here are a couple more HDRI[high dynamic range] experiments… neither of which turned out very well, but they’re good enough to show off i guess. click the images to open hi-resolution versions in another window. -aytch

Filed under: Images by stephen h @ 9:01 pm on November 3, 2007
TAGS: [HDRI | Images | photography | portland | stephen h]

here’s another HDRI experiment which i made in photoshop with the merge to HDR tool using originals of a sunset i shot over the bowling alley down in the hollywood district which had been “pre-tortured” [ie. wayyy over-filtered] in terms of dynamic range. finally, after all that, i added some more filtering and masking to get rid of a little [but not too much] of the image’s grittiness.

click image to see high-res version

the result? i actually really like how it turned out. it’s still not a “traditional” HDR image, but i like that about it too. in looking over the groups and sets of HDR images on flickr, i’m noticing more and more how fake many of them look. it’s a fun dramatic effect, but i think it can be over-used, and sometimes the trick is giving the image more tonal range, but not having that nasty glow effect result from anything with light around it.

i still have yet to experiment with using just plain, original exposures to merge into HDR… maybe over the next day or two that will happen.

-aytch

Filed under: Images by stephen h @ 12:30 pm on October 18, 2007
TAGS: [HDRI | Images | photography | portland | stephen h]

i’m starting to experiment with HDR imaging, AKA high dynamic range imaging. it’s a look i’ve tried to achieve previously in a sort of “lo-fi” approach, but never quite captured.

this evening, i took the image above and decided it was going to be one of my first tries, attempting to improve upon the original… i went through a couple other images before this one, none of which turned out quite as well as this one has. below, you can see the same scene, looking a lot brighter, with a more diverse tone range, and looking a lot more like i remember that day looking. after all, on a snowy day, everything looks brighter.

there are some things i don’t particularly like about this trial… for one, it helps[from what i can tell] if you have 3 or more original exposures to start from, as opposed to the above sample, which was composed from 3 separate filtered versions of the same exposure. in other words, it’s probably something i could have just generated from compositing the filters i used in the 3 “original” versions.

also, i can tell that a lot of definition got lost, most likely because i used low-resolution samples [only about 900px wide] to start from… but i think overall the color definition is a lot truer and more pleasing to the eye.

finally, it makes me want to go out and make use of my tripod, getting more image samples to bring home and try out as more HDRI samples. of course, looking over the wikipedia link above, you can see some better examples of the form than i’ve shown here, and hopefully over time i’ll be able to put out more work like those.

-aytch

Filed under: Images, News by stephen h @ 11:26 pm on October 16, 2007
TAGS: [cathedral park | HDRI | Images | News | photography | portland | st. johns bridge | stephen h]