The Unframed World
Photography Tips, Travel Photos, Photo Critiques, Interviews
Oh, how the nanocycles seem to fly by. One minute you’re welcoming brand new RAW files onto your hard drive, and the next they’re finished with tone mapping, almost fully mature HDR photos. Isn’t it always the way? Nostalgic sighs become me… haaaaaahhhhhhh… (that’s how I sigh, leave me alone).
So this is it gang, the final piece in the HDR Lifecycle series. Before I dig in and put you to sleep with drivel about masking techniques or layer adjustments, I wanted to reinforce two points:
This article, Tone Mapping Puberty, reveals how tone mapping works and explains how to use Photomatix to produce a crucial image in the development of any HDR photo.
This HDR tutorial covers step-by-step how I edited this HDR panorama to it’s completed state from bracketed source DNGs to final Photoshop edit. This is certainly not the only way to accomplish similar results. HDR panoramas are fickle beasts, but my methods work for me.
It’s time to become a responsible post-processor. In this article we’ll discover how to properly handle and prepare your straight-out-of-camera infant RAW photos so they have the best possible chance of making it through the next stage in the HDR life cycle, the always awkward and often volatile “tone mapping puberty” stage.
Unlike some bundles of joy, HDR photos don’t happen by accident.
Unless you know what you’re doing, most likely you’ll end up embarrassing yourself. With that in mind, I’m here to help. Explicit direction for capturing photos that are prime for development into a fully mature HDR photo.
Still a fully functioning Catholic cathedral, I have one important piece of advice for successfully photographing the gorgeous interior of Notre Dame in Montreal: DON”T GO DURING SUNDAY MORNING MASS!
Aside from the standard stunning shots of Notre Dame Cathedral’s sanctuary in Montreal (still processing those) there’s a lesser known private chapel in the back right corner that I knew about from a previous visit. I’ve outlined my workflow for creating this HDR photo for the more curious HDR photography enthusiasts out there. One thing I’ve been working hard at with my HDR photography is to control the glow-y effect that tone mapping in Photomatix creates.
Notice something different about these photos? Yep, you got it, I shot these HDR photos of a Vermont barn in the dead of winter without my coat on! Few, mystery solved. After a weekend in -25°F weather photographing Montreal and also dining with HDR guru Ken Kaminesky it was pure bliss to romp around in the balmy barely-sub-freezing paradise of Vermont to bracket the shots for these photographs.
Blue Hour is perfect for HDR photography, but I’m always a bit tense since it’s so brief. This time, I had done my homework so that my tripod was in position right as the Christmas Tree was turned on in Quincey Market. The resulting 6 frame HDR photo panoramic was tone mapped in Photomatix, then auto aligned, hand stitched and edited together in Photoshop.
Mooching off friends is the best. After crashing at my friend Scott’s house for free, Lori and I toured Boston. This HDR photo panomara is from Faneuil Hall. I’ve included a quick infographic tutorial about how to make an HDR panorama yourself as well.
When I was touring Montreal, it was my pleasure to meet-up with legendary travel and HDR photographer Ken Kaminesky for dinner. Between bites we managed to record this short video where Ken talks about when not to shoot HDR photos, what cameras he shoots with, and a fun “Would you rather…” question.
In plain terms, High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is the practice of creating an image that has a broader range of lights and darks than a normal picture could have. The result is a photo that more accurately depicts what it was like to view the scene in person. There are many ways to accomplish this both in the dark room and on the computer. A popular HDR technique is to take multiple exposures of the same scene and use a process called tone mapping to combine the best parts of each into one image.
Getting permission to photograph the Merrill Auditorium was less complicated than I originally thought. Recently, I’ve been getting into HDR photography. Like regular photographs, HDR photos need an excellent subject to look amazing. Unfortunately, unlike an abandoned building, you can’t just waltz into the Merrill Auditorium. However, I figured it couldn’t hurt to take the direct approach and it worked out perfectly.
Yesterday, I posted an HDR photo of the LLBean Hunting & Fishing lodge at sunset. Today, for the benefit of others pursuing similar HDR results, I will reveal “the magic” behind the photo. If you are into HDR photography, no doubt these Photomatix sliders and Photoshop layers will look familiar.
There’s no doubt about it, living on the Maine coast as a photographer is really tough stuff. For example, after a pleasant trip to picturesque Wolfe’s Neck State Park, Lori and I drove over to LLBean’s flagship store for some shopping and also Christmas light viewing. See what I mean? Brutal. As you know, I’ve been dabbling in HDR (high dynamic range) photography and found the pretty lights to be well suited for HDR (not long ago I posted my first HDR image ever). I even went ahead and shot an HDR panorama… oblivious at the time to what a bear this would end up be in post production in Photoshop.
Recently, I was wed to my beautiful wife Lori. From Hilo to Kona, during our time honeymooning on The Big Island we were able to explore much of this peculiar island.