Toying with HDR
Posted by: Rich in Arizona, Digital Photography, HDR, Notes from Gadget, Photo of the Day, Photoshop
Time has not been on my side these past few weeks. Seems like you just never have enough time to do what it is you want.
In my case I’m looking to play with photo techniques, toy with HDR some more, and really get into experimentation mode. The problem……..
I haven’t been out and about shooting different scenes!
I’ve continued to read here and there about working with HDR. I’d like to create “more than real” images. I’d also like to create prints that go beyond a real shot and really alter color and tone. There are some amazing HDR images out there that do just that. I’m still in the infancy of understanding how folks like Trey Ratcliff and Ben Wilmore do it.
Since I had a few moments in town yesterday after popping by Ian’s gallery, I decided to pop by to one of my favorite photo subjects. The Yavapai Courthouse. It’s a neat spot that occupies the square in the center of town. Cool walkways, green grass, and an interesting center piece!
While there I took a very short series of photos. 5 exposures each this time instead of 3. The more shots the more you can get out of the contrast of the scene. That’s part of my understanding.
After getting my photos I returned home, wrote a short blog, and went to sleep. I didn’t work with the photos much at all. But this morning I decided to get into the pictures a little more and play with some concepts I’ve read about recently.
The first photo appearing here today is clearly “over baked.” I pushed up the color saturation and strength on Photomatix. I also dropped the light smoothing in order to head for a more cartoonish effect. It’s a bright scene for sure.
The second photo I went for a darker more foreboding look. It’s probably what people in trouble with the law see when they head to the courthouse! 
Both series of photos were shot moments apart, and when looking at what went in to them there’s very little difference in the exposures. The difference in the final images directly relates to how I’ve dealt with color saturation, shadow and highlight smoothing, and a half dozen other options I have at my disposal when generating the final HDR.
What I’m really interested in producing is an image with more saturation in the foreground while reducing almost all color in the sky. I guess I’m looking to almost move the blue skies into the realm of gray skies while still retaining the look and feel of the surrounding clouds. Somehow I think Photoshop will need to be involved with this in order to get the result I’m looking for.
If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about take a look at one or two of Ben Wilmore’s before and after images to see. I’ve got a lot more to learn! And there’s going to be a need for more of that “time” stuff in order to learn it.
Ah well, if anyone has some spare time they’d like to send me it would surely be appreciated!
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Ohhhh, I took one of Ben Willmore’s seminars awhile back. It was, hands down, THE most informative and inspiring class I have ever attended. You should definitely check his schedule and see when he’s in the “area”. You not even have to convince me to sign up with you!
Oh, and about that spare time thing…if you find any extra, I’d be happy to take some off your hands.