Original Photo Used for Bodie HDR Interpretation

Michael Ziegler who keeps an eye on my posts, added a comment to the posting I did of an HDR interpretation of one of the photos I took at Bodie State Park in California, asking if I could post the original photo for comparison which I thought was a great idea, so here are the before and after photos side-by-side for you to see.

Bodie HDR Interpretation

HDR (high dynamic range) imaging is a fun thing to play around with. You are meant to start with a set of photos of the same shot taken at different exposures, but I find that I get nice effects as in the photo to the left by just taking one photo, using Photoshop RAW processor to create two new copies of the image with a -2 and a +2 exposure value, and then using them and the original image as a set of three to process as an HDR image. You have to use software such as Photoshop or other software programs available for sale to combine the images into one. The highlights of the image are formed using the highlights in the underexposed image, the shadows are formed using the shadows in the overexposed image, and then blended with the correctly exposed image. The outcome is greater detail across the entire dynamic range: shadows, through midtones, to highlights.

In this photo the distant mountains and clouds give a great effect, almost like "sumi-e" or ink drawings.

This and other photos of Bodie can be viewed in the Bodie slideshow gallery or the static html Bodie gallery.

Update: Michael Ziegler who keeps an eye on my photoblog posts, added a comment below asking if I could post the original photo which I thought was a great idea, so here it is:

Aloe Blooms #2

Huntington Library Gardens Aloe

Shot with HDR bracketing, set of 3, 2-ev steps, at 100 ISO.

I actually took 9 exposures in groups of three. The second and third sets I manually set the f-stop up 2 stops for the second set, and down 2-f stops for the third. This was in an effort to get greater dynamic range, but I found it doesn't really create any noticeable difference, not to mention the fact that in many cases it introduced extra blurring and alignment issues with the HDR file. So I'm sticking to just the one set of 3 exposures from now on. Which is good as it means fewer images to store and deal with.

Agave and Cacti at the Huntington

This photo of a long agave flower stalk (actually known as an "inflorescence") was taken at the desert garden at the Huntington Library gardens in San Marino, CA. The image is an HDR photo composed of three exposures at 2 EV shifts. 100ISO.

I like how this turned out quite moody. The overcast in the sky created a nice gray background that the greens stand out well on. And of course the aloe and cacti make for great interest.

What is HDR Photography

You might have noticed that I describe some of my photos as being "HDR". You might be wondering just what is HDR photography, so here's an explanation for you.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. HDR photography consists of blending multiple exposures of the same subject at the same aperture setting but with different exposure lengths. Shooting the same subject in this manner is known as "bracketing" and most SLR digital cameras will have a bracketing setting. My Canon EOS 20D for example, allows you to shoot 3 images in a bracket. Under the menu option you specify the exposure intervals and then you also need to set the camera to shoot multiple exposures. When you hold down the shutter release, the camera will take the 3 different exposures for you. The result is that you end up with photos that are under-exposed, correctly-exposed, and over-exposed.

In the blending of the multiple images into the one photo, the over-exposed image is accentuated for the shadows, and the under-exposed is accentuated for the highlights. The correctly-exposed image is used for the mid-tones.

There is software available to assist with the blending, starting with Photoshop and other programs available online. I also have purchased Dynamic Photo HDR from mediachance.com, and Photomatix Pro available from hdrsoft.com. Photomatix has a free version, but when you save the file it puts Photomatix all over the face of the photo, so if you're going to get serious about this stuff, you'll need to hand over some money.

Here's a link to some of my HDR photos.

San Gabriel Mountains from Irvine

I actually missed the best opportunity for this photo last Tuesday when there was more snow on the mountains and the sky was impeccably clear. It had rained on the prior Friday, which is a very good thing for us in Southern California where we are in a drought, and snow had fallen on the San Gabriel mountains east of Los Angeles. I didn't think to take my camera with me we I rode my bike to work on Monday morning and as soon as I saw the view of the mountains my heart sank. On Tuesday it was cloudy and then on Wednesday I finally got this shot. It's not as good as it could have been on that Monday when there was more snow and the air was crystal clear, but this isn't too bad, I guess.

This view of the San Gabriel mountains is looking north across South Lake on Yale Loop. On winter mornings after rain has fallen and passed, the view can be pretty spectacular. This just gives you some idea of what it's like. Perhaps later in the winter I'll get another shot at it with lots more snow.

One plus in this photo, however, is that the liquidambar trees still have their leaves so that makes for a great contrast of primary colors in this photo. They are the trees with red leaves on the left side.

This is an HDR (high dynamic range) image composed of three exposures at f/20 with exposures of 1/125, 1/30, and 1/8 at ISO 100.

Autumn Still Life - Pomegranates and Persimmons

Someone I work with brought in some persimmons and pomegranates from her trees at home and their vibrant colors immediately demanded I photograph them, so here's my still life to autumn.

HDR
Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100
f/5.6 at 1/320, 1/1250, 1/80
54mm

Terra Lago by Night

I spent the last weekend staying with friends at their house in Indio, CA. Indio is about 20 miles from Palm Springs on the other end of the Cochella Valley. The house is on a lake and this photo was taken while we sat outside enjoying the night sky and a nightcap.

This is an HDR (high dynamic range) image in which I took three exposures each 2 f-stops apart but at the same apeture setting and then combined the three images.

Lake Cachuma California #1

This is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photograph of Lake Cachuma in California. I really like the clouds; so much drama!