"Faking" HDR Photos

[six]

I was looking at some HDR photographs earlier today, and I was kinda inspired by them. They have an interesting look.

So, I was wondering if there is any way to "fake" HDR images? I know real ones have special formats and use special programs and stuff, but I was just wondering if there is a way to make some using "standard" photos (in multiple exposures, of course). I have Photoshop, but not CS2+, which I think have an HDR function built in...

I know some of you are into HDR photography... can anyone shed any light?

[Caramel]

The only way to make HDR look as good as HDR looks is to actually have HDR.
I've seen some tutorials on how to fake it but nothing compares to the real deal IMO.

[Tups]

Gradient filter can make some pictures look HDR-ish:



Still I would advise against it. A friend of mine has some good HDR photographs, but usually they just don't look that good.

[vedran]

i'm new to the whole photography thing, but here's what i've learned about HDR so far:

from what i've seen and experimented with, the best HDRs are generated through Photomatix using 3 or more exposures. depending on the scene, I usually shoot 7 exposures ranging from -3 to +3. some people go as far as combining 13 exposures, such as -3 to +3, plus the ones in between (e.g -2.33, -1.33, -0.33, 0.33, 1.33, 2.3). the exposures in between don't really do much except reduce noise. at least in my case, that's what happened.

it is possible to generate a "pseudo-HDR" from using one RAW image, but I find that in most cases it doesn't look as good as combining multiple exposures, thus covering a whole range.

as far as "faking" HDRs, i guess you could adjust the exposure in PS and save a single image as three separate images and then combine them in Photomatix. not sure about the outcome, though.

also, the Photoshop "Merge to HDR" feature isn't that great and doesn't generate nearly as nice pictures as Photomatix does, nor does it have as much control. i do, however, put the finishing touches in PS after i'm done with Photomatix.

hopefully rob will chime in as he knows a ton more about photography than i do

[eaglecatcher]

A friend of mine has some good HDR photographs, but usually they just don't look that good.

Those pictures remind me so much of CoD MW in the Chernobyl level.

[FDSpirit]

Downpour?

[fa22raptorf22]

Just do a real hdr. Its not that hard to take 3 to 5 exposures and crush them together

[watkins]

as far as "faking" HDRs, i guess you could adjust the exposure in PS and save a single image as three separate images and then combine them in Photomatix. not sure about the outcome, though.

Many of mine are this style and most come out well.








The first two are real HDR, the last three are fake via the PS exposure method.

[six]

So, is HDR pretty much the squashing of a picture taken with multiple exposures? That's it? If that's so, then I am grossly overestimating the difficulty. I could just use Exposure bracketing to take a set of pictures at different exposures. That's the simple part...

[the dumblonde]

So, is HDR pretty much the squashing of a picture taken with multiple exposures? That's it? If that's so, then I am grossly overestimating the difficulty. I could just use Exposure bracketing to take a set of pictures at different exposures. That's the simple part...

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The trick is to use a tripod so all images are the same. Then if just comes down to your merging choices.

[Caramel]

yup just a big mashup, it's just that when you modify an original picture 3x to get diff exposures and mash em together it doesn't look as good as actually taking it as 3 photos at different exposures.

[watkins]

yup just a big mashup, it's just that when you modify an original picture 3x to get diff exposures and mash em together it doesn't look as good as actually taking it as 3 photos at different exposures.

Not true. Let me once again post this picture made from PSing different exposures:

[vedran]

that method works with some scenes, and doesn't with others. you just have to experiment and see what works best

[six]

So, now that I know how to take the pictures needed for HDR, is there any special way to squish them together without using a dedicated program? Can it be done in pre-CS2 Photoshop? Photomatrix costs $$$ and I just want to experiment with HDR...

[theholycow]

Should be plenty doable in GIMP.
http://www.google.com/search?q=hdr+gimp
http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_p ... p_portable