Tag archive: HDR Photography

Why use HDR?

HDR Photography is fast becoming very popular!

The irony of HDR is I believe the negative feeling or perception of HDR is due to the software companies own ghastly presets and marketing their product as a one stop shop! Having said that though, I also believe that a vast majority of photographers trying their hand at HDR are newer photographers. That is to say that the more seasoned photographers (And I am generalising here) are more likely to have negative feelings towards HDR.

The reality is that it would be a rare occasion that just HDR processing on it’s own will deliver great results. That is why I use photoshop as my final ‘finishing touches’ (you can read about my HDR Process HERE)

So why use HDR?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. At some stage I am going to have to do more research as I am interested in learning more. From my brief research, I have learnt that the human eye can capture 3 to 4 more times the dynamic range than the camera sensor can. And our eyes send the info to our brains, and our brain is responsible for picking the best ‘pixels’ for the final image to make sure we see as much as possible. How many times have you been watching a sunset and you excitedly take photos only to be disappointed with the result? Me too… so when I discovered HDR I was hooked!

Today’s iCandy – Harbour Arch

Why use HDR? This photo is a classic example of why I use HDR. I stood inside this sandstone structure by the harbour and the detail was amazing… the view was “oh wow” and I wanted to capture every aspect of the light, the detail and convey a sense of standing there. To get enough light information to complete this image took 7 exposures. The first was at -3ev, and it captured the bright, brights… and the last exposure was +3ev, and that captured detail inside the sandstone structure I was standing in… the end result… one of the most popular images I have processed HDR to date… enjoy!

What lens should I buy?

What lens should I buy? A dilemma for some

I am pretty happy with my current line up of lens, but I do get the question a fair bit… what lens should I buy?

I will start by saying there is no right or wrong answer. And the lens you choose next will depend on many things. I have raved on about this before, so I thought it would be best just to give you the link to the page I wrote… If you want to check out my page on choosing your next lens you can see it here.

Todays iCandy – A Very Photogenic Harbour

Is Sydney Harbour the best in the world? I haven’t seen them all, but I think it would be hard to beat! By the way… did you know that you can click on any image and it will go full size… just a neat feature of the new site… go on… try it!

Why use Photoshop?

I got this interesting question…

Why use Photoshop? I was asked… and my first response was… why not? Then I thought, it’s a great question… am I using photoshop when I don’t have to, or worse still… when I shouldn’t?

So I sat and pondered for a while, and came to the conclusion that I like photoshop for several reasons…

1. I shoot RAW… I love shooting RAW! It means I can be an old bugger that forgets to change settings on my camera and I can fix it all later… in photoshop!

2. I like things clean… If I had a choice between shooting a piece of rubbish and not shooting a piece of rubbish, I would rather NOT have a piece of rubbish in my shot, unless of course, that piece of rubbish was instrumental in telling a story, then… bring on the rubbish! Guess what I use to get rid of the rubbish… yep… photoshop. I get rid of cigarette butts, paper, leaves, anything that is distracting in my shot… heck, I just finished removing popcorn off the steps inside the Opera House… who wants popcorn scattered through the shot (Once again, unless it is instrumental!)

3. Did I mention I shoot RAW… yes I do…. and I love it!

4. My camera sux… and so does yours! – yep.. I have spent thousands of dollars on my D800 and it sux! It does’t always get the colours, the contrast or the emotion… oh, and it can’t clean up like I can in Photoshop… see, it sux!

I am happy that I use photoshop, and I say it is okay to do so… I have been told by one too many naturalist that it isn’t photography… I still have go and capture the scene… I still need to be there for the right light… I still need to know how to use my camera… and best of all… a stack of people like my photo’s!

Anyway, this post has turned into a bit of a rant… maybe I should get just as upset with the people that don’t use photoshop!

So… to finish up… it is rare that I share with you, a BEFORE and an AFTER shot… but I am going to do just that. After I process an image in Photomatix… it is messy. Just like this one! I took this inside the Opera House during the Elia Locardi Blame the Monkey photowalk. A lot of the crowd had moved on, and myself and Elia were just hanging back to get a shot with as few people in as possible, in fact, I took 20 exposures in total so I had plenty to choose from when I got them into Photoshop.

In the before shot you will see ghosting, there will still a few people getting around, there is a boat screaming past outside, the purple carpet is going blue… the whole image lacks contrast, the black paint is peeling off the ceiling and there is popcorn on the stairs… plus a whole bunch of other little things that bothered me.

Today’s iCandy – Inside the Opera House

Here is the after photo… you be the judge!

Apology

My G+ Broadcast was a flop!

Sorry for those of that tuned in… I only managed to show you one screen during the whole Topaz Adjust demo… and it was my stupidity as I had selected the wrong screen to share. The good news is that I have now worked out exactly what needs to be done and it wont happen again… I promise!

I have re-set the date for this broadcast to Wednesday 13th February at 9:00pm AEDST (UTC/GMT +11 hours), if you’re on the other side of the planet you most likely be pushing out Z’s at this time, no need to worry, it will be recorded and will be available on my YouTUBE Channel.

See me using Topaz Adjust LIVE!

See me use Topaz Adjust to add amazing detail and life to a photo… I will be going live at 9pm Australian EDST (UTC/GMT +11 hours) on the 13th February 2013 – stay tuned for the link… I will post it a few minutes before showtime!

Today’s iCandy – Skullpipe

I have so many images from my trip to this place… every corner I turned I found a photo!