn if people sugar coat things. That's why I signed up. After looking around the site, I noticed that for the majority the critiques here, they were just that, critiques. being honest without being condescending. That's a rare find these days....

[Stargazer77517]

Well it could be HDR, I know 4.0 recommends tiff files. I did try JPEG once and they did come out pretty bad.
This is a 3 exp HDR using TIFF Files.

[dmcantrell]

Hrm, I just put my Nikon .nef (raw) files directly into Photomatix. Should I convert to TIFF first?

[nemopaice]

I'm using 4.1. I experimented with every HDR program I could get my hands on didn't really care too much for most. the older version of photomatix (2) I really didn't care for. But 4 is great. Nice photo, btw. Good and sharp too.

Originally Posted by dmcantrell

Hrm, I just put my Nikon .nef (raw) files directly into Photomatix. Should I convert to TIFF first?

I'm wondering the same thing. I never bothered reading about the program, so I didn't realize that it suggested using tiff.

I could always convert the DNG over to tiff (I have it set to package the original RAW with the DNG, don't know why, I just do) and see is the results are any sharper? Albeit it won't be the exact same anyway since I don't know exactly what settings I used and I've done a few more since this one.

[Stargazer77517]

With 4.0 they recommend converting to TIFF before loading and doing the HDR.
What I do is open each shot in raw. correct the WB. then save it, After I have done this to all., I load in Photomatrix and let it do its thing, After blending I do a capture sharpen, denoise, and any correction I want to do (levels, contrast, etc.) I then save as my master file.
And when I do what ever I want to with the shop, (print, web) I do a output sharpen for the media I am going to use.