For the last few days i have been messing around with the trial of

Dynamic photo hdri

http://www.mediachance.com/hdri/index.html

and i have had lots fun and got better results than on other Free hdr software, and it wasnt that hard to work the basics out

The trial consists of two version's one with all the functions but unable to save, and the other a older slightly limited version that puts a small mark on the bottom of your image
the ones that i have included here have all been done with just the one image ( i know not quite the proper way :devil: )
Outcome being worth a try and i might have to add it to my ever growing xmas list
please add your opinions about it or add images that you have done

Palms

Is it only for windows:( I cant find a mac download..

Is it only for windows:( I cant find a mac download..

Emilylt87 hae you looked at this page it may have the answer you want ( sorry but i dont quite understand if that means yes or no )

http://www.mediachance.com/mac.html

Palms

Hello Palms...

I love this program...I found it about 6 weeks ago and two weeks ago purchased it....It certainly adds punch to your photos and you can just enhance...you dont have to go to the extreme...In the full program you can fake HDR just 1 photo with really good results...

You have really done well with your pics...but beware its totally addictive and you end up having to play every day for a while...

Will prepare some befores and afters ...back soon!!!

Patricia............:pleased:

Before i forget to tell you....how to do the correct way is...you shoot the same scene at different exposure levels...-2 0 +2 are good ones to start with...Look in your camera book and if you see auto bracketing thats what you want ...as you set your camera and it takes the 3 shots simultainiously....then you put them all into dynamic phot and it will create a real HDR for you...then you click on tone mapping and move all the sliders till you find the look you want...hope that helps...if its not clear..just ask!!!

Patricia............:ditsy:

Hello Patricia
thanks for the info will look forward to seeing some of your shots
will have a go with the camera when i get chance and something worthy of being photographed :D
I have been putting the values in manually when i have used 1 image i tried them at -2, 0, +2 and then using the tone mapping
what i do like is the amount of sliders there are to mess around with :D
and dont worry anything i need to know, I will give a shout in your direction
Palms

Seems that you are doing fine Palms....I like all the different modes you can choose but tend to use eye catching the most...

Here is a before and after of the boat place at the front of our house...taken in September....I did them the -2 0 +2 way....

Patricia...........:wavey:

Here are two more examples Palms...Will put some more in a gallery and post a link tomorrow as you can imagine i have done many...Usually find scenics are the best but have also done flowers and statues...The ones below i did from a single photo..no exposure settings...Magic!!!

Patricia........:tired:

excellent pics, palms, patricia!

glad to see some folks getting into hdri :)

Hello Craig....

Thank you for your kind words...I love this HDR thing and have tried many of the free and trial versions....Like your filters its very addictive!!!

Patricia............:wavey:

Great looking photo's Patricia, I havent really tried flowers etc will have to have a go at that, What i did try was a photo of my daughter in law in her wedding dress and it brought the detail out it great


Palms

Great thread here. I've been experimenting with HDR off and on with mixed results. It looks like I could get into this program. Some of them just don't live up to their potential.

Janet

Great thread here. I've been experimenting with HDR off and on with mixed results. It looks like I could get into this program. Some of them just don't live up to their potential.

Janet

Janet i have had more and better results from this programme plus i understand it a bit better and find it easier than others, hope you have a try and post some work and hopefully you dont mind me taking a liberty with stone creek Hopefully I didnt take it to far

Palms

I took this yesterday without a tripod and used photomatix.-2,2,+2. Let me know what you think!

That looks ok to me Emily, except and you now whats coming yep the fountain shame that, but i expect it could be righted,
I have had that happen on some clouds but was lucky enought to be able to clone it.

Palms

well, i've been trying to simulate in filter forge some of the results you're posting here. i can get fairly close using a combination of high pass and some highlighting and contrast and additional saturation, but havent quite measured up yet. FF uses a bit of hdri internally for lighting environments and i thought i could maybe play on that to duplicate the results. so far, the best i can do is close, but no banana :)

well, i've been trying to simulate in filter forge some of the results you're posting here. i can get fairly close using a combination of high pass and some highlighting and contrast and additional saturation, but havent quite measured up yet. FF uses a bit of hdri internally for lighting environments and i thought i could maybe play on that to duplicate the results. so far, the best i can do is close, but no banana :)

That must be a bit frustrating for you Craig, but why not post one anyway?

