Samples of "fake" HDR Photos

I decided to take some old sunset photos I really like and see what would happen if I created "fake" HDR versions of them using the Photomatix plug-in for Aperture. I opened each photo in Aperture, created two additional versions, and then adjusted one of the versions to have a -2 exposure and the other to have a +2 exposure. After that I used the Photomatix plug-in to create the HDR image.

As you will see, some quality is lost in the HDR versions, but they still have more vibrant colors. There are several reasons for the loss of quality (or "noise"). First, I was shooting with an ISO of 400, which isn't ideal for obtaining the best results. Though you typically want a higher ISO for low-light situations, it can compromise the integrity of the photo when shooting for HDR and create more noise. (So your best bet when shooting for HDR is to set your ISO to 100.) Second, I wasn't shooting with HDR in mind, so the one frame I took was geared to getting the best sky images (not the foreground). Finally, and I've mentioned this before, using one JPEG to create an HDR image isn't ideal.

That said, here are the results:

Adjustment Layers in Photoshop

Newer versions of Photoshop have what's called "adjustment layers." It's a feature that automatically creates a layer for each general adjustment you make to the photo. You can find it in the palettes on the right side of the screen when you open Photoshop. This is different from adjusting hue/saturation and that sort of thing from the Photoshop menu bar, because it doesn't permanently alter the pixels. What's great about adjustments layers is that you can change each layer individually to affect the overall photo. For example, you can create a black and white adjustment layer and then adjust its opacity to 50% to get muted colors. Then if you want a certain part of the photo to stand out in color, you can brush in the full-color layer underneath. This technique is somewhat difficult to explain, but let me show you what I mean. Below you'll see an original photo and then two versions I created using adjustment layers:

And here is a photo I really played with using adjustment layers:

As you can see, you can go as conservative or crazy as you want. The fun is playing around with layering the adjustments, changing their opacity, and brushing in (or out) color.

(You can do similar things with Aperture, so I'm going to need to play with these same photos in Aperture to find out the difference. The main difference that stands out immediately is that you can see and adjust each layer in Photoshop, whereas in Aperture what's done is done unless you choose to completely undo the adjustments. Aperture doesn't work in layers.)

Playing with Portland Pictures

My husband and I recently took a week-long trip to Portland, Oregon. As I always do, I brought my camera to record the scenery. However, this time around, I had HDR in the back of my mind. Needless to say, I took most of my photos in threes (+2, 0, -2 exposure). Though you can technically create a fake HDR photo using one RAW exposure, I've tested and compared the two techniques, and taking three differently-exposed shots from the camera itself (even if they're jpeg and not RAW) provides more detail and clarity in the photo. What did me in was not using the tripod each time. Though the software can align photos to an extent, mine still came out slightly blurry due to my unsteady hand. But to me, taking the time to set up the tripod each time, especially in areas without flat surfaces on which to balance it, wasn't worth it. [Note to self: invest in a better tripod when you get a full-time job.]

Let's get to it though. Here are a few before and after HDR photos:

As you can see, using three exposures to create a photo with more light/detail in both the foreground and background can have its advantages. What's also cool is you can create somewhat crazy pictures with it as well - pictures that may not look quite true-to-life.

And finally, I took some of my pictures (mostly HDR images) and played around with the tilt-shift technique:

You can find all of my photos from the trip, both manipulated and not, at my photography overflow album. Photos are sorted by date, so you'll find my newest stuff at the top.

Aperture with Photomatix Plug-in

Yesterday I decided to take some of my pictures from San Francisco area and see what I could do with them as far as enhancing the colors and lighting. I used Aperture to create copies of the original, then took the copies and changed the exposure to -2 and +2, respectively. Then I used the Photomatix plug-in to combine all three into an HDR photo and tone mapped them. The results are pretty interesting. Some photos are greatly improved, while others just look a little cartoonish. There's definitely a lot of flexibility with this software, depending on the kind of look you're going for (realistic versus cool). Again, I'll show you the before and after photos: