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Hi,

I've been using the Hitech Graduated ND filters for a while now and I have been pretty happy with them. I have also read about HDR - High Dynamic Range, here and the web. Last night, I decided to do a bit of a test to see the types of results I would be able to get with both techniques. The photos with and without the filters were taken at the same settings so the only difference is the filter. The HDR photo is a set of seven bracketed photos.

Photos taken with D200, Tokina 12-24 at 15mm, f16, 0.4s, lens set to hyperfocal distance so manual focusing. I did the metering with the filter on.

Instead of adjusting the exposure when I didn't have the filter on, I decided to use the same settings to show the effect of the filter on the photo.

Click on photo to get a larger version.

With ND Filter


With no filter


With ND filter with some fill light added in post processing


HDR photo - no filter, 7 shots bracketed (sorry about watermark, using trial version)


All of these were taken within a few minutes of each other. The HDR photos were taken within a few seconds of each other.

I also took some photos with a 1-stop and 2-stop ND grad filter but I thought that showing the 3-stop one was the best of the three.

Hopefully you found this useful, I did

Pretty sure you can also do the HDR in Photoshop but it was certainly very easy in Photomatix. I'll probably get the software, it runs on Mac and Windows.

Useful links:

Where I got the filters:
http://www.teamworkphoto.com/hitech.html

Home of the manufacturer:
http://www.formatt.co.uk/home/default.asp

Photomatix software:
http://www.hdrsoft.com/

Review of Photomatix, you can also get a discount if you buy via site:
http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_a106/essay.html

Cheers,

André
(Mods: not sure if this should be in Image section or tips, feel free to move it)

sorry for the dumb question but what is HDR
thanks zsolt

zeddy wrote:sorry for the dumb question but what is HDR
thanks zsolt

Stands for "High Dynamic Range"

Which will include a very broad range of shadow and highlight details, more to make a shot 'wow' like and surreal as a painting.

zeddy wrote:sorry for the dumb question but what is HDR
thanks zsolt

Good question

Simply put, which is the explanation I started with, you combine a series of photos together from under exposed to over exposed and anything in between. The software puts them together and you end up with a final photo with most of the parts properly exposed. It is good to use this type of photography where you have a wide range of lighting.

For an lenghty explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

Cheers,

André

ok did some reserch and got some answers
thanks zsolt

next time i'll do some reserch before asking DUMB questions

This is the best HDR site that I have come across, passed to me from someone on another forum

http://petemc.net/hdr-guide/

Great site ods,

thanks for that. I think I had seen the site before, but didn't bookmark it before.

Cheers,

André

The HDR version does show more dynamic range and is an impressive illustration of the power of 32 bit. . .

Congratulations Radar, that HDR image is certainly a fine image and I think the best of the batch. Guess our old slide braketing skills are really still needed.

hdr is something i've played with in photoshop, but never got the results i was after.
that article helps explain why. thanks.

if u want to see more hdr shots have a search on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?w=all&q=hdr&m=names