HDR Cookbook – Before and After: Gendarmenmarkt – Berlin, Germany
Gendarmenmarkt – Berlin, Germany – Before and After (click to enlarge)
This is the before-and-after comparison of “Gendarmenmarkt – Berlin, Germany (HDR)“. In the top row, you see the original source images straight out of the camera. This image is based on a standard 3-shot autobracketing series with +2, 0 and -2 ev. On the left side on the bottom row, you see the result of merging those shots into a 32-bit HDR and subsequent tone-mapping using the detail enhancer option of Photomatix Pro 4.0. And finally, the right side of the bottom row shows the final image after a number of post-processing steps executed in Photoshop CS4.
The final image and a more detailed description of the post-processing steps can be viewed here. Click on the image below to view a bigger version.
Fantastic job on this one. Beautiful!
really nice work
Adam, Todd,
thanks very much. I appreciate your feedback a lot!
Cheers
Klaus … it is truly amazing that you can get such great detail WITHOUT making the photo look like an “over-the-top” HDR.
I realize that there is a ton of information here, but if you were asked (which I am), what is the top three tips to getting such clarity.
Secondly, I realize that camera setting vary, but what aperture setting do you seeming base line too. f8, 10, 11 to get the clarity.
Dan
Thanks Dan!
Top three tips… hmmmm… let’s see…
1. Have decent equipment – good, high-ISO-capable camera and good lens. You don’t need the most expensive equipment, but a decent one.
2. Avoid shooting at extreme apertures. I use f8 as a default and operate from there.
3. Practice hand-held shooting to get a steady hand. This avoids source image offset and blur.
4. Come back to my Cookbook regularly!
The last one was a bonus tip. 😉
As for the aperture: see tip no. 2 😉
Cheers