P#18: Achieving an Impossible Shot of a Barn Frame
An explanation of how HDR can help you capture impossible shots, as Tony did with this darkened barn frame
This photograph of a barn frame is the perfect example of how HDR can help you achieve a shot that would otherwise be impossible to get. While lighting controls almost all photography shots and tells you what you can and cannot shoot, HDR lets you work around some lighting challenges. Tony Sweet elaborates on this.
A Classic HDR Shot
Tony Sweet: This image of a barn frame was shot in the Great Smokey Mountains. This is a classic HDR. It's shot at the brightest part of the day. You can tell that. We're also on the backside of the barn, which would be black if not for HDR. The sun is on the opposite side of that, so it's obviously in super high contrast.
This is a classic scene for HDR -- very bright sun, very high contrast, and the software is able to get the entire dynamic range if you expose it right. Then you can pick certain areas to darken or brighten or warm up, etc. Then take it into Photoshop and do what you want there. (click the image for a larger version)
It may seem like a lot, but in general, these images may take 10 to 15 minutes each to get to look like that. Once you know your way around on the software a little bit, and expose your first image correctly (exposure your HDR series correctly which is the key) then putting it together goes by pretty quick.
Audri Lanford: When you said 10, 15 minutes, you meant within Photomatix there, right?
Tony Sweet: They get combined maybe less than 10 minutes in Photomatix to get what I want, and then I'll push it out into Photoshop. I'll pick these targeted areas, then I'll go right in, take another five minutes to get it where I want basically. Then I'm done.
Audri Lanford: Got it. Was this seven?
Tony Sweet: This one was probably four -- four or five.
Audri Lanford: Wow.
Tony Sweet: My guess would be one over, average, and two under. It kind of has that look to it. Maybe even three under.
Audri Lanford: This definitely is a classic HDR image.
Tony Sweet: Exactly. This is a classic scene. That's definitely not a bad idea, because it's not a bad looking picture.
Audri Lanford: No, it's wonderful.
Tony Sweet: The quality of this light makes it unshootable because the sky would be white, the barn would be black and the background of the barn would be black. It's not very attractive, but this is what I saw.
That is the key -- this is what I saw. Using Photomatix and doing multiple exposures to get the dynamic range is what made it look like what I was looking at. That's why we do this.
Audri Lanford: Exactly, that's great. I'm glad you picked one that was sort of...
Tony Sweet: Normal?
Audri Lanford: It shows people exactly what the normal problem is when people talk about HDR. I'm glad you included one of those too. We're just seeing how you can use, with these different examples, so many different looks and ways that you can use HDR. It's just so amazingly exciting.
Tony Sweet: I'm just beginning my journey right now. I discover new stuff all the time. It's amazing. You would think it's a fairly finite software -- you shoot five or six shots, put them together, boom, you're done, but there's a whole lot more.
If you think about it, there are probably about 40 controls in the tone mapping. 40 factorial are pretty much your options. That's quite a few combinations.
In Summary
How do you capture an amazing shot if the quality of light makes the location unshootable? That's exactly where classic HDR comes in. Tony Sweet was able to take this otherwise unshootable barn frame and created a beautiful HDR image with it.
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