After installing some software, reading a magazine and getting some new and refreshed ideas on shopping pictures, taking pinhole photographes and taking HDR photos and shopping them, I decided to take a go at it myself. I didn't have the time or the rest in my head to really take my time for it and look for some awesome amazing eye gawking sites and scenes, so my backyard park (I have an even niftier frontside park ) near the hospital had to do.
I didn't shop much in them, except the shopping that could be done in the hdr tool photomattix. Normally , I experiment a bit more with adobe cs, elements and lightroom, but for now, trying out to make some nice HDR pics was enough, so only some basic retouching and rescaling. Next to that, I'm also just starting with dslr cameras, and done some photoshopping in the past.
If you're interested in HDR photography yourself you could read these tutorials that helped me in taking HDR photos:

- First, you need to read this bit:
http://backingwinds.blogspot.com/2006/1 ... mages.html

- And 2nd here's the photomattix tutorial:
http://www.hdrsoft.com/resources/tutori ... index.html

Finally, my 1st creations in HDR. I must say, apart from the not really fully satisfying sceneries, I do not dislike my results
(click on the images for a larger image)

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M.A.S.K. , is the mighty power that can save the day

Nice! Not bad at all for first time ... #3 is pretty and #8 is totally awesome

I gotta try this one day ...

yeah, I like it as well, although if you compare it to this, I still have a long way to go But those guys as well have a mighty fine subject and awesome pic from the start, my sceneries aren't that awesome of a pic, maybe some later trys, it'll jump of the screen as well

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M.A.S.K. , is the mighty power that can save the day

Holy shit those two images with the cars look amazing. Keep practicing Bucky, you'll get there. The start looks promising too. ^_^

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Comfortably Numb

I tried it out, and this is what my makeshift scenery and rather old digicam produced.

Normal pic with normal exposure level: HDR pic:
Not sure though if that HDR merging actually did anything or if its just some color curves change.

doesn't look much different m8, did you take 3 different pics at 3 different shutter times and in as less time as possible? With dslr cams you have an option for that, he'll take 3 pics at -2 0 +2 as fast as possible as he can. You also need a very steady view, so you need a table or anything else you could put your cam on, best is tripod. You usually would need a raw image to get the best result out of it as well. With cannon cams that's RC2 file extension, you get pictures of around 10MB in size. Do you have all this? Otherwise it won't produce much for you anyway, did you read the two tutorials?

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M.A.S.K. , is the mighty power that can save the day

I nearly crapped mysself Dekar; you have the exact same watch that I'm earing right now!

them be some cool looking pics - the hospital you live near to reminds me of the one in l4d, so maybe you could shop it so that it's all dark and creepy

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ュ~ちゃんgamer.jp Pinky: true genius
ュ~ちゃんgamer.jp Pinky: doesn't make sense
ュ~ちゃんgamer.jp Pinky: till you're senseless

#8 is cool

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"I have come to shut this thread down. If I see anybody posting in here from now on, I will kill them.
In cold blood.
Thank you for your co-operation."
[SpA]DrMcMoist

Bucky can make pictures with his stoned view (#4+#5).

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SaintK: I'm completely lost

My cam cant save the pics as raw. The blog does not say it doesn't work with jpegs, but the reduced amount of data propably makes for far worse HDR pics.

And you did shoot with 3 different shutter times then? Maybe I'll play around a bit with a normal camera as well, see if it's doable. I do remember I read something about HDR with JPG somewhere.

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M.A.S.K. , is the mighty power that can save the day

Yes, -2, 0, +2 exposure.

nice pics dude!

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DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
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Bucky , that is awesome mate , keep it up and shows us some more!

Thats fantastic stuff!

Hmm

Rubbing the elderly?
But anyway, it's mostly not the body that determines how good your pics are gonna be, it's more a combination of photographer and lens. That is , if you at least have a DSLR though.
I'd go for canon, always. There ain't a big difference between the 400 and 450, wouldn't spend a couple of hundred more on that. Rather buy a 400D and spend a bit more on a decent lense. I got myself the 17-85 EF S IS, costs around 300 euros now if you can find a place where they sell it for that price. If you want a big mofo tele lens, you'd be spending way more than that. Anything under 600 euros for a range of 70-200 is crap. Macros are also quite awesome, you can get a decent macro lens for around 2 to 3 hundred euros.
At first, I thought of buying a nikon D80, but didn't like the colors of the nikon much, so, went with my trusty old canon. Canon has always fulfilled my needs with ease in the past.

So what you need to be on your way:
- An average decent body (Canon 400D for instance)
- A decent lens, costs at least 3 to 4 hundred euros (I got the 17-85 EF S IS from canon)
- If you wanna photograph landscapes properly, you need a tripod. Try to go with quality, if you see your newly acquired camera and lens tumbling down the hill cuz the wind blew the whole thing down, you know you were too cheap ass on the tripod! I got a manfrotto for about 130 euros, very nice tripod! Was a package deal, a tripod with head on it. http://www.fotokonijnenberg.nl/product/ ... combi.html
A gorilla pod as extra would be fun as well, that way you can attach your SLR to a tree or something
http://www.fotokonijnenberg.nl/product/ ... d_slr.html
- A remote control for your camera. If you wanna take landscapes at F25 or somewhere around that, you need to minimize movement even more then only having a tripod. Or with HDR pics for instance!
- A decent bag to carry your camera in.
- Fast mem flash card

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M.A.S.K. , is the mighty power that can save the day

Hmm

Just thought I'd respond to this thread. As I said before on MSN, you've got the idea on HDR but, in my opinion, the photos you chose don't really work for HDR at all. Not all photos do. Try something a bit different. Go for mad textures, reflections. Anything that seems 'WOW' without HDR, try with HDR. You might be surprised at the results.

I must really get out with my camera more and try some more HDR. Now I've got my Canon 10-22mm, I can get some really mental shots with the wide angle perspective.

If we ever meet, Bucky, we must go 'togging together.

Had another go at it during my short stay in France

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M.A.S.K. , is the mighty power that can save the day

Pics are okay I guess.
Subjects are not that exciting, but I think that is hard to find.
Last pic is great, kinda love the background!

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Ze Ãœbermensch

It's hard to pick out detail in the foreground for the first photo. It seems too cluttered and out of focus. Were you using a tripod?

The second one is better. You've picked a much better subject to photograph.

The third one looks good at the top but, as you progress to the bottom, the photo begins to lack the Photomatix HDR effect.

The fourth one doesn't work at all. Plus, it's way too hazy.

The fifth one is not that great either. It's very hazy like the fourth.

The sixth one I don't like. There's nothing to it. Also remember that HDR does not work well with DoF at all. It ruins it. I tried it before and it just does not work.

Out of all of those, the second one works best.

From what I can tell with the outdoor photos, you were shooting midday to early afternoon. The sun has ruined the photos by creating a horrible haziness. This is due to the sun being directly above, being too bright and too strong on everything. You'll get better results by taking photos like this in the early morning, as the sun is rising or in the evening when the sun is setting. This is when the light gives a real mood to the scenery. Doing it like this you can get some intense photos with and without HDR.