There's no going wrong with HDR photography. At its most sensitive, the technique allows for color/tone gradients rarely appreciated by anything but the naked eye. At its most aggressive, HDR's a hyperreal spectacle. This week's Shooting Challenge celebrate both schools:
Lead Shot
This photo was taken in the middle of Tokyo (Ginza area) a few days ago. It had been raining all through the afternoon and dusk, when I took this shot. Even through the rain, I took my tripod out into the middle of the street to do my best to capture some of the amazing Tokyo scenery from the ground level. This was taken with a Nikon D3X, f/8, 19mm (Nikon 14-24mm lens), and ISO 100. There were 5 exposures from -2 to +2. (Technique here.)
[Ed note: Trey is a god in HDR circles. We're honored he participated.]
-Trey Ratcliff
This Looks Like Things Look
This was taken on the waterwalk in Brooklyn, close to Ceaers Bay. I climbed down onto the rocks to get this shot.
Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Canon 10-22mm ef-s @ 10mm f/8.0
Shot in RAW, and auto bracketed -2, 0, +2 metered for whole scene.
Photoshop CS4 for RAW editing, changed white balance and a little sharpness, saved as full resolution and quality JPEG files.
Photomatix for HDR conversion, and tone mapping.
Back to CS4 for de-noiseing, cropping, and resizing.
-Taras Zadorozhny
I Want to Go There
[Ed note: description redacted as it seemed to apply to a different shot, but this was nice!]
-Pablo N. Piedra
Dazzling Dank
Taken with a Nikon D300 of a building being constructed near campus
Tripod used, 9 images, stacked with Photomatix
-David Little
That's It, I'm Becoming a Farmer
Canon T1i
Kit Lens 18-55 IS
ISO 200
Tripod – 3 shot HDR
This old barn had caught my eye as I was driving around Michigan. I stopped to take some pictures and the composition came out well.
-Chris Vasta
That's It, I'm Becoming a Dark Priest
It has been taken this afternoon with my Canon Rebel T1i (500D) with the focal length at 10mm.
All five shots were taken at ISO 100 f:11
I used Manfrotto 190XPROB to ensure stability and to be able to take them very close to the ground level.
Finally, all shots were put together using Photomatix on my MBP
-Jessii Leduc
The Burbs
3 Exposures (-2,0,2)
Canon EOS Rebel XS
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX
11mm at f/4.0
Set on tripod
[Ed note: Take a simple suburb, add a hyperreal glow and put the horizon off kilter...my eyes just keep coming back to this.]
-Taishi Matsumoto
Mundane Divinity
This is the church where i grew up... a beacon of light in a dark world. taken with an alpha 200 with no tripod
-Denise Dopps
Italy, Just Barely In Color
Panasonic GF1, 7 Step 2/3 Bracket, Lake Como Italy
-Chris Keating
Laguna Beach, Non-MTV Version
Taken this past week in Laguna Beach!
Nikon D300, 5 exposures (=2 to -2), Tone Mapped in Photomatix, Nikon 12-24 f/4.0, Tripod, f/22, Focal Length: 12 mm, ISO 200
Laguna is one of my favorite places to visit in the US. The coast is wodnerful anytime of the day! This was taken in Heisler Park at Sunset.
-Pete Talke
Old Barn
Equipment used: Canon Rebel XTi with a kit 18-55mm lens. "Broken Barn" shot in La Grande, Oregon at the Hot Lake Hotel, one hell of a creepy place.
[Ed note: The rays of light almost appear to be pushing the barn over.]
-Daniel Berman
WINNER
Included are my attempts at an HDR Panoramic shot for the contest ( I know panoramic wasn't specified, but hey, I'm trying something different ! )
I'm using a Canon 40D body, and for this particular shot I used the Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM lens , shot at 120mm @ F 13, ISO 100. I used the free software HUGIN to stitch my images together, and I used Photomatix Pro to render my HDR's before assembling them.I initially shot 12 images, which created 4 hdr's, and stitched those into the final image. The end result is an image of 9858 x 2408 pixels.
[Ed note: You need to see this in its mega size to appreciate it here.]
- Stephen Nesbit
Thanks to everyone for participating—once again, you've amassed an incredible collection of photos we're proud to post on Giz. To download the images in high, wallpaper-ready resolutions, go here.
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Gizmodo's Shooting Challenge is a weekly opportunity to dust off that fancy dSLR and experiment with hundreds of others in a new photography theme announced every Wednesday. May the best shot rule the internet for a week!
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