Palms

Hello Palms...

Nice results on Janets lovely pic....I bet you are in this program every day and keep popping back to it whilst doing other things as i am!!!! As you have probably tried most of the others too..at the moment i like this one best!

Emily...nice pic and a good first attempt....look forward to more!!!

Here are some from some photos i took at the flower shop "lolodi" next door to the coffee shop....

Please feel free to practice on any of my originals...we might see some different results!!!

Craig...would love to see your progress in Filter forge...do post some examples..

Patricia.........:classic:

Oh dear this is very addictive :)
Great find this program Pat, good to see you back, and by the way, I'm glad someone told me what auto bracketing was :blush:
I love the way it changes sky in particular, this is one I took this evening from our bedroom window (not very picturesque but it was only a quickie out of curiosity) and I have cropped some of the houses off the bottom, so you can't see the Dynamic Photo Trial logo, sorry.
John

ok, so which program are you guys using the most and which is easiest and which gets the best results so far?

also, just a thought, if someone wanted to start a blog category (see blog control panel on making a new category), i think that would be pretty cool.

and, since you (patricia and palms) asked, i'll post the one i was using to test the filter. the problem is going to be getting consistent results with any and all pictures i use the filter with. i tailored the filter to this boat pic to start and it's ok, but if i put another image in there with the filter... ah well. :)

so, this posted image was not done with an hdri program, per se. it was done in filter forge in trying to do an hdri simulation.

GIMP's ACE filter does this too. I use it a lot. Attached is straight ACE. I usually use other filters such as Xero's Supersmooth for a cool watercolor effect. And, like all GIMP filters, it's free. :)

very cool, lk. you keep surprising me with 'the gimp' :)

Oh dear this is very addictive :)
Great find this program Pat, good to see you back, and by the way, I'm glad someone told me what auto bracketing was :blush:
I love the way it changes sky in particular, this is one I took this evening from our bedroom window (not very picturesque but it was only a quickie out of curiosity) and I have cropped some of the houses off the bottom, so you can't see the Dynamic Photo Trial logo, sorry.
John

Great colours there John, We are all learning. :nod:

Palms

ok, so which program are you guys using the most and which is easiest and which gets the best results so far?

also, just a thought, if someone wanted to start a blog category (see blog control panel on making a new category), i think that would be pretty cool.

and, since you (patricia and palms) asked, i'll post the one i was using to test the filter. the problem is going to be getting consistent results with any and all pictures i use the filter with. i tailored the filter to this boat pic to start and it's ok, but if i put another image in there with the filter... ah well. :)

so, this posted image was not done with an hdri program, per se. it was done in filter forge in trying to do an hdri simulation.

After trying a few programmes i have found this one to be the easiest to use and to get some usable results from, but so far i am only using the trial version Patricia has the full

Your image looks great, One thing I have learnt is that not all images work well with hdr so maybe it is not your filter ?


Ikroll that looks super as well

Palms

I would like a bit of input from you all
As this seems a popular subject I thought i would start a new thread elsewhere on just this subject not here in the software area
that way we could all learn things about the different software's available etc etc (infact it might be two threads one for the learners like us and one for those who have more experience ) I dont think it would work as a blog
Now the question
Where do i start it ? which forum ?

photo retouching ? photo art ? photography ? help please

Palms

thanks, palms :)

and yes, i've found that out in filter forge also. a great filter with one image, becomes garbage with another.

as for starting a new thread and which forum in which to do it, i dont think you need to. you've stated the new thread would be about the different softwares for hdri, so, this IS the appropriate forum. i'd just leave it here in this forum, and this thread.

now, if you want to specifically cover ONLY one piece of software, then i'd start a new thread in the software forum on that one piece. but, for covering ALL hdri programs and comparing them, i'd just stay here with it.

