Oct 2007
Living Color
19-Oct-07 03:04 PM Filed in: General Interest
This Blog is brought to you in LIVING COLOR by the miracle of the Internet, your computer, and electricity - not to mention a sophisticated choice of color selections and CSS style sheets optimized for Safari. If you're using Internet Explorer this Blog will look like crap because it is designed for Safari or Firefox.
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HDR Photography
09-Oct-07 07:29 PM Filed in: Photography|General Interest
The image above is my very first HDR photograph, and while it is not the most interesting composition, it does illustrate the wide dynamic range of tones that HDR photography can produce. To pull of an HDR photo it requires some special software which you can download and try for free. I am using software called Photomatix Pro 2.5.3, and until you actually purchase the software license, it will leave a watermark on the image and that is the writing you see on this image. The cost at the time of this posting is only $30 so the cost isn't prohibitive.
Here is a brief description of creating an HDR photograph:
You compose your shot and take an automatic camera exposure reading, or you can manually set it if you wish to control the depth of field. Using this initial setting as your base, you then take a total of seven images (3 minimum) of the same shot bracketing the exposure. If your camera offers Auto-Exposure Bracketing (AEB), select the continuous shooting mode and make sure the camera is set to Aperture Priority, and select an exposure increment of +/- 2. The camera will automatically vary the shutter speed each time the shutter button is pressed taking several exposures spaced by two f-stops.
The camera should be placed on a tripod so that the same exact shot is taken each time with no movement. I used a completely manual set up for my image. After taking the first shot, I held the aperture setting (so that the depth of field does not change) and then took 3 more shots using 3 faster shutter speeds above the base shot, and then 3 slower shutter speeds below the base shot. The base shot setting for this photo was f5.0 @ 125. The six subsequent shots were held to f5.0 with shutter speeds of 60, 80, 100, (125), 150, 160, 200.
The seven photos werre downloaded to the computer and loaded into a program called Photomatix Pro 2.5.3. All seven images are loaded and you then generate an HDR image. The resulting image does not look very good. It is a two step process and the second step is then called "Tone Mapping". At this point you can control color saturation, contrast, brightness, gamma, and a whole host of other photographic settings using a preview of the final image to tweak to your liking. When you are done with the settings you click on the "generate" button and the final HDR image is composed.
The software takes the tonal values of each exposure, mapps the tonal qualities of each, and then combines everything into a well balanced mix in the final image. The resulting image is a high definition resolution image that a normal camera cannot capture in one shot. This is pretty amazing and as you can see from the images on Interface LIFT, some really amazing images can be generated. Anyone can do this as long as you have a camera that has manual control override or the AEB continuous shooting capability, a tripod, and of course a computer. Give it a shot and happy HDR shooting.
Book Review: Worse Than Watergate
The first in a trilogy of books by former Nixon counsel, John Dean, "Worse Than Watergate - The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush" is a must read book for every American today who wants to understand the mechanics at work in the current administration. Mr. Dean, a life-long Republican and a Washington insider for most of his long career, is fully qualified to delve into the inner workings of the White House. It was John Dean who had gone to President Richard Nixon and advised him that the activities surrounding the watergate activities were illegal and that they should be stopped. When Nixon refused to do so, Dean went to the authorities and turned himself in. It was Dean's testimony that ultimately led to the investigations and the resignation of Richard Nixon from office. It is with this insight and perspective that Dean examines the current Bush administration and draws a comparison between them... Read More...