These images I like. When I started taking pictures with my first film SLR as a wee lad, I could never understand why the disappointing colour pictures I got back from Jessops didn’t compare to the dark blue skies and lush green foregrounds I had imagined when I looked through the viewfinder. I didn’t realise that the camera wasn’t telepathic, or that the dynamic range of film was less than the dynamic range of the human eye. If I knew taking pictures was that complicated, I think I would have given up taking any pictures at all.
These images are created using a technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging. This technique lets a photographer capture something similar in colour and contrast ranges to the range the human eye experiences. I am hooked. The results look just like the pictures I imaged I would be getting back from Jessop’s when I looked through the viewfinder on that old film camera. The only slight disadvantages with this technique is that you have to shoot at least 3 separate exposures of everything, it needs fiddly processing to merge exposures into a usable image, you can’t shoot moving objects, oh, and the results are totally unpredictable. Minor details.
Click images to view larger.
I think my method of using CMYK is Jasc yields similar results – except that I am not into saturated/tonal images… :) These are beautiful – I am particularly drawn to the top one and would love to see it in black and white.
This sounds interesting – I didn’t quite understand the ‘CMYK is Jasc’ bit – do you have a link to this on the web somewhere?
It does strike me that using gradient filters on the camera would allow the same whole dynamic range to be captured without any computer faffing!
Just so you don’t think it is a new reader – my blog that you know me by is make your photos speak(I forgot that I was logged into blogger).
http://makeyourphotosspeak.today.com/
I have an old version of Paintshop Pro put out by JASC. I think Corel bought them recently.
Funny you see all my color photos at my personal blog – I do that for all the people who need to know what the flowers actually look like.
My art photos at pbase are all black and white too…
http://www.pbase.com/marybell//
CMYK is something you do when you go into the Image menu – you can select to split the image into color components. I use CMYK. I pair the colors depending on what I am trying enhance in a photo. For instance if I want deep greens and blues I will go to the slide for cyan and yellow and pull the colors down (slightly) in curves and then I will go to magenta and black and pull those up slightly in curves. Then you recombine the image to see the results.
I actually use CMYK to develop a tonal range beneficial to converting my images into the type of black and whites that I like.
The changes in curves need be slight to produce dynamic changes in the tonal range and depth in the image.
Thank you for commenting on my blog. I really love your work!!!! and I especially Love the top picture it looks so surreal!!!!