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My first attempt at creating a HDR image.


Here's a normal exposure of the same scene.


It certainly adds more detail in the highlights and shadows but I'm not sure that I like the overall effect. I think I prefer the blown highlights and the high contrast in the normally exposed picture. Would love to hear other peoples thoughts on the pictures. Also there appears to be some bleeding of the highlights, particularly around the waterfall, is there a way to reduce this?

The scene is the Natural Bridge at Springbrook National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Wow I havent been there for years.. I really should take a trip there one day and try to get some pics..

and I'm with you on the images btw.. I much prefer the second... blown highlights.. dark shadows and all..

Boney, I am new to HDR, and I have certainly discovered that while it is relatively easy to
produce an HDR image, it is more difficult to produce a really good one! There are some
people over at RedBubble who do some great work in HDR, but I haven't been able to achieve
the look that they are getting.

This image seems like an excellent candidate for HDR, I think it would be worth another go.

I reckon it needs more contrast for a start. Good luck (to both of us!)

I with the second one too
maybe more local adjustments in ps would be better

Bindii wrote:Wow I havent been there for years.. I really should take a trip there one day and try to get some pics..

and I'm with you on the images btw.. I much prefer the second... blown highlights.. dark shadows and all..

It was well worth the effort, it's quite a spectacular area. I'm paying for it today though, the legs are a bit sore! Actually, the walk to the Natural Bridge is quite easy. The thing that killed my legs was also deciding to check out Purling Brook Falls. Going down into the valley was quite easy, but walking back up what seemed like hundreds of stairs with all my gear, wasn't much fun, or maybe I'm just unfit.

Greg B wrote:Boney, I am new to HDR, and I have certainly discovered that while it is relatively easy to
produce an HDR image, it is more difficult to produce a really good one! There are some
people over at RedBubble who do some great work in HDR, but I haven't been able to achieve
the look that they are getting.

This image seems like an excellent candidate for HDR, I think it would be worth another go.

I reckon it needs more contrast for a start. Good luck (to both of us!)

Thanks, I'll take a look at other pieces of work and keep experimenting. Though thinking about it further I'm certain I can get a much better photo if I were to be there when the sun is low on the horizon and the light isn't as harsh. I'd be able to get a longer exposure inside the cave which would not only capture more detail in the shadows without blowing out the highlights as much (thus reducing the need for HDR), but would also get that nice silky smooth water effect which makes waterfall shots look awesome.

not bad at all , my brother and i went there at like 4am in september last year to try and photography the glowworms. that was quite unsuccessful, but we managed some HDR of the water falls., they turned out alright, but i can't seem to find the results at the moment. which is a shame, cause they were quite ethereal and spooky.

needless to say, HDR and moving water aren't exactly the two friendliest subjects.

what program did you use to combine your HDR?

and keep up the great work!, there is quite a bit of potential in there!

Joshman wrote:not bad at all , my brother and i went there at like 4am in september last year to try and photography the glowworms. that was quite unsuccessful, but we managed some HDR of the water falls., they turned out alright, but i can't seem to find the results at the moment. which is a shame, cause they were quite ethereal and spooky.

needless to say, HDR and moving water aren't exactly the two friendliest subjects.

what program did you use to combine your HDR?

and keep up the great work!, there is quite a bit of potential in there!

Thanks! I wouldn't imagine photographing glow worms would be the easiest thing to do! I'd love to see your photos of the waterfalls if you can find them. I'm seriously considering going back soon late in the afternoon to see if I can get better results. Morning might be even better but the only time I ever see the sun rise is when I haven't gone to bed yet.

The process I used to create the HDR was as follows:
1. Take the photos in exposure bracket mode at 1EV steps
2. Import the RAW files into lightroom
3. Adjust settings on the normally exposed photo to my liking
4. Duplicate settings to the other photos in the bracket set
5. Export to TIF files
6. Open the normally exposed TIF in GIMP
7. Create a new layer called dark and copy the under exposed photo into it
8. Desaturate the under exposed photo and add it as a layer mask to the dark layer
9. Create a new layer called light and copy the over exposed photo into it
10. Desaturate the over exposed photo then invert the colours then add it as a layer mask to the light layer
11. Adjust the curves on each of the layer masks to taste