I was one of those photographers who carried two GND filters, a one stop and a two stop. A year or two ago I removed them from the bag and started bracketing certain scenes for HDR images, even though I did not own any HDR software nor did I know what the technology would evolve into. I also did know how well it would be acceptable by myself or others. The only cost to shooting more images would be a small amount of my time and disc space. So, why not.
Just as any software there is a learning curve involved. We all go through the steps. I mumble to myself a question like: What happens when I do this? I watch the image form on the screen then mutter something close to “Yuko!” I then quickly hit command “Z” and try something else. I’m quickly noticing how important it is to expose them correctly. A good series of images will make a good final image.
The scene above was taken while visiting my parents in January of 2010. I took a total of seven images, bracketed at one stop each. This scene is created with three exposures, one at metered, the second at plus one stop and the third at minus one stop, and using one of the presets in Nik HDR Efex. I settled on the Nik HDR Effex software over Photomatix because it was more intuitive for me. Only time will tell if I made a sound decision.
6 Comments
Ken Bello
This is really nice, Monte. I do not have any HDR software myself but I tried the Photomatix free trial and was unimpressed. I am considering the Nik for the same reason you purchased it, but I have not tried it yet. It did a terrific job on this photo without getting the hard edge HDR look that is so popular.
Monte Stevens
For me the HDR Efex is so much more subtle in their presets. And, I totally agree the Photomatix presets can be quite gaudy. I’m looking to see images I would get when using a GND. That does not mean I will not get a wild hair once in awhile and post something different. 🙂 Those images are not images I will print.
Mark
Nice image Monte. I have both, and find myself going back and forth between them. There is no wrong choice.
Monte Stevens
Glad to hear that. I do not like the extremes I see in some images. But I think HDR can sure make some images look more like we actually saw them when pressing the shutter.
Paul
Well, looks like you played with it until you got it right. 🙂 I’m with you, I no longer carry graduated ND filters along with me. I switched, many years ago, to using Photoshop to blend two different layers and it has worked well, when I’ve done it.
Monte Stevens
Great minds think a like! And, we have less to carry in the field or break or lose. I found it difficult at time to adjust the GND filters, especially in low light situations. Now I can bracket several images and use the one or three or five that work for me.