Oh man, simple things.
I have just been watching this video, and then my head imploded with stupidity. I have been trying to get images in camera, this is because, I tell the Photoshop and Re-Toucher personages (no pro-noun triggers), that I will get it in camera and then I can have their wages as well as a mine, cos i am going to put them out of business, and make them my Tea and Padwich Bitch`s, so they can earn their keep. If you are going to live on a sandwich a day, make it a Padwich more satisfying than a mere Scooby-Snack.
The video is aimed at aspiring photographers and introduces them to critical thinking about their own photography, and has been released by B&H from their seminar room in America. I am 39.14 minutes in and Tim Grey has just solved some of his previous problems with HDR images. He states that he does not like High Dynamic Range photography and its effects on images. However, he says while it is not right for everything it is better than nothing in bad conditions. then he showed how and why he did what he did and explained had he had never thought about it before, because of his aversion to HDR images. He might not like them in the end, but it has made a lot of potential images far better with than without. Tim was answering a question about filters and graduated filtering and if he uses them.
His answer solves one of my dilemma`s and answered the question of whether I was going to purchase some, and my hesitations in doing so. Time said that they are great, but there is always a compromise with things in both sections and being able to see the filter effect where it should not be. Examples he gave where trees and telegraph poles in landscapes and being able to see the filter through the frame. With HDR or Exposure Blending the filters are not needed, Technology has advanced so much that it is easier and better to do this through multiple exposures and blending them together on a computer. Modern computers are now powerful enough to do this on the fly and there is no reason to add the imperfections that come with filters.
As, I am as sick as Tim at looking at over produced imagery and the attempts of people to get it in post, or poorly attempted saves of failures, I like he never thought of it, He showed more images and told of why he used this technique, which was mostly to retain shadow depth, or to overcome a problem in the scene, by using two to five images.
Having just been commissioned to capture a lot of HDR imagery and seen the way the post-processing personages have gently treated them, they do not look like the over processed attempts I have seen on the internet. With this being the case I will be trying this technique out more often, rather than just, as an on the fly get around, so I do not need to use additional light in delicate natural or ambient lighting situations, where any atmosphere would be killed by additional lighting. here are a couple more from my first real attempt at HDR photography. I could have used Gelled Flashguns on this shoot, but with the natural and ambient light, additional lighting was not needed or used. I am waiting for the images to be delivered and getting permission to pre-publish the images on this site. These are samples from the clients de-briefing, and arranging permission to get the keys and reshoot the wall art in the second image, Silvers for usage, in prints for sale both in the venue, because of customer requests, and on the artist’s site. For the full shoot Coverage See the Shooting Diary, but have a guess at the time needed to set up each venue for capturing images. it will be revealed in the shooting diary
