The topic of today's post revolves around "high dynamic range photography" or "HDR." I'm a fan of HDR in principle, though I was initially quite disappointed in most folks use of the technique. In short, I don't care for HDR imagery that looks like HDR imagery!
To my eyes any HDR image that looks at first glance like an HDR image is just wrong; a veritable crime against nature, a form of visual heresy where the photos take on a decidedly alien aura that is simply not natural. Much of this is due to heavy-handed technique and can be avoided, but like so many of the PS tools where there is ample room for interpretation, I suppose there will always be those that insist on pushing things to the edge, and over, in search of their own personal brand of photographic enlightenment. Which is fine, I suppose. Nobody said I had to like it.
Still, I do hope this overindulgence will prove to be nothing more that a passing fad and that these otherwise excellent photographers will eventually come to their senses and begin using the software in a more sensible manner. One only needs to look through the HDR offerings on photo sharing sites such as "pbase" and "flikr" to see what I mean. You'll find some nice images that are tastefully rendered, true, but you will also find the bizarre aura that accompanies those that aren't as well managed. Gack! To my eyes, anyways, many of these are decidedly overworked.
This alien aura made me very leery of the process at first. For a time it was so prevalent in HDR images that I thought it was an unavoidable by-product of the process, like so much manure in the stockyard. Eventually, though, I saw enough good of the technique to spring for the software. (Of course, if you use CS2 you get this built in, but I am still using CS.)
I quickly found that using the software to blend the images is not hard, but learning how to get images that looked sensible takes time. Several interesting things happen in the image merging and tone mapping process that I don't begin to understand, and I will probably have to tinker with the technique for while before I am truly comfortable, but it is fun.
The image presented here represents one of my more worthwhile attempts. I still find the saturation a bit garish, but otherwise it looks too flat. Colors seem to get heated up and overcook really fast, especially the reds and greens, and keeping these looking more or less natural is a real concern.
1 comment:
The thrust of HDR is to burrow into both the highlights and shadows of an image. But shadows sculpt and define form so the first victim of many HDR images are in dimensional representation. They collapse form into mere shape. And since they do it at the idiosyncratic whims of the artist… there is frequently, even in subtle HDR an indescribable feeling from the viewer that something spooky is happening.
Now none of that is a bad thing. Indeed the application of any tool results in an artistic interpretation… art is opinion as opposed to fact… and when the gap widens our brains churn to impose familiar patterns upon images which are defiantly unfamiliar. That can be exciting for everyone concerned. Which is the engine of art.
Still, as forms flattens into shape… the images begin to resemble comic art.
But going beyond dimensional alteration, the HDR process discovers color palettes which simply don’t sit side by side in reality. And simultaneously the tunneling process tends to simultaneously compress the color palette offered up. Fewer colors also begin to resemble the Rotogravure process… where we have come upon comics as well.
So at the extreme HDRs like those of Uwe Steinmueller’s seem more like line art than photography. Now I don’t dislike any of these results… however they are an acquired taste. I see that you have carefully crafted your image to obscure the HDR effect to the degree that it enhances the overall vista. My first reaction was, “Wow, Mac reeeeeely sharpened that.” But then my eye was pulled toward the sky, yet teased. The HDR had flattened it. Careful examination reveals that you captured a full tonal range in the clouds. Still that HDR spookiness is there. I like it that you have left some 24% of the image in rather dark shadow which seems to deny that HDR mischief was at work here.
BUT… your particular genius is in representing almost voluptuous form in romantic revelations of still lifes. Here, the collapsed color palette steals away the tonal range… it is as if an American forensic champion visits Bulgaria. His verbal agility is impeded.
I want to see you keep playing with this technique. The crucial question with respect to the value of any image is how good is the content? If we take our eyes off of that for a second, we are in danger of being distracted by the wrapping. My guess is that you will begin to do develop an intriguing HDR voice… as you master Bulgarian.
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