Happy Holidays! Mmmm, smell that cinnamon and pine.

My first attempts at an HDR shot using studio lighting. I used a 4-shot bracket (+/- 10 units – approx. 20-50) to create an HDR image.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 5D and Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens. Exposure of ISO 500, f/13.0 for 1/60 with varying strengths of light output. Lit with a single soft box on 300 W/S monolight and a white semi-circular reflector.

Processed in Photomatix Pro 3.2 with post-processing in Adobe Lightroom 2.5 and Photoshop CS3.

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Waiting to pick up Chinese food tonight so I ran across the street to this place and shot a photo. I was in this shop a couple of months ago and all I can think about is that movie Grumpy Old Men. The guys that work here are actually really nice but it just reminds me of the 50’s or something. Anyway, back to the weekend!

Where
Bennington, VT

The Shot
Nikon D90, Sigma 10-20mm, bracket 3 exp (-2,0,+2) using a tripod

Photomatix
Generated HDR using Photomatix, tonemapped with Details Enhancer

Photoshop CS3
Layer mask of curves to slightly increase the contrast
Layer mask of decrease saturation (reds) to reduce the tone of the sign
Layer mask of levels to correct the overall shot
Blended some areas to correct the red color cast
Dup layer to apply high pass filter @ 60% to sharpen things up a bit

Noise Reduction
Neat Image Trial Version

You
I would always appreciate any suggestions you may have. I don’t always know the best way to adjust things in Photoshop so any areas of improvement are welcomed.

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By Peter Liu

Camera: Nikon D2X
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 29 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

How I got this shot:

This panorama was created with four exposures on a tripod with a 3-stop ND grad set on the horizon. I used the sun as a reference point and simply panned from left to right. I had to do this quickly, as the sun was moving and I wanted it to occupy the same relative spot in all the frames. I used an ExpoDisc to set the white balance beforehand and locked the focus and exposure.

From Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.5, I loaded the four frames directly into Photomerge in Adobe Photoshop CS4 and processed the panorama using the default settings. After flattening the resulting image, I used the Ruler Tool to straighten the horizon (I didn’t have time to make sure everything was level during the shoot) and did the final crop.

Then I saved the image as a TIFF, closed it and reopened it in Camera RAW, so that I could adjust the overall exposure and use Fill Light to open the shadows in the rocks. I saved the image again and imported it back into Lightroom, where I manage all my photos. As a finishing touch, I burned in the edges slightly using the Vignettes feature in Lightroom.

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Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 11 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

About
I had the day off of work today so that gave me a little extra time to mess around with the camera. During the holiday season it seems like everything is a little crazier than usual so I thought something like this would be fitting.

The shot is composed of images for each item and the background shot separately with the same lighting setup. Everything was merged in photoshop with some curves adjustments and sharpening for web.

Setup:
ISO 200
1/250 s
f 11
11mm

Gear:
Canon 40D, Sigma 10-20, Manfrotto Tripod, Canon 430 EXII, Vivitar 285 HV, Gorillapod, Yangnuo Triggers, dirty laundry.

Strobist
Canon 430 exII placed in lamp (right edge of frame). Vivitar 285hv on Gorillapod stuck to top of door (left edge of frame). Each flash was at 1/2 power and aimed into the corner of the room. Triggered with Yangnuo 2.4 wireless triggers.

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Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/641)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 200

How
3 exposures, -2, 0, and +2 using a Nikon D300 w/ Sigma 10-20mm Wide Angle

Process
Photomatix Pro for tonemapping
Photoshop CS4, made duplicate layer from original, adjusted Levels, adjusted Curves, adjusted Hue/Saturation, and used Unsharp Mask to sharpen a tad.

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By Gary A. Stafford

Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Exposure: 1/320 second
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 125

Bright amber-colored morning sunlight, illuminating frost-covered leaves in Corbett’s Glen Nature Park, late Fall.

HDR image using a 3-shot bracket in Photomatix Pro 3.2. Photographed with Canon EOS 5D and Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens from tripod. Exposure of f/4.5 for 1/320 second, +/- 1 2/3 EV, at ISO 125. Processed in Adobe Lightroom 2.5, with post-processing in Photomatix Pro 3.2 and Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Using HDR really helped me hold detail in the highlight and the quarter-tones, while not loosing the mid- and three-quarter tones. I also like bokah, which is enhanced by both the slight movement of objects in the background and by combining the three shots in Photomatix.

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