LightningPaul

16 Oct 2008 • 457 views
 
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photoblog image Two Towers - HDRi Thoughts (3 of 3)

Two Towers - HDRi Thoughts (3 of 3)

Again those two towers of yesterday but this time without colors.


TECH-INFO: this is the last part of yesterdays (and the day before) explanation and demonstration of some personal thoughts and experiences about HDRi or High Dynamic Range Imaging.

Also for this image the details enhancer is used. It came again from the same 32 bit HDR file as the previous two pictures.Only different settings in Photomatrix and in black & white. The structures and textures are even more dramatized, which I adore a lot for monochrome images. Well actually I think you have to because of the lack of colors the tonal variations must make up the image.
If you compare with the picture of yesterday you'll see that the contrasts are much stronger.

Many people say that HDR images look like fake, artificial or surreal. Many times I agree with them. I consider them as pieces of art. A long time I didn't like them at all. Now I love to watch them. So if we still consider HDR color images not looking real then there is always the possibility to turn them into black & white. They will look many times fantastic and dramatic.

Also b&w prints from the analog darkroom may look so dramatic. Mainly due to lots of manipulation secrects, like dodging and burning. All done just to create a certain atmosphere in the print.

There are some on Shutterchance using HDR and black & white to create beautiful dramatic images. At first sight you may not notice the HDR tone mapped image because of the missing surrealistic looking colors.

This image is my favorite of the three. Which ones do you prefer or hate?


Two Towers - HDRi Thoughts (3 of 3)

Again those two towers of yesterday but this time without colors.


TECH-INFO: this is the last part of yesterdays (and the day before) explanation and demonstration of some personal thoughts and experiences about HDRi or High Dynamic Range Imaging.

Also for this image the details enhancer is used. It came again from the same 32 bit HDR file as the previous two pictures.Only different settings in Photomatrix and in black & white. The structures and textures are even more dramatized, which I adore a lot for monochrome images. Well actually I think you have to because of the lack of colors the tonal variations must make up the image.
If you compare with the picture of yesterday you'll see that the contrasts are much stronger.

Many people say that HDR images look like fake, artificial or surreal. Many times I agree with them. I consider them as pieces of art. A long time I didn't like them at all. Now I love to watch them. So if we still consider HDR color images not looking real then there is always the possibility to turn them into black & white. They will look many times fantastic and dramatic.

Also b&w prints from the analog darkroom may look so dramatic. Mainly due to lots of manipulation secrects, like dodging and burning. All done just to create a certain atmosphere in the print.

There are some on Shutterchance using HDR and black & white to create beautiful dramatic images. At first sight you may not notice the HDR tone mapped image because of the missing surrealistic looking colors.

This image is my favorite of the three. Which ones do you prefer or hate?


comments (9)

This image is fantastic. The composition is really well done and the HDR addition really gave it an edge. Nice job!
LightningPaul: Thanks! HDR + B&W ==> nice result smile I'll make some more of such images in the future.
  • àsìkò
  • Switzerland
  • 16 Oct 2008, 07:56
these images are all very good, the monochrome is the strongest in my opinion. U have really made the HDR technique work for U. Can u offer any advice to a HDR fan as myself to make my images look less surreal (as ur colours don't look HDR at all), they just look well exposed, which is great.
LightningPaul: Some advice (if you use Photomatrix): there are plenty of controls to twiddle in the details enhancer. Unfortunately almost nobody seems to give a very good explanation for them. In this stage it's difficult for me too. I have been experimenting a whole week with them and I still do now. So now I have more or less a feeling which controls to change to have a certain desired effect.
Every image is different. Start with the default settings and work from there. Try to set the "Light Smoothing" control to "(Very) High". It will give you more natural results with less halos. To gain back the highlights I sometimes increase the "Highlights Smoothing" just before I get clipping. Try to do some "Shadow Clipping" because HDR images tend to miss blacks. I like to push the "Micro-contrast" up to high levels. Afterwards when done, I process the image a little to adjust the contrasts.
I think b&w suits this very well. There is a lot of stuff said about not manipulating images, as if the only valid picture is what comes straight out of the camera. I don't agree. The computer and digital cameras allow more of us to do what used to be done by the few in a darkroom.
LightningPaul: Thanks Bill. I'm glad you see it also that way. Especially the light gets already manipulated before it reaches the digital sensor (due to lenses, splitting RGB channels, lots of IR and UV filters).
This is my personal favourite. The shot has a real sense of height.
LightningPaul: Thanks Bernie!
  • paul
  • United Kingdom
  • 16 Oct 2008, 08:49
what an interesting series! This is my favourite image of the three because I think the image is stronger in B&W as the emphasis is on shapes and lines. I have only just started to dabble with HDR and and still struggling to get good results but will definitely persevere. I hadn't considered using it for dramatic B&W but you have inspired me to try it out as soon as possible
LightningPaul: Thanks for reading my series. I'm very happy I gave you inspiration for your work. You definitely have to keep on trying before you'll get nice HDR tone-mapped images. I did and it worked.
  • DrAW!
  • the states
  • 16 Oct 2008, 14:40
taking out the colour does make extreme hdr more realistic smile
LightningPaul: Haha, you phrased it very well smile
  • alex
  • Germany
  • 16 Oct 2008, 22:22
This one is my favourite too, only one thing annoys me, the dramatic looking cloud in the middle (looks like a fire or explosion).

Great series smile
LightningPaul: Thanks Alex. I never interpreted these clouds as fire, well seen of you (especially in this B&W version). I could clone them away, but only after taking an extended course in digital photo manipulation. Perhaps one day, so far I'm already happy with my HDR results.
Great introduction to HDR with this series. We agree on your statements in that we also feel that HDR is closer to capturing what the eye sees and, unless you are photographing for the sake of documentation, "reality" in the form of what a dynamically challenged sensor can capture is not a goal to strive for.

Well done and keep up the good work
LightningPaul: I'm very happy to hear you also see it that way. Many thanks for your comment.
Very impressive, well done.
LightningPaul: Thanks Kris!

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camera NIKON D200
exposure mode aperture priority
shutterspeed 1/180s
aperture f/11.0
sensitivity ISO100
focal length 12.0mm
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