I attempted HDR for the first time yesterday, following this tutorial. I'm not sure I'm totally happy with the results. I guess I was hoping for something a little more dramatic....without having to pay for a plugin :) Is that possible? Bear in mind my knowledge of Photoshop is not extensive, so if you have any advice, please put it in simple terms.
I learned about HDR from a digital photography book I bought (made by some National Geographic photographers, it's pretty awesome to say the least). HDR doesn't really guarantee stellar shots, but gets a fuller range of tones (so it's good with dramatic lighting/dim lighting in my view). Doing a fair bit of editing when it is in 32-bit mode, until your happy with the contrast is good, and then converting it to 16 or 8-bit mode when you're ready for more editing helps you get a more dramatic effect. Basically all I can really recommend is keep playing with it and you'll eventually find you like it more and more.
In terms of HDR tutorials this guy's is the best one I've seen http://www.vanilladays.com/hdr_tutorial/ and the program Photomatix makes the whole process lovely and hugely configurable. Takes some effort but, is worth it.
i used picnik to get a HDR effect on one of my photos. i think it was cheating slightly as it did it for me, but at some point i will try it properly for myself!
I have tried faking HDR a bit, and had okay results, but I really do want to learn to do the real thing - it will force me to learn a lot more about photoshop, which is not a bad thing :)
The Steve, thanks for the link, that tutorial looks amazing. I will definitely have to sit down and give a go one of these days.
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Open your pic and
Enhance > Adjust shadows / highlights
Push lighten shadows to 100%
Push Midtone contrast to 100%
Adjust Darken highlights to suit.
when it comes to the percentages you will have to play around with each pic to get the desired effect depending on exposure ect.
Also play with the contrast at the end .
Being that its not true HDR it wont always give you the effect you are looking for but I like it
Here are some examples of mine. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/photo.php?pid=4073361&id=822382199
The Steve, thanks for the link, that tutorial looks amazing. I will definitely have to sit down and give a go one of these days.