My Garden as a tone-mapped HDR image

This is my first attempt at tone-mapped HDR photography, so be gentle with me!



This afternoon I was itching to try some HDR photography and decided to set up a tripod in the garden. I grabbed the 5D attached the Sigma 12-24 and hunted around for the remote cable release.

Measuring the low(ish) sun, high-backlit scene at f/11 (ISO 100) using spot metering yeilded highlights at >1/8000 sec and shadows at <1/2 sec. That's >13 EV compared to ~8.2 EV (dpreview test) for the 5D.

I set the camera on manual, f/11 at 12mm and shot five exposures; 1/8, 1/30, 1/125, 1/500 and 1/2000. I reckoned these speeds would give me ~1EV headroom at the extremes and would also provide enough transition information for tone-mapping without adding too much noise.

Using Photomatix, I imported the 5 RAW files and created the HDR image. The reported DR was 9,755:1 (not far off the the human eye).

I then tonemapped the image to a 16bit TIFF using detail enhancer with; strength at 70, saturation at 55, light smoothing at high and luminosity at 3.

The TIFF was then sent to CS3, where a contrast boosting S-curve was applied together with minor level adjustments, dust removal and nic's sharpening.

The TIFF was saved as a PSD and imported into Lightroom, where minor HSL and tone adjustments were made prior to outputting to 8-bit sRGB jpeg. A full size jpeg (6.7mb) can be found here.

Ok my garden is not the most eye grabbing subject matter, nor will I win any points for compostion, but I'm defintely hooked on the intensity and tonal capabilities of this style of photography.

Now to find some proper landscapes!

All comments, critiques and tips welcome.

John,

One thing, for sure, you have increased the resale value of your house!

I like HDR in that it is a redistribution of our brains mental resources and is so pleasurable to see the results.

I'm imressed.

A question, having done all this work in color, what does it look like in B&W just using the L cahnnel or desat?

Asher

Looks good! I'll have a look at the full size jpg in a second, but it looks like the Sigma 12-24 is doing a pretty decent job for you - I assume you're happy with it?

Tim,

The 12-24 Sigma? Nicolas Claris pays his rent with that lens! Pictures that or up to 12 feet high and twice as long, LOL! That lens is to me amazing although I have never even seen one! I would never have imagined that quality, but Sigma does have other great lenses, like the 150 Macro and the bigma! I guess we are used to paying for the MFR brand.

I now think this is an important lens that should not be overlooked. I have heard though, that there's a lot of variation, so one needs to do one's testing.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Tim,

The 12-24 Sigma? Nicolas Claris pays his rent with that lens! Pictures that or up to 12 feet high and twice as long, LOL! …

I have heard though, that there's a lot of variation, so one needs to do one's testing.

Asher

Click to expand...

Bonjour Asher

You're right, and the rent is high!-)

AFAI've been told, the problem with the Sigma is that the factory quality service is not as severe as Canon's… So you may have to try 3 or 4 different samples before getting a keeper…

I still have to read the article on the new 14 by Canon. I wish I'll get one as, for me, SWA lenses does bring extra possibilities of creativity… just as the 500 mm or a good 50, etc.

Another way of sighting…


------------------

BTW! I do like very much John's image… an interesting chromo!

The light coming from the opposite way of sun is amazing, can't be a fill flash… Windows reflection? it adds a lot to the picture!

What is down below the garden? a highway? a river?
Further back I can imagine the ocean (but that's me!)

Tim,

I was having lots of problems with the Sigma 12-24 on the 5D, edge softness was quite an issue, however, I've since resigned to using manual focus for everything and refer to the DOF tables for hyperfocal distances.

Pre-setting the focal distance to INF yeilds the following DOF on FF:

0.9m to INF at f/5.6
0.7m to INF at f/8
0.5m to INF at f/11

For me, this covers pretty much everything, so i'm tempted to gaffer tape it there )
Although I probably wouldn't recommend the Sigma for low light work.


Asher,

Here's a quick LR B&W conversion, I lightened the reds and darkened the blues a little.



