dav.d photography

Posts Tagged ‘photomatix pro’

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21st July 2010

Practicing my HDR Skills – Day 321 of 365

written by dav.d

I feel like I have forgotten all about HDR lately. I need to get back in the saddle and just create some amazing photographs. I am 99% ready to quit testing Photoshop CS5′s HDRPro software – it sucks, it blows chunks, and it is slow. Oh, and the images it creates are crap.

So I am back to using Photomatix Pro. It gives me the look I want to create and it does it quickly. It isn’t perfect but it is the best out there. There is another software program I am starting to use as a trial version and I will blog about that later, however, THAT software has been crashing on me at least 3 times tonight. Photomatix Pro is the way to go.

Powerlines against the sky in HDR

Powerlines against the sky in HDR

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Posted in Daily Photograph Project, Nature Photography, landscape photography | Tags: , , , ,

15th June 2010

Cool Clouds in HDR

written by dav.d

Photomatix Pro vs. Photoshop CS5 HDRPro is a battle that will continue to rage for a few days at least. Here is an example of where Photomatix Pro kicks the butt of Adobe Photoshop CS5. Besides the fact that Photoshop takes forever to create HDR images, it doesn’t seem to make the image very dynamic. Photomatix Pro wins again.

Cool HDR photo of clouds in Photomatix Pro

Cool HDR photo of clouds in Photomatix Pro

Cool HDR photo of clouds in Photoshop CS5 HDRPro

Cool HDR photo of clouds in Photoshop CS5 HDRPro

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Posted in Urban Photography, landscape photography | Tags: , , , , ,

9th June 2010

Cars & Trucks in HDR. Photoshop vs. Photomatix Pro Rematch

written by dav.d

I photographed Jeff’s truck and car yesterday evening. I took “normal” photographs but I also wanted to create some cool HDR photographs of cars. Right now if I am creating HDRs for vehicles or any kind of product the hope of keeping colors accurate go out the window. There is so much processing that goes into these photos that the pixels are just destroyed and create something new and surreal. Do they look cool? Yes. Do they look accurate? Not so much. I do find that Photoshop CS5 HDRPro will give a closer approximation to the actual vehicle while Photomatix Pro still creates the very surreal look.

Dodge Ram 2500 TRX4 edited in Photoshop CS5's HDRPro

Dodge Ram 2500 TRX4 edited in Photoshop CS5's HDRPro

In both cases I actually do like the Photoshop CS5 versions of the vehicles. I did in the case of all the photographs edit a bit in regular photoshop or lightroom to create a bit more contrast or fix some things that were off. There was an annoying light pole coming out of the roof of the truck – I used the content aware fill in the new CS5 to nuke that and it worked alright.

I wish that there was a better way to minimize halos around objects. Photoshop CS5 seems to be a fan of halos, glows, and radius sliders. Boo. And Photoshop CS5 also takes FOREVER to create these HDRs. In the same time I would create one HDR in Photoshop I imported a bridal photoshop and I created 3 HDRs in Photomatix Pro. Hooray for multitasking – boo to Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro for being such a slow moron.

Dodge Ram 2500 TRX4 edited in Photomatix Pro

Dodge Ram 2500 TRX4 edited in Photomatix Pro

Jeff is looking to sell his truck – and if you have questions on the 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 TRX4 give Jeff a call at 435-823-6706.

Pontiac G6 GTP edited in Photoshop CS5's HDRPro

Pontiac G6 GTP edited in Photoshop CS5's HDRPro

If I were to properly photograph cars and trucks, such as in magazines and advertising I am sure I would have to have a huge studio with huge softbox lights and then knock out the background and put the car in some cool location. And I would have to charge hundreds of thousands of dollars. :)

Pontiac G6 GTP edited in Photoshop CS5's HDRPro

Pontiac G6 GTP edited in Photoshop CS5's HDRPro

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Posted in product photography | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

4th June 2010

Another Photoshop CS5 HDRPro vs. Photomatix Pro HDR Showdown

written by dav.d

I wanted to revisit my comparison of HDR software available to photographers – the reigning champion has been Photomatix Pro. And in the other corner weighing in at $599 dollars is Photoshop CS5 HDRPro.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph Jam for the upcoming Pride weekend, and I wanted some really cool shots with the sun in the photograph – and this usually means I am creating an HDR. I created 4 HDR images – in both Photomatix Pro and in Adobe Photoshop CS5 HDRPro.

