Speaking of HDR

[jmig]

Last weekend we were in La Grange, TX and visited this small community church. I was taken back by the interior of this church and took some pictures. This church cannot have more than 200 or so families as parishioners. They are of German, Czech, or Polish ancestry and their pride shows in this building.

A while back I purchased a HDR program called Oloneo Photo Engine. It got high reviews on the Nikonians site, so I decided to purchase the program and try my hand at HDR. I never did. Well, while in this church I decided it would be an excellent test for HDR and took many bracketed interior pictures. The two interior scenes, the church and the doorway are HDL rendered with the Oloneo Photo Engine. The altar shot was a single shot processed in Lightroom3.

I hope my pictures capture a little of the church's beauty.

[Panther_99FS]

#3...

[Kiwikat]

The white balance in #1 is a little weird, but the second and third are very nice for being HDR. Usually I don't like HDR but the last two are very good!

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Really Nice Images John! I like number 2 a little better than the others.

With the D7000 did you actually need to bracket the scene? That sensor has a lot of dynamic range and so by spot metering the darkest spot in the scene and spot metering the lightest spot and seeing the difference in stops you can get the scene dynamic range and then compare that to the camera's dynamic range capability. Then you will know how to do the bracketing (stop gap to use) and how many shots you will need. HDR is all about capturing detail in the light and dark areas of a scene as the human eye does - it is not just about tonemapping which is the way everybody tends to want to see it. I plan one day to take one of Varina Patel's iHDR workshops (I already go to some of the free ones on a variety of subjects) to see just how she blends images for a natural look with detail throughout the scene and then adapt that to whatever software I'm using.

-Ed-

[jmig]

Kiwikat, the altar (#3) is not a HDR composite. The white balance was set on Auto and the lighting was a mix of natural sunlight and church lighting. I adjusted the white balance to get the blue walls to show as close as I could to what I remember.

Ed, rather than bracket,i.e. +2, +1, 0, -1, -2. etc, I used the Ev compensation the raise and lower the exposure. I am afraid there was no well thought out HDR plan. I merely focused on the same point and shot several pictures changing the Ev. I was in matrix metering and knew the exposure range was beyond the camera's ability. The shots that allowed the window glass to show details made the interior totally dark.

Two things I didn't like in the shots are the ghosting around the lights and the shifting color tones of the walls and ceiling. The pictures in HDR however, are far better than any single picture could produce. I am satisfied and happy with the results for an ad hoc afterthought HRD. I need to read up on HDR and its techniques.

Learning more about the Oloneo program wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[Cazzie]

I have to go with Panther on #3, lots of color, good light balance overall.

Like EasyEd says, your D7000 should allow up to five or seven shots in HDR mode, but you do need a tripod for such. Use it to its full potential. My K-x only allows three shots in HDR mode and I usually balance them at -2, 0, and +2 Ev. To do better, I'd have to use my tripod and take individual shots at varying Ev values.

Like Kiwicat, #1 is too blue, white balance looks off.

Good shots, very clear, I sure want a D7000. The K-x is a good camera, but the sharpness on Macro images is just not there.