Santorini Cathedral (HDR)
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Watch the the “High-definition Making of…” video (choose the 1080p version for full details) to see where this photo comes from!
Download the source files and try your own processing style! Go to here to upload your version and to see other peoples’ versions.

Check out the Dynamic Before-and-After for this image. Simply slide back and forth between the original 0EV photo and the HDR version.
The story of this photo:
This is the catholic cathedral in Thira, Santorini. Santorini is a location that you must visit. It’s an island located in the southern Aegean Sea. The architecture is very characteristic, held in white and blue mostly. We found this church when we left the touristic main stream routes.
Take a look at my “HDR Cookbook”! It contains some more information on my techniques.
How it was shot:
> Handheld [details]
> Six exposures (+2EV to -3EV in steps of 1EV) semi-autobracketed [details]
> Camera: Nikon D7000
> Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
> Details can be found here
How it was tonemapped:
> Preparation: developed the raw files with ACR mainly in order to reduce the CA [details]
> Applied noise reduction (Topaz Denoise) to each of the source images [details]
> Resulting TIFF images were then used as input to Photomatix
> Tone-mapping: Photomatix Pro 4.0 (Detail Enhancer)
How it was post-processed:
> Post-processing was done in Photoshop
> Topaz Adjust on the entire image to get back the colors and the details
> Topaz Infocus on the entire image for sharpening
> Selective editing of almost all areas of the image to bring out the nice color contrasts. I will not list all of them here because it would be somewhat boring. The essence of any of these selective editing steps is to select and mask the area and then apply adjustment layers to that area until the desired look comes out. Watch the making-of video to see more details.
> Global saturation layer (master)
> Global levels layer (contrast – masked to preserve highlights)
> Vignette effect using a masked fill layer [details]
> Watermarking [details]
Any comments, feedback or criticisms are highly welcome! Thanks for viewing!




Hi! I am Klaus Herrmann. I take photos - I create, write and teach.
Learn advanced photography and image processing techniques with my tutorials and resources like Before-and-After comparisons, Making-of videos and Pics-to-play-with features.
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...that our Before-and-After Comparisons give you a quick insight into the evolution of an image? They present the stages of the post-processing work from the source photos to the finished image in three simple steps.
...that the Making-of section provides HD time-lapse videos that take you on a journey through the complete post-processing work for a given image? You can pause at any point and inspect the tools and the parameters used.
...that our Dynamic Before-and-After feature allows you to make a direct comparison between the photo straight out of the camera and the final image? There is no better way to see the difference.
...that you can download full-resolution source photos of the images on this website in our Pics to Play With section? Test you processing skills and compare your style and abilities with others.
...that you will find hundreds of HDR photography resources in our HDR Resource Index? It contains photographers, communities, tutorials, books and more. Access all there is to know about HDR from a single place!
Study HDR Tutorials, view HDR before and after comparisons, watch HDR making-of videos, and download HDR source images for free. farbspiel-photo.com is your ticket to the world of HDR. Come in and discover this world with me!
About Klaus Herrmann
Hello Klaus;
I would like permission to use some of your images as slides for a classroom presentation on photography. I will give you full credit and a link back to your website.
Michael Hays
+1 702-233-1703 or SKYPE: lvmegabyte
Hi Michael,
as long as it’s educational, you can use them. Do you need anything specific? You can download any image by Ctrl-clicking on it from the photo page.
Cheers
Klaus
Hi Klaus,
I have seen your post and documents .. its really impressive .. And I learned a lot about HDR.. I am not a prof. Photographer .. but really like to spend a quality time to learn about photography and click.
if you help me to know in detail how to do post process after capture 3 snaps of diff exposure .. I have Nikon D7000 camera , Photomatix Pro 4.2.4 (32-bit), and photoshop cs5. And is there any way to get more snaps in breaketing mode. plz let me know . Shall wait for your respons . My email ID is .. kousikp@gmail.com ….
And also looking forward for more tips on photography which will help me to grow and learn and to capture good snaps . thanx for your time
Hi Kousik,
thanks for your comment and for the nice words.
Yes, there is a way to get more photos using auto-bracketing on a D7000. But it requires a bit more manual action. Check out the tutorial on Semi-Autobracketing for HDR – How to Extend Your Exposure Bracketing Series for more information.
Cheers
Klaus
Klaus,
Its a really amazing document for HDR photography …. thanx a lot …. I will expect more documents on Photography technics time to time … I become really fan of your documents and technics .