First difference? It took me about 8 minutes to create all four images in Photomatix Pro – I didn’t sit there with a stop watch so it isn’t very scientific. Once they were created I began creating the HDR images in Photoshop – THAT took me about an hour to do – so yeah – big difference.

The first two images are from the same photograph – and from Photomatix Pro. Yes, I know there is lens flare – when you shoot into the sun you are going to get lens flare and I left it in cause I think it is ok to have lens flare in this case. The second image is a crop of the photo so you can see the building has some noise – Photomatix Pro constantly has problems with added noise when there shouldn’t be any. The building has a bit of an inner glow – which is a bit of a surreal painterly look that is telltale of Photomatix Pro. And I rather like that look. At least I can control it.

HDR Created in Photomatix Pro and Edited in Nik Software Viveza 2

HDR Created in Photomatix Pro and Edited in Nik Software Viveza 2

Zoomed in on the Photomatix Pro

Zoomed in on the Photomatix Pro

The next image is Photoshop CS5 HDRPro’s best attempt – and the building is still just dark and muddy – this is my big complaint – I can’t get more detail out of the dark areas – not easily at least. Photoshop CS5 gives you so many sliders and they all seem to imitate the things that are bad about HDR. There is a slider to control the radius – I don’t want to create halos or glows at the edge of lines and detail – I want to avoid that – yet I have a slider that will add as much radius as I want.

I want to boost the shadows to get more detail – and there is no good way to do that. After enough slider movement then the whole image starts looking muddy, messy or just over sharpened. Ick.

HDR in Photoshop CS5 HDRPro and Edited in Nik Software Viveza 2

HDR in Photoshop CS5 HDRPro and Edited in Nik Software Viveza 2

Zoomed in on the Photoshop CS5 HDRPro image

Zoomed in on the Photoshop CS5 HDRPro image

Photoshop CS5 does have the advantage that it does not introduce noise into the image. Photoshop also does not create a black halo around the sun – Photomatix Pro does that and that isn’t want I am trying to do. Photomatix Pro also creates images that are a bit soft in detail – Photoshop CS5 seems to maintain the detail in the images.

I consider Photoshop CS5 HDRPro a “beta” program that will hopefully get better and not ignored or cast aside down the road. I would recommend Photomatix Pro over Photoshop CS5 at this time.

I just found out that Nik Software will be introducing their own version of HDR software – and I love their other products. So I am excited to see what they can do in the world of HDR.

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Posted in High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography, camera gear | Tags: , , , , , ,

3rd June 2010

Jam for Pride in HDR – Day 273 of 365

written by dav.d

Jam in Salt Lake City has decked the halls for Gay Pride this weekend. They wrapped the club in rainbow banners. And they had me photograph the location.

I edited the HDRs in Photomatix Pro and in Photoshop CS5′s HDRPro – and I think Photomatix Pro wins this round. I’ll keep playing with Photoshop CS5 – but it is hit or miss and the results are bad when it doesn’t work. Photomatix Pro has two important sliders to get the right look. Photoshop CS5 has so many sliders that can just muck it up. When it is bad it looks like mud.

Jam in HDR

Jam in HDR

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Posted in Daily Photograph Project, High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography, Urban Photography | Tags: , , , , ,

4th May 2010

HDR Comparison between Photomatix Pro and Adobe Photoshop CS5

written by dav.d

Adobe released their Creative Suite 5 this past weekend and my disk arrived this morning. I have been looking forward to some of the new features especially HDRPro in Photoshop CS5. So I have created an HDR in Photoshop and then compared it to what I had created in Photomatix Pro about a year ago. The Photomatix Pro did have some special effects such as Nik Software Viveza applied to it.

