Playing with HDR

What is HDR?

High dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminance between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wide dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight.

Source: Wikipedia

In short, camera processors are dumb. They can't process light and colours as our eyes and brain functions. In times with high dynamic range, such as area with great light and darkeness together, it is very hard for the camera to snap a picture with normal exposure. Thus, HDR imaging come in place.

HDR imaging involves taking few photos with different exposure values (EV), normally -2, 0 and +2. Next, you can either uses image processing software like Adobe Photoshop or Photomatrix to combine the photos together. With some tone-mapping, the results can be interesting.

For examples,
A statue of God Monkey at Broga Temple. When we arrive, it was around 3pm with strong sun light. All shots on this statue are either sky overexposed (too bright) or the statue being too dark (underexposed). So I use exposure braketing and took three photos with exposure -2, 0 +2, combine using Photomatrix Pro 4.



From left top-bottom: EV-2, 0 +2 ; Right: HDR processed.
The result is, a normal exposed photo. Brightened details of the statue from EV+2, sky with combination of EV 0 and EV-2.

Next, an example of area with high dynamic of both brightness and colour.


It was just lousy shots before processing. I can't even recognize why did i took these shots. After combination, it came out quite impressing, with the greeneries of the forest displayed, and the 'Jesus Light' nicely displayed.

Try it yourself! Photomatrix do offers free trial.
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Just a little bit of grumble too (failed version)

OK, its time to continue being a whinner.

I was expecting for a more action/movement-based competition. Its a talent show! There were so many performance throughout the peagant contest. If it's not because of the spot I stood and my gadgets I can get better shots. (sore loser's excuses...)


I'm serious. Look at the shots below:

Try to imagine how would the product be if this shot was taken from front.

OK. I admit, I don't have the skills to shoot actions like this.

I was hoping that someone in the front and centre line can have similar shots so that I can see how people take this kind of shots but I was dissapointed when the results was announced. Not-even-one-shot.

Then, can you please have some other expressions in the winning photos other than smile?
Try this. :P

Whoa!
OK, I know this is impolite to show this kind of shot.. haha..

Or, can at least be style and cool a bit???



OK la OK la. I know I was too nitpicking. Just let me grumble a bit although this is so long ago.
Coming up next, white balance.
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Just a little bit of grumble

Its already a few months back I took these photos.
All these photos were taken during a competition organized by Sin Chew Daily, namely 阳光美少女竞赛, Sunny Girl contest. Other than the peagant-like competition, they'd also organized photography competition for all those photographers out there. Of course I've participate in the competition and attended the Selangor Final and also Grand finale. Below is my entries for the competition:

My favourite shot of the day:

Just too bad that the shutter is not fast enough to freeze the movement. A bit of blurry..

Then this:


Like the expressions of both the dancers. Face underexposed. Yes, it is time for external FLASH!!! But then where is the money??


Then,


A very graceful move. Albeit looked a bit stiff...

In the end, I didn't win anything. Well, its' a competition, if there's people winning, sure got people lose. I'm the unlucky ones, and I am not so happy with those winning photo. Most of them look like stagnant portrait photos.
The scoring criteria is based on the theme, which is sunny. I understand that but I don't see the reason of those winning photos which only focused on the face of the contestant. So who gets the center post, with an L lens (tele and sharp) wins the competition?
Face-based?

10 out of 13 winning photo looks like this:


Of course, their's are sharper and the contestants are looking towards them.

So tips of the day:
1. Get an L or equivalent lens.
2. Only, i repeat, ONLY grab for those center points where the contestants will look directly at you.
3. Shot only upper body. If possible, focus only the face. Do not aim for those ACTIONs...

Haih.. I looked like a whinner now...


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Recent update

Many friends asked me how come I am silenced for so long? Why no post at all? Even less album is published in facebook.
Actually I am still taking photos everywhere. Just that I've met my bottleneck:

How can I improve my shots?
What is my best field in shooting?

I don't know how do others managed it, but I'm stucked in the same situation for a long long time. No improvement in skills, composition, colour managing, and style. Noticable improvement in getting sharp image(due to 50mm F1.8 lens??), focused on target, sometimes getting the correct white balance of the photo. Throughout the shooting in this few months, I've oso noticed that I am weak in landscape photography, and many things which are not moving..

Some photos to share, taken long long time ago(credit to the model, Ziting):
1. Album Cover


2. Close up


3.

4. A photoshop-ed photo of no. 3


5.

6.

7.

8.

9. Last photo



Most, if not all photos were shot using 50mm F1.8 lens. I like the lens very much. It offers me the sharpness I wanted. Ziting, the model did much of the job. She herself posed for the shots and I only commented on a few shots.

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What is the meaning?

Again, long time since last post. Maybe this one shouldn't be a photography blog. It should be a photo-blog instead. I am too new in photo shooting, i cannot call myself a photographer. I am only a "photo-taker". I take photo. Simply taking photos everywhere. And I care too much about composition, angle, exposure, colour balance and object (well, not that I can take of that much things, just as example :-p). At the end, I forgot what a real photo means.

WHY do I take this shoot?
WHAT am I trying to show with this shot?

I don't know. I am just shooting to show the beauty of the object. There's no point of me shooting this photo. I am in deep shit...

