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So, until I was reading something last night, it never really occurred to me to use tome mapping on a single file. I played with it a bit last night, but I am not wholly satisfied, and I am suspecting user error
.Yea but I like your shot - it has a ghostly feel to it that adds to the atmosphere - i have done HDR and also feel disappointed with movements like leaves - so i understand your gripe - but because there is so much difference it looks more like a montage.
Chris,
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it varies ... the key is to not go over the top and to always leave the image looking like the gamma is still too low, and needing some fiddle in Photoshop. Typically I use a little "contrast masking" using unsharp mask at 60 or so pixels.So, until I was reading something last night, it never really occurred to me to use tome mapping on a single file. I played with it a bit last night, but I am not wholly satisfied, and I am suspecting user error
What types of files are you using it on, an do you have a particular workflow when you do work on a single file?
From my (sorry) "neither HDR fan nor micro 4/3 cameras educated fellow" point of view, this shot above is by far the most interesting of the lot.
personally I prefer to dial the shutter around the place in M mode as this does not alter DoF (should that be an issue). I've recently started playing with dialing the ISO up and down instead ... I am getting fond of this method.
Quite agree, and one can't say this enough. As my mates back in Oz would say "Jpegs are for wimps, mate!"
That's a great technique m3photo, I was shown a similar one a couple of years ago except it uses PS to create the mask.Quite agree, and one can't say this enough. As my mates back in Oz would say "Jpegs are for wimps, mate!"
A different technique I use mainly when copying slides is to shoot "Over" and "Under" and load them as layers placing the lighter one on top. Then Using "Select Color Range" choose Highlights, Feather between 150 and 200 Pixels and press Cmd/Ctrl "X" and then flattening the Layers . It will usually suffice to get more range this way. Three different exposures can be made of course for those requiring more detail from shadow areas while maintaining detail in skies for example.
There's another fine way of playing with light and shadow and that's simply placing a New Layer over the existing one and filling it with 50% Grey and then changing this Layer's Style to Overlay. Then proceed to paint in Black or White (as indicated - Default by pressing "D" and switch from one to the other by pressing "X") with the opacity set back to between 15 and 20% to taste. The ability to turn this Layer on and off occasionally will better show you what results you're obtaining, as sometimes it seems you've hardly made any changes. If you want to cancel an area you've painted on; just paint it with 50% Grey again.
This image, called "Twelve Eyes", originally very harsh, was treated with the above technique:
I'm slightly confused by what you mean when you say "7 stop in steps sucks". Doesn't 3 EV under, a normal exposure, and 3 EV yield a 7 stop range? Or do you mean 7 or more exposures (rather than 3) from -3 EV to +3 EV?
On a G1 you have to expose 7 frames to get a +/- 2 stops spread as the camera only allows a maximum of 0.5 stops per frame.
Thanks Chris, I hope many can pick up on these and get more out of their images; not wanting to start an ethics thread I'm definitely one of those in favour of going on where the digital camera starts with its raw file.
You have captured the 'threat' perfectly, it's more than just a picture of cats.
