Re: OT: HDR and Tone Mapping B&W Images
Hi Don, Like any new thing in photography, we have to use and over-use it to learn how best to exploit HDR's look and feel. I haven't done any B/W work yet but I'm really looking forward to putting some of my HDR images into pt/pd. There can be artifacts from the HDR processing. Sometimes these are beautiful, and sometimes they detract from the final image. John Sexton used to say that the only good test strip was one that had areas too light and too dark. Applying that wise logic, it's instructive to push HDR *too far* to see what happens. Heck, it's easy enough to back off if you want. And nobody will stop you from layering one of your original frames to paint-in *normal-looking* areas of sky or whatever. Speaking of which, thanks to Bruce for posting his images. The long-lens perspective flattening coupled with HDR has introduced a handsome graphic nature to the images. For those who can't qualify for an educational discount, you can get a 15% discount at www.hdrsoft.com on their ToneMapping Plugin (or full version of their Photomatix package) by using the coupon code DanBurkholder07. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do get a kickback but it's really a win-win scenario since you get the discount too. There is a pdf with particulars at the following: www.DanBurkholder.com/hdr You'll also find an 8-page primer (in pdf format) for HDR. Obviously, HDR shooting is ideally suited to digital capture where all your exposures are pin-registered (assuming you're working on a tripod) but now that CS3 has such a powerful alignment engine, we can even shoot hand-held captures or scan bracketed film frames to get fine results. Here's a photo of a friend who was visiting. The three bracketed frames were hand-held and then Tone Mapped: www.DanBurkholder.com/jerry.jpg This was shot just up the road from us. You can get a taste of that *Hudson River Valley* light pouring down the creek. :^) Hope this helps! Dan Don Bryant wrote on 8/14/07, 10:42 PM: > Dear Fellow Listees, > > This is way off topic but is anyone using PS or Photomatix software to > create HDR Tone Mapped black & white images? > > Thanks, > > Don Bryant > > > -- www.DanBurkholder.com www.TinyTutorials.com
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