This is a 6-exposure HDR image of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary. Before I went on that trip, I did my usual Internet scouting on the entire city of Budapest, and sure enough, I came across a ton of images of this Parliament building. So, I was prepared! But when I arrived there and set up my tripod just across the river (Danube), something strange happened.
This HDR Pics to play with archive is containing the source exposures of the HDR image ‘The Parliament (HDR)’. Download the source photos, test your post-processing skills and share your results here. It’s fun!
You want to try some HDR but you feel that your own source images are not good enough? Use mine! They’re free! Even if you are an advanced HDR user, it can be fun to test your skills on a set of images that are used by many other people in the HDR community. Publish your results and see how others did. Get a feel for what’s possible, and compare your style with others objectively, based on the same image.
This is the Making-of video for ‘The Parliament (HDR)’. Watch how this image evolves through all the post-processing stages and stop at any position to inspect the parameter settings (see remarks below). This video shows the entire post-processing work starting with the HDR merging and the tone-mapping all the way through to the finishing touches. Each major step is indicated by a subtitle. Watch it in full HD mode (1080p) full-screen and pause at any point to inspect the parameters I choose for the different tools involved in the post-processing.
This is the before-and-after comparison of “The Parliament (HDR)”. At the top, you see the three original source images straight out of the camera. This image is based on a 6-shot exposure series with shutter speeds between 0.6s and 15s. At the lower left, you see the result of merging those shots into a 32-bit HDR and subsequent tone-mapping using the Details Enhancer option of Photomatix Pro 4.2. And finally, at the lower right, you see the final image after a number of post-processing steps executed in Photoshop CS6.
Using Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) is sometimes not sufficient or simply not available in your camera. In those cases, you have to take your HDR exposure series manually, but doing so is a daunting task for many photographers. In this tutorial, I describe a manual HDR bracketing technique that helps you get the perfect exposure series for every conceivable scene. It is simple and reliable, and you don’t need any math that goes beyond counting to three.
This is a 12-shot HDR Vertorama taken at the St. Micheal’s Cathedral in Toronto, Canada. See all the processing details and the before-and-after.
This is the HDR before and after comparison of “Light my Way (HDR Vertorama)”. The final image was created from 4×3 TIFF files (4 series of 3 autobracketed RAW images, +2, 0, -2EV that were converted to TIFFs using Abobe Camera RAW). You can see the 12 source images in the left three columns. These images were merged into 4 32-bit HDRs and tone-mapped with Photomatix Pro 4.2 (Details Enhancer option) using the same settings for each image. The resulting 4 16-bit TIF images where then stitched using Photoshop CS5. The result of the stitching, perspective correction, cropping, and retouching can be seen in the middle column. In the right column, you see the final image after a number of post-processing steps executed in Photoshop CS6.
To help you make the most of the new magazine feature of Flipboard, I have collected a few interesting, noteworthy and promising photography magazines for you. There were some obvious choices that already have a solid base of readers, but there are also some quite small (in terms of subscribers) magazines that you would probably never find. Check them out and subscribe to any of them if you like the contents.
I have created two new magazines on Flipboard for you to bring the latest news, stories, tutorials, tricks & tips, and master piece photographs from the world of photography to you. I am doing all the heavy lifting for you by collecting and arranging these stories from the web. All you need to do is to subscribe to the magazines on Flipboard, sit back and enjoy. It’s all free, of course!
This video will tell you what’s in the magazines and how to get started.
Do your photos look flat? Do you want to add some more interesting lighting effects to them in post-processing? You should really try to get the lighting right in camera while you’re shooting. But sometimes, the light just isn’t right when you are shooting, or maybe you want to achieve some different look when you post-process the image. In those cases, you can fix the image to a certain degree. In this video, I am going to show you a simple trick for creating a spotlight effect in Photoshop to improve the overall lighting.
Are you getting halos in your HDR images? Sometimes, you find the perfect setting in your HDR software, but right at that setting, halos start showing up and ruin your image. These ugly bright fringes around high-contrast edges are a well-known and common problem in HDR photography. In this video, I will first go over some tips to avoid halos in the first place. Then I will show you how to get rid of them in Photoshop by darkening those halo regions selectively.
