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The first of three shots of a bracket sequence. I am attempting my first HDR photo. HDR stands for high dynamic range. The technique is to take a series of shots at different settings and combine them to make one photo. My example is three shots, first is underexposed by 1 step, the second is not compensated (as the camera settings are for a single shot, and I would have to try adjusting it as a single image before this HDR dealy-bob, lots of detail lost and the brightness range is too much, it sucks!) and the third shot is compensated one step up, overexposed. As you see the first shot is suited better to display the sky, the brightest part of the photo. The darker areas are really dark and most of the building detail is buried in darkness. The third shot is the polar opposite, the sky is blown out with too much light but the buildings are visible with some detail and colour. The second shot is naturally between the two, some detail in the sky and buildings but still too light in the sky and too dark buildings. I did not spend a lot of time trying to get the gamma/saturation/contrast/ blah blah blah settings optimised for any of the individual shots or the combined HDR resultant photo. I obviously need more practise at that anyway! Today's goal is to get my feet wet and not fret over perfect results. I like this technique, even in this bumbling first try you can see it has potential. Hmmm.... I am thinking I have many new places/scenes to go try this, and many places to revisit and get better shots. These shots were taken in RAW format, for Nikon they have the NEF file extension. They are big, around 15 megabytes for the average shot. These shots on this page are all JPG renderings, 1.2 megs for the sequence and 7.5 megs for the HDR photo. I have used Adorama to print a few posters, they will not do NEF and the file size must be under 15 megs, so... it looks like I want to get my jpg files around 14 megs to preserve as much detail as possible if I use Adorama. My only complaint about Adorama might be the packaging, when I first saw the posters there were a few crinkles on the bottom and top edges. But that may have happened after they arrived I'm not sure. One of my goals is to make a panorama of HDR shots, edit the shots or cut the panorama (as a photo in the computer- not with scissors on the prints) and then manually assemble the posters along a spot in my house that is perfect for a long photo, something like 14 feet. 14 is a wild-ass-guess (using my shitty memory and I haven't measured it for a very long time). That perfect panorama spot in the house fits the 20x30 inch posters, and that gives me some leeway and tolerance. The photos must be better quality to make the larger 24x36 prints look good. 24x36 is the largest one I have made so far, the best one is Steve & Lisa's group wedding picture. How does it look to you Lisa? Lucky for me that shot had good natural lighting and didn't really need HDR to look ok. Can't go back now! Good thing I have so much beautiful scenery in this area, Tuscany is beautiful indeed. I have a lot to learn, I'm really not even scratching the surface. My D200 camera has a bazillion settings and I don't know how to use most of them. With that said, I'm starting to talk myself into buying a D300. Here's my initial rationalization, I want to be able to take shots with different lenses but don't want to take the time to change lenses frequently and increase the risk of getting dust on my CMOS, that's the digital SLRs main enemy, dust. Well, and idiot operator but let's not go there! Also, the D300 uses pretty much everything my D200 uses like lenses and batteries and GPS and memory cards and so on. Maybe even the battery pack that attaches to the bottom, I haven't found that out yet but the best way to answer it...... you guessed it, buy it and try it! And, the D300 has a CMOS shake thingy that helps clean the dust off it. Of course, it has higher resolution and that's really attractive. Bigger better smarter newer. It will make better 24x36 posters. And, it's cheaper than what I paid for the D200. (uh, still a crazy price but hey- skip that part!) I will have to wait a bit, the D300 should be available in November. Good enough timing for a christmas present to myself... I mean it's for the family... extended family.... and friends..... and for the betterment of imagery in the pantheon of human photography..... ok I went too far. I've been a good boy, so I deserve a present, a good thing it's me evaluating this, I am properly biased! HA!
I hope you enjoy the HDR photo.