Jorgen Poulsen
Posts: 35
Location:
Registered: 30 Apr 2008
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Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 14 May 2008 at 22:56 GMT
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Once you have your bracketed shots do you then Exposure Blend or HDR/Tone Map.
I understand reading on photomatix's website that Exposure Blending gives a more 'Natural look'.
Perhaps I just got it all wrong.
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 694
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 15 May 2008 at 14:24 GMT
updated: 15 May 2008 at 14:29 GMT
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Jorgen
You should try both and see which results you like best
One consideration is what type of lens you're using
The Photomatix HDR/Tone Mapping function includes the "black" around circular images. This produces a hazy look to the images.
In the case of my Coolpix 5400/FC-E9 there's a full circle image with lots of "black". For the Sigma 8mm there are "black" corners. The "full frame image" from the Nikkor 10.5mm, and I assume the Sigma 10mm, doesn't have any "black" around the photo so it doesn't have a problem.
I'm guessing you have the new Photomatix 3 since you're calling it "Exposure Blending" instead of "Combine" like my ver 2.5.2. "Combine" will composite circular images without the same haze that he HDR/Tone Mapping funtion does, but the image aren't as vivid and sharp.
I've been using Erik Krause's Enfuse Droplets to blend my 5400/FC-E9 source images and it a very good compromise between the Photomatix's Combine and HDR/Tone Mapping, very good color with the right set of images (some trial and error to get the hang of it) but not quite as crisp as the HDR/Tone Mapping. But much sharper and more vivid than the Cobine function.
Also, the basic Enfuse Droplet is much faster than either function in Photomatix Pro which is really helpful in production work like real estate tours.
If the colors in the Tone Mapping Preview are too intense, you can get a more "natural" look by lowering the Color Saturation.
Hope that helps
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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michael medina
Posts: 264
Location: portland, oregon, United States
Registered: 27 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 15 May 2008 at 17:22 GMT
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for me (on a mac) the photomatix fusing is works much faster than enfuse but i'm not fond of the results so i don't use it, i've had issues with shadows being over saturated
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 694
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 15 May 2008 at 18:36 GMT
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Michael
What kind of a bracket set are you using?
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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michael medina
Posts: 264
Location: portland, oregon, United States
Registered: 27 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 15 May 2008 at 18:45 GMT
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i've tested it with 3, 4, 5, and 6 images, i've not given up on it yet though, it does give more contrast in general but it seems weighted to shadow contrast (and thus maybe the shadow saturation)
i generally try a number of processes on any decent set of images before i decide what i want to use for the final
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 694
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 16 May 2008 at 4:55 GMT
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Michael
I meant what were the EV steps
In a high contrast situation like a normally lighted living room with bright windows or a bright sliding glass door, I usually shoot +2,+1,-0-,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-6 and -7 and typically composite shots +2,+1,-0-,-1,-2,-3,-4 and -5 in Photomatix Pro 2.5.2 using the HDR/Tone Mapping function. That usually takes care of the shadows
Shooting outdoors I can usually get away with +2,+1,-0-,-1 and -2 because there's less contrast because of the sunlight
In the Tone Mapping funtion you can lower the Color Saturation and the Stength (lowers the Contrast)
Later
Doug Aurand
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michael medina
Posts: 264
Location: portland, oregon, United States
Registered: 27 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 16 May 2008 at 5:51 GMT
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well i just spent a long time writing a response just have my browser crash for some reason.
i'm only talking about photomatix fusing/blending, not tone mapping, i don't use it's tone mapping as i don't like the artistic license that the software takes with my images 
i generally shoot -2, 0, +2 or really -3, -1, +1.
i've seen murky shadows in low contrast images and high contrast images. it just depends on what you want. for instance the first 3 vr's on this page pdxvr.com/tours-project-44 had muddy saturated shadows along the floor/wall seams so i had to enfuse them. photomatix gives pretty good results in most cases though.
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Robert Piontek
Posts: 97
Location: Germany
Registered: 26 Jul 2007
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 16 May 2008 at 8:00 GMT
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I spent a ton a time trying HDR, including photomatix, and others. I had various problems, I don't want to go into detail, that led to lower image quality. In the end I learned how to blend exposures by hand in photoshop. Once you get the feel for it, it doesn't take very long, and I'm happier with the end result.
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michael medina
Posts: 264
Location: portland, oregon, United States
Registered: 27 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 16 May 2008 at 9:05 GMT
updated: 16 May 2008 at 9:09 GMT
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it's best to know as many processes as you can. i often will process similar panos with completely different methods to the same end result just to prove to myself that i can.
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Jorgen Poulsen
Posts: 35
Location:
Registered: 30 Apr 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 18 May 2008 at 15:50 GMT
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So some use photoshop instead of photomatix. Why do you use one over the other?
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 694
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 18 May 2008 at 16:44 GMT
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Jorgen
Photomatix Pro is a dedicated HDR program that costs US$99
Photoshop CS2 and CS3 have HDR compositing as one of their features, but costs US$650
Since I have Photoshop 5.5 and am happy with it, Photomatix was a lot more affordable
Its usally that simple
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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michael medina
Posts: 264
Location: portland, oregon, United States
Registered: 27 Jan 2008
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 18 May 2008 at 23:41 GMT
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Jorgen Poulsen said: So some use photoshop instead of photomatix. Why do you use one over the other?
you can get different results with different products, you can get the same results or similar results from different software, but some will get you to the results you want faster than others.
how's that for an answer 
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Robert Piontek
Posts: 97
Location: Germany
Registered: 26 Jul 2007
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Re: Exposure Blending and HDR/Tonemapping
Posted: 19 May 2008 at 15:27 GMT
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When I said that I use Photoshop to do expsoure blending, I didn't mean that I use PS to create an HDR file, though this is possible. What people do is load the multiple exposures into different layers. Then there are a number of different ways to morph these exposures into the final images, but it is not HDR per say. In the simplest case, say you have one exposure that has the trees looking good, but the sky is blown out, and a second with a nice sky but the trees are too dark. By using layers and masks you can let the trees show through from the first, and the sky from the second.
Is it better? I think so, generally, but different people care about different things, and surely there are people using HDR all the time and they are happy with it. Certainly it's far easier and faster to create an HDR file and tone map it than it is to blend the exposures by hand.
If you do some web searches for PS and exposure blending tutorial or neutral density filter, something like that, you should come up with plenty.
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