*****************************************************************

ah, having just looked at the title of your thread here, i've got it backwards. keep the one about the mediachance program here and start another for comparing different ones.

I'm kind of confused. Are the programs you all are discussing making those High Dynamic Range photos out of a single photo?

I have been going through all of my old photos from when I bought my first digital camera. I was very new to photography (still am really) and I'm finding that in a lot of cases I had that exposure range thingy set and so I have quite a few sets of 3 to play with.

Here is one I composed from just two exposures, I wasn't using a tripod and the third shot just wouldn't sync.
This was done with Photoshops' Merge to HD.

Hello Palms...

So glad you started this thread....its interesting to see all the results from Dynamic photo...Think its a good idea if you start another one as there are so many HDR programs to try....

John....Nice to converse with all the folks I know at Retouch again...work just gets in the way of doing what you want to!
The colors really pop on your pic...its a good way to start with HDR..Yes its truly addictive and you will soon be going through your old pics...I have found as Palms says too that not all your photos look good but i have some that the exposure wasnt good on and no amount of playing in the editing programs made them wonderful...but....Dynamic photo has and brought such surprising results....Look forward to more of your experiments........

Craig ...I think you are so close with the boat pic...bet in a week or two you have it spot on! I personally prefer Dynamic Photo as i have got the best results and there is a new update that gives even more interesting effects...updates are free by the way so thats good!!! Thats not to say i wont be still playing in the other Hdr programs...I will!

Lyle...This is brilliant and you are certainly the master of special effects...you could write your own programs i think!!!

Crazyfly....Your pic is great and lucky you having lots of different exposure pics to start with...I havent yet been able to use the photoshop merge to HDR...it always says not enough dynamic range and i got so fed up i stopped trying!!! So well done with that one!!! In the full version of Dynamic Photo you can use just one pic with really good results or you can use one pic and change the exposure settings on say 3 pics...but by far the best results come form three or more different exposures taken with your camera...This is such a fun learning curve with quick results!!!

Patricia....:nod:

I'm kind of confused. Are the programs you all are discussing making those High Dynamic Range photos out of a single photo?

I have been going through all of my old photos from when I bought my first digital camera. I was very new to photography (still am really) and I'm finding that in a lot of cases I had that exposure range thingy set and so I have quite a few sets of 3 to play with.

Here is one I composed from just two exposures, I wasn't using a tripod and the third shot just wouldn't sync.
This was done with Photoshops' Merge to HD.

Crazyfly a state of confusion is normal (well for me) but you are at the right place to end some confusion everyone will help. On this is think we are all learning and testing the waters
I think it is a mixture here of people who use multiple images and single images, As is the software being used.
I think yours is the first using Photoshop's merge to hd, I was hoping some would post using this ( i have ps7 which dosent have that function )
And as for your image
WOW that is super
give some thought to posting it here in the photographed or processsed today thread
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photography/16811-photographed-today-processed-today.html
( you will have to rename the image )
Palms

I have started a new thread here please contuinue to contribute this is turning into a interesting thread

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/photo-retouching/19505-hdr-messing-around.html#post172602

Palms

Patricia, Thank you. That is a photo from several years ago when I ran around and shot everything and once in a great while I got a decent shot. Now I don't play the numbers game so much.
The "not enough dynamic range" error bothered me too. when I had cs2 I used to try to change exposures and stuff and it never fooled photoshop, so I gave up. When I got cs3 I tried again and nowI understand what the whole hdr thing is for and I can make it work if I have to shots or more.

Palms, thank you. I'll head on over to your other thread and post more there. I just took one the other day of the river out back and it turned out nice. Only problem is it's got me in it. :)

thanks, patricia :)

i'm probably not going to finish it. i just wanted to see what might be comparable to your guy's effect in using FF. i think i'd be better off getting the program you're using. why re-invent the wheel? :)

crazyfly, love the moth pic!