Darkening the edges of your photos can really help you in getting more depth and in leading your viewers’ eyes to the important elements of your photo. This is called “vignetting”. In this video tutorial, you will learn how to create a vignette using non-destructive editing. That is, you will not change the pixels of your image in any way. Instead, the vignette will be on a separate layer on top of your image, and you can turn it on an off or change it at any time, independently of your work on the photo. I will show you how to do this in Photoshop.
This HDR Pics to play with archive is containing the source exposures of the HDR image ‘Big City Lights (HDR)’. Download the source photos, test your post-processing skills and share your results here. It’s fun!
You want to try some HDR but you feel that your own source images are not good enough? Use mine! They’re free! Even if you are an advanced HDR user, it can be fun to test your skills on a set of images that are used by many other people in the HDR community. Publish your results and see how others did. Get a feel for what’s possible, and compare your style with others objectively, based on the same image.
Getting your photos straight is one of the basic requirements of photography. Crooked horizon lines in landscapes and architecture photos where the horizontal lines in buildings lean towards one side are a real show stopper. The first thing you should always try to achieve is to get straight images straight out of your [...]
Here is the Making-of video for ‘The Library (HDR Vertorama)‘. Watch how this image evolves through all the post-processing stages and stop at any position to inspect the parameter settings (see remarks below).
This video shows the entire post-processing work starting with the HDR merging [...]
Recently, I was asked to contribute a What’s in your bag article to the HDROne magazine. As I was writing it, I started thinking about photographers and their gear.
Photographers are a strange breed. Most of them are in love with their gear, [...]
A social media campaign seems like something that only the big players need. But setting up a targeted plan for communicating important personal or business-related projects to your followers can be beneficial no matter how big or small your brand is.
Based on an example I will show you how a series of messages can be used to build expectation and raise awareness and interest in a project, a topic or a product. Choose those projects that are really important to you and try to build a community around them by using the principles explained here. It will be beneficial in the long run, not only for the specific projects but also for your brand.
This HDR Pics to play with archive is containing the source exposures of the HDR image ‘The Marble Hall’. Download and unpack it to test your HDR processing skills and compare your results with others.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to overcome the limitations of many entry-level and mid-range DSLRs for hand-held HDR shooting. Instead of being stuck with 3 shots in auto exposure bracketing mode, you will be able to virtually take as many as you like with just a little bit of additional setup time and manual switching. With a bit of practice, you won’t notice a difference to series shot with more expensive cameras.
This is a 3-exposure HDR image of the lounge of a big cruise ship. A cruise is the best way of getting to see many places in a short time. At night, as you’re sleeping, you’re being taken to the next stop on your journey. You’re usually getting up really early (sometimes around 5 am) to meet your group and debark for your shore leave. This was taken around that time. At this particular day, we visited Istanbul.
Featured Content - What's Hot?
5-in-1 HDR Feature: The Parliament
The Parliament is a package of 5 HDR features. Get the Before-and-After, the Making-of video and the Pics to play with. Yes, that's right! You can watch the full workflow on ...
Tutorial: Manual HDR Bracketing Explained
If Auto Exposure Bracketing is not sufficient for capturing a scene in HDR, you need to go manual! Here, I describe a manual HDR bracketing technique that gets you the perfect ...
20 Top Photography Magazines on Flipboard
Are you using Flipboard? It can be a great tool to stay up to date on what's happening in the world of photography! Check out my list of top photography magazines ...
Video: Removing HDR Halos
In this video tutorial, I will show you how to remove halos from your tone-mapped HDR images. You will also learn how to avoid halos in the first place.
Video: Creating a Non-destructive Vignette
Learn how to create more depth in your photos and how to lead the viewer's eyes where you want them. In this video tutorial, I will show you how to ...Connect with me!
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.
Connect with me on your favorite social networks.
Featured Images
Did you know…
...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.
Did you know…
...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.
Did you know…
...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.
Did you know…
...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.
Did you know…
...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!