I find that Photoshop takes a long time to create the HDR – I was waiting at least 10 minutes before I could even see the preview. You might have time to grab a coffee or lunch while it crunches the digits. The results are pretty good though. And I try to avoid the surreal effects seen in many HDR. And Photoshop avoids adding noise to the photograph – something that Photomatix Pro is guilty of repeatedly.

Moab, a Jeep, and Photoshop CS5

Moab, a Jeep, and Photoshop CS5

It is going to take some practice to find the right settings for HDR. I may have to save up some money and get more RAM for my Macs. That may help the speed of the processing.

Below is the Photomatix Pro. The image from Photoshop doesn’t destroy the shades and the darker color of the Jeep. Photomatix Pro really has a hard time respecting dark items such as tuxedos. Photomatix Pro also has difficulty with night time photography. I have a ton of work to learn the ins and outs of Photoshop CS5. Now I just hope that Lightroom 3 will arrive soon.

Moab, a Jeep, and Photomatix Pro

Moab, a Jeep, and Photomatix Pro

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Posted in Digital Photography, landscape photography | Tags: , , , , ,

23rd March 2010

Morning HDR of Provo – Day 201 of 365

written by dav.d

Can you create HDR photographs without a tripod? You bet! Is it recommended? No.

And to learn how to create an HDR check my tutorial on my dav.d photography tips website.

To create this photograph I took 3 photographs with my Nikon D90 on high burst mode. I then created the HDR in Photomatix Pro. I then fancied up the image using Nik Software Viveza 2 and their Color Efex Pro 3. Both are awesome plugins to play with color, contrast and such.

I didn’t want the sun in the photograph because the Nikon D300 only brackets 3 shots – and that wouldn’t be enough if the sun was in the shot. And I wanted to capture the cool clouds anyway. You almost need to have clouds to make an HDR look cool.

Morning HDR in Provo

Morning HDR in Provo

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Posted in Daily Photograph Project, High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography, Urban Photography | Tags: , , ,

21st January 2010

Handheld HDR – Day 139 of 365

written by dav.d

It feels like forever since I have created an HDR image. And this photograph is actually my first where I did not use a tripod. I actually hand held the 3 photos – the Nikon D90 only brackets 3 photos unlike the D300 which will bracket 9. And it helps that I used the high burst mode and that the Nikkor 18-200mm lens has VR to help reduce camera shake.

Photomatix Pro, which is the software I recommend for the HDR process, will align the image in case you do handhold the photographs. I wanted to test the capabilities and I am impressed. I will have to try it again with other shots to see how reliable hand holding bracketed shots can be.

Provo, Utah in HDR and handheld

Provo, Utah in HDR and handheld

The second photograph is the same photo, however, I turned it into a black and white photo using Nik Software’s Silver Efex pro. Photomatix Pro is just the first step in creating a photograph. I use Photomatix Pro to create the tone mapped image – but that is just step one. You then need to go in and add some levels, curves, saturation, contrast or other touch ups. I also had to clone out a car that had been moving.

Same HDR photograph but in black and white with Silver Efex Pro

Same HDR photograph but in black and white with Silver Efex Pro

HDR is still a developing and emerging technology. It will get better and I think it is worth it for people to learn how to create these images. There is a lot of HDR imagery out there that I think is craptacular and looks like a Harry Potter acid trip. But there are some other images out there that look real and look better than a basic photograph.

But in the end it boils down to good photography and good practices in creating an image. This photo could have been better on a ton of levels. I could have found a different location. I am also shooting through a window and there is a little bit of reflection that I find distracting. But it was a practice – a practice in hand holding for HDR.

Next time I hope I will have my tripod on me.

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Posted in Daily Photograph Project, High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography, Urban Photography | Tags: , , ,

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