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chromasia.com

As I mentioned yesterday, in preparation for our forthcoming HDR tutorial I'll probably be posting a lot of HDR shots over the next couple of weeks.

Previously, when I've posted an HDR, I haven't posted the original, not least because i) there's normally more than one original, and ii) the final result also depends on the tone mapped image as much as it does the original shots. In this instance though, I thought I'd post all of them, so if you take a look at the linked page below you will see:

.../archives/unseated.php

As you will see, in addition to a big increase in contrast, there were two major changes made to this one: it was flipped horizontally (simply because I thought it looked better that way round); and the colour of the seat was changed (to better match the palette of the rest of the image).

I probably won't be posting the originals and tone mapped images for all the HDRs I'll be putting up, but I thought it might be useful to include them this time, especially if you're not all that familiar with HDRs.

On a totally unrelated matter: chromasia was featured on Click, the BBCs "flagship technology progamme", on Saturday morning. I didn't see the TV programme, but I did watch the online version, available via this link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7294455.stm

 
3x2 + HDR + urban
comment by csj @ id7.co.uk at 07:59 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

I love its simplicity, wish my eye was seeing these kind of subjects.... csj

comment by Jacques at 08:43 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

A lot of post processing work has been done on this shot and the result is great. Thanks for all this inspiration.

comment by Sumedh at 08:44 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

Fabulous!

comment by The Plankmeister at 08:53 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

It really seems like a flat image, like a painting. There's no depth! It's really fooling my eye! Very striking image! My eye can't help but skip around all over the place.

comment by jelb at 08:54 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

Bonjour,
Wonderful treatment...Bravo!

comment by djn1 at 08:58 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

The Plankmeister: one of the interesting things about tone mapping is the way it increases local contrast; i.e. each area of an image contains a wide range of tones. The result, as you noticed, is that the image seems like a painting. I don't use this style on all my HDRs but I thought it suited this one.

comment by Lightseeker at 09:07 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

Very vibrant, great texture.

comment by suri at 09:25 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

Yes!
you reconcile me with hdr treatment!

the resulting picture is really great :)

comment by Sysagent at 09:31 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

Heh there's that chair again Dave!

Just love the wall texture and colouring brought out here by the process, what aperture did you shoot this at?

It looks pretty large due to the Dof I am seeing at the front and edges.

comment by Sysagent at 09:34 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

p.s. And I think I will have to put my Chair shot up on the blog now just for comparisons...

;P

(It's currently one of the fence and sea @ 45secs)

comment by milou at 10:11 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

There seems to be really strong light falling on the chair especially the backrest and to some extent the upper chair legs although there are no corresponding shadows. I know that many HDR style shots have a glow or halo about them but is the lack of shadow a common feature of HDR?

comment by djn1 at 10:30 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

Sysagent: I'm looking forward to seeing your version.

milou: with most HDRs the shadows are less pronounced, but because this one was shot under very flat light - i.e. there wasn't any strong directional lighting or corresponding shadows - the shadows are barely noticeable.

comment by djn1 at 11:59 PM (GMT) on 16 March, 2008

milou: for a good example of how tone mapping minimises the shadows take a look at this one:

.../iblog/galleries/0604301927.php

comment by Navin Harish at 07:26 AM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

Great shot. I love the colours and the PP.

comment by Carles at 09:06 AM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

Wow, beatiful work !!!

comment by M a d . P h o t o . W o r l d at 11:23 AM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

I've used over a year on researching and fiddling around with HDR Photography. I find HDR Photography to be very fun, demanding and also very technical. Mostly i find that people completely misses the point about HDR - they simply just put an equal sign between HDR and tone mapping.

comment by Jay at 12:57 PM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

Very nice texture! The colour combination is very nice as well.

comment by djn1 at 02:49 PM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

Thanks all.

comment by Al at 08:53 PM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

Looking forward to the HDR tutorial David. It seems like HDR is all of the craze lately. As one of your tutorial examples, would you include how you made the HDR image that is first shown on your blog? I would love to see the step by step, and the before and after...

comment by djn1 at 08:58 PM (GMT) on 17 March, 2008

Al: I haven't decided on the images I'll be using yet, but suspect that 'under the north pier' probably won't be one of them as the original image is a bit of a mess; i.e. it's not ideal for the tutorial. I'll think about it though.

comment by Josef Renklint at 02:28 PM (GMT) on 18 March, 2008

Gorgeous, with the colors and composition.

comment by thomas mueller at 05:58 PM (GMT) on 18 March, 2008

i'm not sure, but i think it's a little bit too much postprocessing. i really like hdr-processing, but here are to much details (the bricks and the plants)