Question: Photography software

[FANCYGUN]

OK Here's a question for all of you photo geeks out there........

We have all seen programs that will stitch a series of pictures together to create a panorama shot and the work really well.
No I have heard of another program that will do this:
When you take a number of pictures to bracket the exposure, over expose, under expose and proper exposure, this program will take all the superimposed photos and pick the best exposures from each shot and create a new picture from the three. In this manner you would have the best exposure through out the photograph.
Has anyone either heard of or tried this program? I would think it could help solve a lot of exposure problems when we try and photograph our work.
Marty

 

[coincutter]

Marty

yep yep and nope

I have several

They work well for stacking exposure, focus or hdr
All depends on your image requirements and os

I have programs that will bracket 15 plus exposures if you tether via usb - much depends on your camera's electronics and lens. Not a substitute for lighting and skill though.

Will it help people improve their photos? Depends on their skill level - might confuse them.

They will need a fairly good camera with aperture priority capabilities.

If you tether you can do the same effect in PS or Gimp using layers and flattening the image.

what r u having problems shooting? example? windowz, mac, linux? your camera make model?

geek?

 

[Sam]

Marty: google HDR or high dynamic range photography. You can get some impressive looking photos using this technique. Also check YouTube for tutorials. I remember seeing a video podcast tutorial on hdr and I'll see if I can find it when I get home.

 

[FANCYGUN]

What I am trying to get at here with this program is the fact that at times it is very hard to get just the right exposure when we try to shoot some of our work with the reflective quality of the metals and any non metal surfaces. As you know "braketing" trys to help us out with the correct exposure as any light meter can be fooled or not quite correct for a given situation. So it would be nice to be able to combine the best parts of these different exposres into your one "best" picture.

Sam. What you suggested is right on the money
When googled I came up with this web site which has this program and also has a pretty neat demo of what this is all about. It might be worth a try.
http://www.mediachance.com/hdri/index.html

 

[Martin Strolz]

Our friend from Germany, Mario Sarto has considerable experience with this technique. There are sample pictures in the gallery. http://www.igraver.com/forum/album.php?albumid=13&pictureid=62 Mario, I hope you find some time to explain this for us!
Martin

 

[Sam]

Marty: The price isn't bad, but if you have Photoshop you can use that to get the same results. Check this link: Photoshop HDR Apparently there's a feature in the Automate menu. Check it out and give it a test.

 

[coincutter]

You are on the right track but with the wrong program (Mediachance) Marty.

Mediachance HDR is dramatic and often unpredictable for the most part, thats what makes it fun.
You need a good tripod for registration and most times an electronic release to prevent shake. Keep in mind this stuff was designed for city shots, scenery etc. Not for close up work with tight registration

http://images.google.com/images?q=h...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCUQsAQwAw


Meanwhile drop in here and see if this isn't what you need for shiny metal issues. Serious quality professional level out put

LIghzone works from one image...
http://www.lightcrafts.com/lightzone/

This one rocks and is probably the best I have found to date.
http://meila-digitalworld.blogspot.com/2009/09/photomatix-pro-325-x32x64-final.htm


this is what I use to correct digital shortcomings and it's way faster than the PS learning curve.

Granted you can stack images all day, but if the highlights are burnt up they are burnt up.


Digitals always have a lot more going on in the shadows than you think is there if you can bring it out. Much depends on the camera, the original shot, jpg bmp etc vs. raw and a host of other issues... So base your exposure on the highlights and work backwards on your image enhancement.

 

[Sam]

Hey Steve, nice to see you posting again.

 

[coincutter]

Nice to have some time to post, been busy rebuilding a bathroom and playing with Rod Cameron for a week or so. My current student came down with the bad flu so I get to be lazy!

 

[Sam]

Ah, a week with Rod is definitely fun! He's a pleasure to have around.

Sorry to hear about the flu. Got my flu shot and am waiting for the H1N1 shots to become available.

 

[FANCYGUN]

Good mornning guys and many thanks for your input to my question.
I know that this technique was mainly used for landscapes or large subject areas as Steve pointed out. There could be mechanical type problems with shooting something as small as what we work on. I think I do find the technique fascinating even if I find out it will not be appropriate for our miniature type of stuff.
I do have photoshop CS4 which I haven't used much favoring my old PS7. But Sam old buddy, thanks for the link on using photoshop for the HD photomerge. When I get a chance i will try a few test shots just to see what happens. It could be interesting. Anyone else have any thoughts or experience with this?
Once again guys..thanks for your input and help
Marty

 

[Sam]

Marty: Here's something I occasionally do when photographing engraving.

With my camera securely mounted on a tripod and using an electronic shutter release, I'll shoot several shots while moving a white card around to bring out certain areas that need a bit of light bounced in. This beats a complex setup of reflector cards placed in different areas for a single photo.

In addition to fill light as above, I will bracket exposure if there's a great range of light to dark areas.

It's critical that the camera and tripod NOT move during these shots and shoot Aperture Priority.

Bring all of the shots into Photoshop and place each one on separate layers in a single file. By carefully erasing portions of each layer you can create a properly exposed and highlighted engraving photo. It's pretty slick.

As Steve said, 'focus stacking' layers of different shots is also possible. It can also be a bit more tricky.

 

[FANCYGUN]

Sam
I forgot all about moving the bounce card around as you take a long exposure. I use to do this actually with my light source years ago when teaching. I was looking at the HDR format on photoshop and I do want to give that a try when time permits. Just another toy to play with I suppose. Like Steve said also that there is a lot more details lurking in the shadows than in the burnt out hot spots. Yes it is also important when bracketing your shots to keep the aperature the same and adjust the shutter speed or you will most definatly end up with depth of feild problems athe can wreck any atempt at stacking.
Interesting enough.one photo I have is actually a combination of a scan of a casting overlayed on the photo of tha ctual rifle. The scan was super clear and the old photo wasn't as sharp as I originally thought. With careful scaling and distorting of the casting image, the merge is quite acceptable. Here is the finished photo. It is actually 5 layers. Background, 2 rifle shots and 2 casting scans

 

[FANCYGUN]

whooops didnt upload.......