picture thread II

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[Dstanic]

last picture thread was like 10pgs long so i'm starting a new one..


Here's my first attempt at HDR.  I used Photomatix (thanks for the tip Sofakingwetoddid)

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i really like the sky... but i think u got too much contrast or something going on cuz the building is getting pretty grainy. it does look awesome though, dont get me wrong.
did you buy it or download the trial? how is it?

shot some storm shots last night, so ill post a couple


and im not sure if i posted this one, but im starting to experiment with some other things too..

[Dstanic]

I think building is probably has too much saturation.. it's really not that bright red.  But I'm still calibrating my monitor (I need to by that Spyder2pro or whatever to get it just right) so I'm not spending a whole lotta time on stuff at the moment.

I like that 3rd pic.. that's cool!

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

heres a comparison with two shots i did, mind you this is all learning... and im sure they both do a great job. but i think i like the photomatix one better, the first one.
 
i think u should be able to click on em to get the full sizers.

[Dstanic]

I think the first one is better too, but I like the more natural color of the second one.  I think both would look better with a warmer color tone.



This one is a JPG straight out of the camera (no photoshop or anything... I should probably straighten it though!).  I had the camera set to "landscape" picture style, so it gives it the vivid greens and blues.





Here's a shot of the full moon from the other day, shot at 200mm.  I shot it in RAW sharpened and cropped it.  Used an online moon exposure calculator which said to shoot at ISO100, F8, 1/320 and this is the result:

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i have a couple shots of the moon, i shot at 300mm and im not sure of the rest of the settings, though it was kinda hard to set the exposure time. i kept over exposing the shot... a bright light in a dark sky isnt easy to capture.

yours looks like it has more detail than mine.

as for the other two pics... im kinda tossed on em now... i really REALLY like the reflections on the side of the car on the right one. but i really REALLY like the blue sky... haha
i kinda think photoshop has more control over the hdr, but photmatix does it faster, and brighter... almost fake looking. but with photoshop i can really stretch the shadows....

[Dstanic]

next time you shoot the moon check out this site:
http://www.adidap.com/2006/12/06/moon-exposure-calculator/


Did you shoot that car in RAW or JPG?  I'd like to see what I can do with it if that's cool.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

cool, ill check it out.
have you had any luck shooting lightening?

this is one of the better ones i have, though a friend of mine caught this one:

this is the reason i want an STi... lol 168 second exposure on this one, from the 14th floor. (mind you the balcony didnt hurt the shot either)
this is taken in edmonton, where im from. (though not by me, as i said.)

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

[Dstanic]

WE just got a 04 Chev SSR in bright red yesterday.. maybe I should take some pics of it.  It'll be in autotrader soon anyways though lol.

I haven't even tried to take any lightning shots.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

for the lightening i found the best results my camera gets is at about a 7 - 13 second exposure (plus a few other settings) the one my friend caught there, he was using his new STi, and had it set to a 168 second exposure!! hahaha thats crazy.
i wouldnt mind seeing some SSR pics... i have a couple dealership contacts myself. im workin on a G8.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

[crazy k]

nice!!!!  I just tried photomatrix too.  I need to learn photoshop.

[Dstanic]

SofaKingWeToddDid:  I gotta ask how do you do HDR in photoshop?  Do you have a plug-in or something?  Which version of PS you using?

I know I could probably do some exposure blending (using 2 pictures) and create image with 2 layers (kinda like my sig pic).

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

its in the automate option under file. File>Automate>Merge to HDR
it has all the same options as photomatix after that, except the tone mapping. (god i love tone mapping) but i still take my photomatix pics and run em thru photoshop to adjust the levels and stuff a little.
im runnin CS2, i have 3... but not a good enough computer. lol
youve just inspired me to retry some of my already done shots to try em with photoshop. lol heres my latest 5 of my friends mitsubishi lancer ralliart





i dont really care too much for the last one, but i had my camera set up wrong. i use AEB but once and a while i change the settings on my own... so it was set to +2 on the exposure thing, i set the AEB to 3@2, so -2, 0, +2. but since it was already at +2, it went to 0, +2, +4.
i didnt notice and didnt feel like re-shooting it. lol so heres what she gets.

Edit:
Here is a link to the set of photos, including full sizers if ya care to check em out.
(was going to end up on another page so u might have missed the preview)