Adobe Photoshop Elements HDR

Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 has a Photomerge option that is supposed to create HDR-like photographs.

It works by merging three photos of different exposures. When it's set in Automatic mode it does a good job with photos you have taken with a tripod or with an extremely steady hand.

Big drawbacks of the feature is that there is no tone-mapping--just sliders: Highlights, Shadows and Saturation, all of which don't tweak your photo all that much. Another is that it doesn't get rid of ghosting nor align your photos. If you want to do this you can use the Manual mode.

The Manual Mode that permits you to copy and paste parts of photos on to other photos to combine exposures. This is effective, but it doesn't even approach the drama of an HDR photo.

There is one way you can get a great HDR-like photo by tone-mapping in the main Elements program. It is very effective, much more so than the automatic function.

Be sure and get my new book, Beginning HDR Photography for an easy-to-follow workflow.

If you want to produce an HDR-like photo quickly, don't bother with it and go out and buy Photomatix Pro .

high dynamic range photos

Devil

In the late 13th century, Giotto di Bondone painted what’s referred to as “the devil on the urban landscape,” which is divided into light uniform tones on the buildings and darker ones making up the hectic sky. It too is kind of HDRish.

Visitation

During the Renaissance, chiaroscuro, an HDR-like illumination, became popular. It was very HDR-like. See image above

automobile framed prints

Street Photography Style

 There's one word you don't hear much when street photography is discussed. That word is style.

Many people can't think of what to photograph when they're out in the street. One of the first things I notice is style--whether it be a hat, a dress, a pose or just a look that appeals to me as being odd, fun, friendly, weird, humorous and/or wild.

In these images I find style. A number of photography how-to books bring up elements of style--whether it's one you created, say, by shooting all your pictures at the same angle or one like I've created here--women of all sorts wearing something stylish that is candy to my lens.


 

Here are the books:

Fine Art Wedding Photography: How to Capture Images with Style for the Modern Bride

Digital Wedding Photography: Art, Business & Style (Pixiq)

Digital Portrait Photography: Art, Business & Style (A Lark Photography Book)

Ten Reasons to Read The Moment It Clicks

The Moment it Clicks by Joe McNally is perhaps one of the best known photography how-to books there is (if you don't count books by Scott Kelby. Get a slew of them together in Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3).

Joe McNally is a well-known National Geographic photographer. His photography is unbelievable (literally).

One minus for the book is that the images are so complex and taken with such expensive equipment that it's tough for a beginner to reach his level.

Besides that, there are ten good reasons to read it:

1. Terms McNally uses are well-defined.

2. Great for photographers that want to get into shooting with artificial light.

3. Works well as a coffee table book.

4. Teaches you how to get a shot while hanging from a helicopter. (Look, you never know what you'll end up doing!)

5. Shows you how to make a connection to your subjects to get the best shots possible of them.

6. Good advice if you are thinking about becoming a professional.

7. Good narratives by Joe.

8. Inspiring.

9. Good technical tips.

10. Great gift for any photographer.

Nikon 1 V1--Is it a Point-and-Shoot or Mirrorless?

You'd expect a mirrorless camera to have an APS-C sensor size, but not on the Nikon 1 V1 --its sensor size is 13.2mm x 8.8mm, probably the biggest sensor on a point-and-shoot, but is it a point-and-shoot?

I mean it has interchangeable lenses so wouldn't that make it a mirrorless? Ah-ha, the fine art of classifying cameras is in a quandary!






Some Stats:

*10 MP

*Shoots up to 10 frames per second

*10-30mm lens

*Super-fast shutter speed at 1/16,000 second shots (Imagine the freeze frame you'd get from that, provided you had the right light)

*Shoots in 12-bit NEF Raw files

*Comes with a 10-30 mm lens (28-80mm 35mm equivalent) f/3.5-5.6

*Telephoto lens available: Nikon 30-110 lens (81-297 35mm equivalent)

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i and Cheaper Alternatives

Before I got my Canon EOS 5D, I had a Canon Digital Rebel XT, sometimes called the D 350. That camera was incredible in that it took great images, even at high ISO speeds.

It does much better than the 5D in terms of eliminating noise at high ISO speeds. For this reason, I can recommend the newer version of that model, Canon EOS Rebel T3i A cheaper alternative to the T3i is the Canon EOS Rebel T3 , which is several hundred dollars less than the T3i.

The T3i has 18MP while the T3 has 12MP. Both cameras, however, can be used for just about everything from shooting stock photos to selling the at Fine Art America.

Many of my stock photos were taken with the Rebel XT so they, too, are perfectly good. The Canon Digital Rebel XT. A new one is over $1000!

If you have the camera already, pick up David Busch's David Busch's Canon EOS Rebel T3i/600D Guide to Digital SLR Photography (he's good; I wrote a book with him).

Texture and HDR

Many HDR photographers emphasize landscapes as part of their work. Landscapes have the depth and light to make for some very compelling HDR photography.

Another type of photography to consider for HDR image merging is still life photographs of different exposures.  No, not still life photographs of plain or solid objects in front of a white wall. There's no texture to that.

HDR photographs that are not landscapes need texture. A good example of texture is the photo to your left. Lots of it there--rough wood door, smooth discolored  bricks, old wood framing and multicolored vines.

If you're considering photographing still life scenes always consider the texture. If there isn't much of that, you don't really need to bother with HDR.

Many still life scenes can be found in old neighborhoods--antiquated architecture that has gone through the test of time, qualities that a lot of modern architecture don't have.
hdr photos

LA Victorian

You usually don't associate Victorian architecture with Los Angeles so that when you have an image of a Victorian in LA it's unique.

Victorian architecture is plentiful in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles including some near downtown and others in Santa Monica.

This image, taken in Santa Monica, shows the ornate details of classic Victorian architecture. If you click on the link in the prior paragraph, you will find a good listing of some of the more famous
Victorians in LA. Most were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth, each different from the other. Check other LA architecture in  An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles.

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