HDR is dead, long live HDR

HDR, High Dynamic Range imaging was developed as a technique in the movie business to, about ten years, give extra control over lighting effects without significantly degrading the image. The technique slowly migrated to the stills and with the rise of digital photography gave a fairly quick fix to the limitation of the sensors (and film even more so) on not having enough dynamic range to properly capture shadow detail and highlight detail at the same time. This became very popular on the International Salon scene for a couple of years. Now there are lots of rumours that it was only a passing fad and is now out of fashion. I think, perhaps, this rumour has been taken up by those who either don’t know how to effectively use it or mistakenly believe it is simply a rather wild effect.

The truth of the situation is more likely that those who have been using it quite well have now gained to skills to use this technique to its best which can improve a suitable photo immeasurably.

The process is really quite simple, take two or more shots of the same scene at different exposures and combine these to create a single image in 32 bit space. You can then work on your image quite considerably without causing any damage to it like posterisation or pushing  any data off the ends. You can then convert it back to 16 bit to tidy it and put in the finishing touches ready to print. There are a few difficulties in this, the first one is that 32bit cannot be displayed accurately which can make it tricky to edit and look very flat and dull, in fact most users completely bypass actually  working in HDR which is, arguably, the most powerful aspect of this technique. They tend to use it simply as a way of combining the images and then getting access to the very powerful tone mapping controls of some of the more sophisticated HDR software. This leads me to the next problem, 32 bit images have to be converted to 16 or 8 bit to use, this needs some sort of tone mapping and where the process becomes rather subjective even, dare I say, artistic.

It is very easy to produce something that you can say Wow! that’s different, it must be good. Unfortunately “Wow! that’s different” doesn’t stay different for long and it soon becomes just another filter/effect that spoils what probably was a good image. How many tried the Cokin filters when they came out and how many tried the filters on Photoshop, its part of the learning curve, having gone through that phase it allows one to know how and when to use this effect.

What we are seeing now is HDR being used to improve images, to enhance the light and produce an image that the photographer saw and felt but the camera was unable to record. The early adopters of this process have a huge advantage now, they have got their messing about phase out of the way and can use this powerful technique to improve their image making.

Long live HDR.

Mike

7D

Hi All

I am working on  some thoughts on HDR and a series on using Digital SLRs to shoot video – I got a Canon 7D shortly before Christmas and want to share the tips I have found to shoot better video.

Here are some initial thought on the 7D.

The 7D is a superb camera very responsive with a professional feel. Not as solid at the 1D tanks but much better than the xxD series and I managed to get it for about the same price as my venerable 20D. It’s very good in low light slightly more noisy than the 5DII but, to me, it is a little more pleasant and acceptable except a very high ISO (above ISI6400). It is better built than the 5DII and very usable to shoot sport in any weather.

Here is a shot from a family portrait session recently with Nicola and her beautiful, photogenic and very well behaved baby. This was taken between group shots and I just managed to catch the moment before it had gone.

I shot this at f/11 which is well into the diffraction limited zone for this sensor, it won’t be quite as crisp as it could be but for most normal uses no-one would ever know. If you want the sharpest possible image you need a damn good lens and to keep the aperture at f/8 or below

I shall put up a short video I did over Christmas in the next few days. I’m sorry but it will be the ubiquitous test video we all must get out of our system before we can move on to produce our masterpiece (Ha – I wish).

Congratulations to The Impact Group who won the January PSA EID Group D competition.

Mike

Welcome

Welcome to 2010 and the start of this Web 2 world for Periphery.

Who or what is Periphery?

Periphery is the trading name for my consultancy and computer sales business and it has been in existence for about 25 years. I have a small number of direct clients but indirectly have worked for companies as varied as BAE Systems to Virgin Media.

I tend to work mainly in the graphics, video, presentation and events sectors. I am also a photographer, as part of the team SteelOrchid and a past president of Oldham Photographic Society.

Why now after all these years?

Its about time! I have advised my clients on their web presence for many years but have never found the time to get round to doing anything about for myself.

What am I going to do with it?

I have no idea!!

I’ll probably allow myself to have a few rants and perhaps put up the odd tutorial. Things that would look out of place in with one of my other hats on. I may even post stuff about jobs I have done, not often as a lot are confidential.

That’s it for now.

Speak to you all soon!!! (Wow three dog’s whatsits, I’m getting far too excited)

Mike