HDR provides so much tonality its sometimes difficult to know where to start and when to finish.

I always use this lens at ƒ 8 minimum, preferably ƒ11…

Nicolas Claris said:

The light coming from the opposite way of sun is amazing, can't be a fill flash… Windows reflection? it adds a lot to the picture!

What is down below the garden? a highway? a river?
Further back I can imagine the ocean (but that's me!)

Click to expand...

Well spotted Nicolas, behind the camera is a 8m wide all glass conservatory, bouncing light back into the scene. Surpsingly, you only start to see this in greater detail with HDR, normally the contra jour intensity over powers everything.

BTW, 500m behind the garden are more residential properties, 2 km is Southampton and 8km is the sea (Solent), just visible on very clear day with a 500mm lens!

John,

The conversion to B&W shows that the potential for using HDR translates well to B&W and what you have done might be only the beginning. This provides me with a whole new extra set of tools to look at B&W rendering. One issue is that with extreme changes where more than one channel is used, one may loose apparent sharpness due to lack of coincidence of focus (i.e. Chromatic Aberration). This would be more of a problem with a less corrected lens, like the sigma 12-24. So either I'd neutralize the CA before making into B&W or I'd only use one channel but photograph with a filter to bring out the clouds, for example.

In this particular picture, B&W, does not seem to work well for some reason and so I thought about it a while over a cup of PJ Tips English tea, my favorite (we buy ten cartons at a time and clear the store out). I then realized what is missing.

Everything in this picture directs the eye back onto the picture towards the horizon but it is empty of a captivating point of interest. So to work in B&W, I'd print this 20x24 or larger. Then this picture will assume an unusual surrealistic and metaphorical importance, as the empty space will not be escapable by the eye. So, we would be forced to confront our uncertain future. This is sort of an existential challenge and very much inverting the whole concept of having a key subject and the rule of 2/3. However, it might be worth exploring. If you print it towards that size and ask people to comment on the question, "What does the picture make you think about?" I bet you’d get very interesting answers.

Then if you did the same thing with the small color picture, their comments would be on the deck and the interesting shadows.

I think that color might anchor things to their local differences and beauty, just my hypothesis.

Anyway, I'm impressed with your work, John, as it has enlightened me. Also Nicolas' insight in realizing there had to be another source of light!

Asher

Thanks for your comments Asher,

I believe the light smoothing settings in Photomatix has a lot to do with the way tonal gradation is delivered. Too low and the image takes on a surreal look, too high and the image starts to over blend (tonally).

I'd like to hear some more of Georg's ramblings as he puts huge amounts of effort into his stitched multi exposure landscapes and they are stunning.

I agree that the image looses compostional interest as a B&W, but you have to agree that the broad DR is equally as captivating.

I do have other version with Anne (my wife) in the image, but due to the nature of her rather unelegant gardening apparel, she would prefer that I didn't share it )

As for PG Tips, I drink gallons of the stuff!

John_Nevill said:

Tg.
I agree that the image looses compostional interest as a B&W, but you have to agree that the broad DR is equally as captivating.

I do have other version with Anne (my wife) in the image, but due to the nature of her rather unelegant gardening apparel, she would prefer that I didn't share it )

Click to expand...

That, would be perfect in B&W, especially in gardening clothes! Just look at it in B&W!

Asher

John_Nevill said:

This is my first attempt at tone-mapped HDR photography, so be gentle with me!

Click to expand...

John, the subtlety and beautiful colours you've rendered here is enough to get me to seriously check out HDR photography. Having long been involved in the field of 3D modeling / rendering, I have been very familiar with HDR imagery in general, but most people seem to completely overdo it in their images, but you've captured this scene perfectly here - so much like the human eye would see it.

I'm not a fan of the composition, as Asher said it lacks a focal element (and I know that wasn't your intent, to produce an interesting composition) but I love the rest - well done!

Thaks all for the feedback on the sigma 12-24. Fortunately where I live (Toronto) I can try out several copies in store, analyze and then go back... (rather than trying to do this via mail order)