These photos were taken on Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park this past April. What? You only see one photo? You are really looking at five. Read below for more.
This is one of my first attempts at HDR or High Dynamic Range images. I had heard about it and seen it many times in the past few months, but made my first attempt at it about an hour ago. (This post was actually created last night at about 9:30 p.m. and scheduled for posting this morning.) For those not familiar with it, it involves combining several identical photos which were taken at different exposures so that it gets the darks and the lights. My personal preference with HDR is to have it subtle enough that it doesn't scream out "Hey, I'm HDR!", and yet it is a better photo than any one of the originals from which it is created. You may have seen some where they look like a fantasy photo. Those remind me of a painted or computer created background in one of those fantasy movies and I do not usually like those at all. Does that mean that I will never find one I like of that sort or won't put one in as a Phun Phriday! post? Certainly not. But if I ever do, it will definitely be the exception and not the rule.
Now a note to Karen and to Dave and any others who have used HDR very successfully: When I made the exposures for this photo I only knew that you needed to bracket several photos. I now know for future attempts to get an even wider range with more overexposed overexposures and more underexposed underexposures as well as more in-betweeners. I'm kind of excited about my future attempts.
Don't be shy - leave a comment or email me. I look forward to hearing from you!
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12 comments:
Wow! This is awesome! I'm not a pro and I don't know all the technics you're using, but reading your post I guess I understand something. Anyway, thank you for this amazing photo. You did a great job!
Wish you had shown your best photo vs the hdr. The picture looks great and with out the many shadowed rocky areas that I see in the photos I have.
scott, you and Karen and Dave are making me crazy with all these gorgeous HDR photos. i want to but doubt i can. my friend rich asked me yesterday why i have not tried it. he is my photo shop go to person. keep posting these incredible shots and I MIGHT try it sometime. you are right this one does not scream HDR but the rocks show it if i look hard
Very nice HDR photograph! I like HDR photographs but only ones that appear natural to me. Your photograph appears natural. HDR would probably work well with some sunset pictures too. I saw a sunset picture just a few minutes ago where the sun is a bright white ball and everything around it is so dark. A minimum of two photographs, one exposed for the sun and the other exposed for the surroundings might have created a more lovely sunset picture.
Im so drawn to leaning and learning. Wonderful , Brilliant work .I dont know how to do this yet want to learn.
Love you image. The water is flowing like silk and satin.
Thanks for the explanation ! That is a great effect indeed, and the result is just perfect... Thanks for the sharing !
This is a wonderful photo. I may have to start experimenting with HDR myself.
Impressive! I hadn't heard of HDR before and I find this intriguing.
An English Girl Rambles
Bravo Scott!!!!! But shouldn't this be a Phun Phriday post where you try new stuff? Anyway, a wonderful first attempt. In fact no one would ever guess it's a first attempt if you hadn't divulged that info. It is that good! Since your attempt was to look 'natural,' and to me, a natural HDR means close to what your eyes actually saw, you've succeeded beautifully. Just the right amount of color, contrast and saturation! For landscape, my preference is natural, but sometimes if it's architecture, or a street scene like a carnival with bright colors, or something else fun, I also like to see a bit more 'creative license' knowing that the artist was not going for 'natural.' This is why HDR is so fun and versatile, one can go from subtle to psychedelic! Once I started doing a bit of HDR on my landscapes, I'm usually not satisfied with the shots unless I combine several exposures. Did you use the HDR feature in Photoshop, or a program like Photomatix, or did you go for it manually? Let me know if you're interested in what works best for me.
I like what you've done with this Scott. It's difficult to get a pleasing shot when there are very bright and very dark areas in the scene to be photographed - your technique addresses that.
Wow, what a difference from your post today and this photo! This looks 3D and is alive, the original photo is nice and all but this is fantastic! One hour on a photo though... oh right, you're retired! :-) Cheers!
HDR is so fun! This is a really spectacular example, especially for a first attempt!
Once I get my camera fixed I hope to do some more HDR work. Right now I have limited ISOs and that adds up to lots of noise with lots of layers.
Great work!
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