Stacking Exposures (contrast blending) Methods?

[Dustbak]

Michele,

Where is that marina? It looks like Las Palmas?

Here several I did today. Photomatix, the first with exposure blending the second a combination of exposure blending and HDR combined in PS.

[Snook]

Michele,

Where is that marina? It looks like Las Palmas?

Here several I did today. Photomatix, the first with exposure blending the second a combination of exposure blending and HDR combined in PS.

Hey Dustbak thanks for the post.
A couple of questions if you don't mind.
In the first image how did you keep the guy in the image? He looks perfectly in focus and lit.?? IS the whole inside image bascially normal exposure and you were trying to get the outside with more detail e.g. the windows and sky?
Also, was the guy completely still when you shot the image? Was your iso normal and what camera/Back/lens/Fstop.


When I tried exposure blending on a couple of images they look rather hot in some areas.. like it was doing the oposite of what I wanted. That might be b/c I used the RAWs? Your images look  VERY natural compared to what I am getting.
Nice job..:+]
If you ever get a chance could you post a screen shot of an image of yours with the Photomatix settings...? I am sure there is some tweaking in photoshop after the fact but would be corios to see what the settings look like from a straight forward exposure blend.
Should I not be in tone mapping at all???
Thanks for any further help..
Snook

PS. Kind of a side note but I am noticing every time a do an HDR with my P30 there is ALWAYS a line down the middle of the blue sky where it looks like Sensor folding?sp?. In other owrds there is alays a strip down the middle of the sky where one side is darker and the other side is lighter? Is that normal for HDR's?
Will try and post an example right now.

[Dustbak]

The first image was generated from 3 exposures each 1.5 stops apart. H2F/CF39/HCD28, F11 & ISO50.

Exposures were typically ranging from 2sec's to 1/50th. The guy being in perfect focus is probably a bit of a lucky shot but people behing computers often don't move that much so chances are you will get them reasonably in focus.

The inside was 2 sec's and I upped shutter speed to get the lights, highlights and the outside.

I used JPG's to exposure blend. I processed my raws to the best JPG's I can in Phocus as a basis and entered that into Photomatix. You could also do Tiff (not sure about 16bits but that would be the only one I would consider with Tiffs). I would not let Photomatix touch my Raw's even if it could.

I have Photomatix open so no problem here is your screenshot for exposure blending as I am using it at the moment. 4 images, each 1.5stops apart. This is just how I use it at the moment, other files I might be doing something else!

I only use tonemapping when going HDR which I don't do that often. Only very few images really benefit from it IMO, when I do use it I mostly also make an exposure blend which I put below the HDR image in PS and start masking out the bad parts.

[Snook]

The first image was generated from 3 exposures each 1.5 stops apart. H2F/CF39/HCD28, F11 & ISO50.

Exposures were typically ranging from 2sec's to 1/50th. The guy being in perfect focus is probably a bit of a lucky shot but people behing computers often don't move that much so chances are you will get them reasonably in focus.

The inside was 2 sec's and I upped shutter speed to get the lights, highlights and the outside.

I used JPG's to exposure blend. I processed my raws to the best JPG's I can in Phocus as a basis and entered that into Photomatix. You could also do Tiff (not sure about 16bits but that would be the only one I would consider with Tiffs). I would not let Photomatix touch my Raw's even if it could.

I have Photomatix open so no problem here is your screenshot for exposure blending as I am using it at the moment. 4 images, each 1.5stops apart. This is just how I use it at the moment, other files I might be doing something else!

I only use tonemapping when going HDR which I don't do that often. Only very few images really benefit from it IMO, when I do use it I mostly also make an exposure blend which I put below the HDR image in PS and start masking out the bad parts.

Very cool of you, Thank you for posting..:+}
Lucky me you happen to be  using it right now.
I think you idea of doing one of each then masking them in photoshop is probably the best way.
I usually NEVER work with Jpegs as they "can" lose quality through photoshopping. I always try an work with tifs and 16 bit if possible...
Thank you for your help. I appreciate it
Snook

[Dustbak]

No problem. I work with JPG quite often. When I am really going to beat the shit out of my files I revert to 16bits Tiff files. JPG' s (of decent quality) are really underestimated.

[michele]

Michele,

Where is that marina? It looks like Las Palmas?

Here several I did today. Photomatix, the first with exposure blending the second a combination of exposure blending and HDR combined in PS.

It' Alghero in Sardinia, Italy...
Very nice jobs yours...