It took me at least half an hour and 50+ shots to get this photo. A necklace i bought for my girl friend as her convocation gift. Yes it is nice. However, it is supposed to be warm and sincere.Yet it looks cold and heartless. Don't you think so?




For her convocation, I purposely brought her out one day to take her photo in her robe before she returns it. 128 shots. For me there's no perfect shot of the day. One of the better shots:




Following trips to Sg. Lembing and Cameron Highlands, I took panoramic shots again. Same mistake, same boring.

Sg. Lembing town main street panorama:



I should have included the top of the tree in the middle, and also the horizontal line.


Rainbow waterfall at Sg Lembing:



a nice shot, but not a perfect shot.


Cameron Highlands' Boh Tea Farm:



The white balance of the photo ran again...


What can I do? How can I learn?
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Panorama photo

Hasn't been taking photos lately, other than a few gathering photo. But I am never a gathering-photographer type of person, I usually hand-off the duty to my friends. Haha.. Still, outing to Lookout Point, Cheras did resulted into something, well at least to me. We went for dinner in a restaurant called Panoramic View, and we get to view the panoramic view of KL. Took a few photo, came back and I used Photoshop CS3 to stitched the photos into a panoramic photo.

OK, what is panoramic view?
According to Wikipedia, a panorama is the wide-angle view of anything. It can be in painting, photography, drawing, and movie/video. I first encounter the word in photography. And indeed, I took my first panoramic photo a few years ago during my trip in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The subject I shot is Mount Kinabalu. It was taken using the family's old Canon Ixus 850IS, and i did'nt stitched the photo until lately. Here's the result from stitching three photos:



How can you take a panoramic photo?
Well, you can always buy a real panoramic camera, or you can do post-production using software like Adobe Photoshop.
For post-production, you will need to take some photo and stitch them together. For some models of Canon DC, there's already a function named 'stitch' when you are using manual mode. If there's no such function, feel no fear as ahguang is here. Tripod is very useful here as u can take multiple shots from the same height and spot, with more steadiness. The trick here is, if you are using a DSLR or prosumer, switch to 'M' mode, set the appropriate shutter and aperture for all shots. This is important to keep the exposure same. Then take a first shot, adjust your camera so that the second shot must overlap about 1/3 of the view covered in first shot, the third shot overlap about 1/3 of the second shot and so on until you covered the whole view.
Next, use your post-production software. I'd only tried Adobe PS3, so I can't comment much on the software, but its quite easy to use. Open your software, click 'File' >> 'Automate' >> 'photomerge', then select your photo, then click 'ok'. Just that easy and the software will do all the dirty work for you.

Here's the KL panoramic photo produced from the outing:



The photo is too long as it's stitched using four photos. Too bad too the most left and right side of the photo is blurred due to shaky camera when taking them. Must take better shots next time..

Stitching photos can also be used in some other creative situations. One of the example is as below, which is partly a failure:



I've seen some perfect portraits, examples here and here (from http://blog-blogsss.blogspot.com/) produced by stitching photos together, but mine above is surely not one of them. The exposure is different from left to right if you have noticed..

Hope you will enjoy stitching photos!

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Event Photography too

Attended another event last wed with my gal gal. It was a concert where the UM students write, compose and sing their own song, in Chinese of course. Didn't plan to take photo initially, but my hands are itchy and can't stand the complex lighting of the stage thus I went and grabbed my gear, my dear EOS1000D.. Hehe..

Just something to add on to the previous post:

1. Prime lenses have their advantage in event shooting too.
2. Be brave and step forward.
3. Be as invicible as possible.

As mentioned in the post of shutter and aperture, bigger aperture(smaller F values) does reduce shutter lag and thus reducing the blurness caused by motion. During the event, I spoke to another female photographer who also took photo of the event last year. She is using the same camera model as mine, and kit lens last year. This year she is using prime lense (50mm F1.8) instead. Her comment is, using prime lens really helps a lot.
(Sorry but this is a tip for DSLR users. DC and prosumer just can't change lens)
(Just for information, prime lenses are a group of lenses where the focal length is fixed, meaning they can't zoom like zoom lens which can zoom. Prime lens normally have a bigger aperture than zoom lens.)
(Looks like I must own a prime lens soon..)

Be brave and step forward.
If you really wanted to shoot event photographys, getting close is very important. When you go closer, there is more light. More light means shorter shutter speed. And you can focus on each expressions of the performers.

Be as invisible as possible.
This is a reminder from my gal gal. She complaints that I moved too much during the event. This caused a disturbance to not only her, but also the audience around us. I was keep on moving to-and-fro from my seats and the stage and this will affect the audience's attention to the event. What she said is correct. I haven't thought of others feeling when I am enjoying my shooting. They have also paid for the event and they have their rights to enjoy the show without being interference. She suggested to me that I can either stay out taking photo for the whole event, or just sit and enjoy the show. If I choose to take photo, don't move too much too as this might catch the attention of audience from the performance. If I come for the show, just enjoy the show and stop thinking about photography.
Respect your companion too, as they accompany you to the show, not the shooting.

Not much to share, just wanna put the photo of a bassist I know.



And a discussion here:
How can I avoid overexposure on the face of the performers if lights are directly shot onto them?

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