April 28, 2011 Meeting
11 members present
- Discussed a Low Dynamic Range RAW photo. 80% of the pixels occupied 35% of the tonal range, resultiing in a fairly low-contrast image. A “curves adjustment” made some improvement, but Photomatix tonemapping made a much better result.
- Discussed a Medium Dynamic Range RAW photo. There were hardly any pixels at the extremes, but they were equally distributed across the histogram. This resulted in a relatively flat looking image. A “curves adjustment” made some improvement. Tonemapping in Photomatix made a significant improvement. A +2 and a -2 exposure copies were made and then combined with the original exposure as an HDR/tonemapped image in Photomatix. This should even more improvement as the resulting mid-tones of the image were much more pleasing to the eye.
- Discussed Trey Radcliff’s HDR Tips.. A unique philosophy that stresses “don’t overdo the technical stuff”, “Create what looks good to you”, and “have fun”. Here is a link to the article: 9 HDR Tips
- Jerry W. presented a number of HDR images he created using the new “Artizen” HDR program. The images looked super without any visible indications of ghosting. He liked the program very much and recommends it to others.
- A request was made to the members to submit their HDR phots to be added to our page in the Grand Photos web site. Here is a link to our photo page: HDR SIG Photo Link
March 24, 2011
10 members present.
- We reviewed the new Grandphotos website and followed the links to the HDR site. There are various links there referencing various HDR programs, reviews, training, and videos. There is also a place to display member’s HDR photos -- email jpegs to bgraczyk@cox.net to include yours.
- We discussed the HDR section in the forums section. Members can start discussions regarding HDR subjects that can be viewed and commented on by others.
- A quick demo of the HDR software Artizen was given. There appears to be a lot of features in this program and members were favorably impressed with it. The price is $46 and a 25% rebate is available to our members. Check our club website for details.
- A discussion was held on entering HDR photos in competitions. Some judges do not like the surreal effect of some of these. Some feel they are not truly “photographic”. We need to decide whether the effect we are after is “natural” or “artistic”.
- We discussed whether jpegs or RAW photos should be used in HDR. There is more info in a RAW photo to work with, but some HDR programs do not have optimum RAW converters. Both end up giving good results.
- Marty showed some HDR photos he made of home interiors -- really great.
- We looked at and commented on a number of HDR photos that were posted on the internet. Some are pretty and some are pretty wild.
- Jerry W. volunteered to give a more detailed look at the Artizen program for the next meeting.
