2013 – HDR imaging, Part 1 + The best photos of the year
On May 1, 2017
- Uncategorized
The new toy this year was HDR – High Dynamic Range imaging. You can find all kinds of definitions online, but I’ll just tell you how I did mine.
First, you must have a tripod because you have to take 3 shots of the same thing with the exact same framing. The only difference will be the exposures of each: a normal-exposure shot, another shot that’s overexposed by 2 stops and a third short that’s underexposed by 2 stops.
That seems like everything will simply average out to be a normally-exposed image, but that’s not the case, as you’ll find out when you run the trio through the HDR program of your choice. You may need to try out a LOT of these programs to find one you’re happy with because the results will vary wildly, from something that looks like a painting to something that’s incredibly (and beautifully) weird.
At the time I started, I was using an old Mac and a loaned PC until I got a better Mac. I found a simple PC program that got interesting results that I could augment as much as I wanted (or as much as the image should really have).
I shot HDR in 2013 and 2014. I finally got my better Mac in 2015, but my program of choice was incompatible. I looked around for something similar for Mac without success.
Thus ended my HDR flirtation.
Here are my favorites from 2013. Some are subtle and some are not. The first two show an original and its adjusted version:
Drinko de Mayo (taken the day before Cinco de Mayo)
This girl was walking through the parking lot, holding a bottle of supposed Sunny Delight. She took a sip and appeared to be instantly beamed into a heavy metal concert. A few seconds later, she looked ill.
This all transpired in a period of about 15-20 seconds.
Frosty the Selfie:
Cardrophenia
I must have been listening to the Who when I named this shot of what looks like 4 cardinals (it’s the same bird).
Girl: “Why are you smiling?”
Guy: “Oh………no reason.”
Moving Day at the church:
Taken on Christmas Day:
Strawberry Candy Straws and………….BEER? (Well, these were found on a college campus):
Sunday morning after church:
Nearer my God to Thee:
The Smoking Dog:
Dead red oak tree:
Raggedy butterfly:
Sports in the parking lot:
Found by the river:
New Year’s Day: Annual Ecuadorian “Our Lady of the Cloud” procession starting point for marchers
Decayed and de-keyed:
Nature’s drying rack:
“Death to street signs!”
I used to see this guy boarding to and from work at a bank almost every day:
At Hackensack’s annual Main St Festival:
At Lark Street Music in Teaneck, NJ:
I was given a Valentine’s Day balloon. Four days later, I let it go…………….to Manhattan:
Planes landing at Teterboro Airport come in pretty low over Rt 46 (the fence is a few feet from where I’m standing).
The New Anderson St RR Station is finally taking shape after the devastating fire of 2009:
Another juvenile red-tailed hawk shows up on my building:
Cubert’s Cube:
I have no idea what this is:
“The Modern” (the first of two towers) construction in Fort Lee, NJ:
Two versions of the same shot of the GWB:
Clever egg placement/protection:
“Hulk need work!”
This guy was in front of a Mexican restaurant right next door to where the Hulk was:
I told my super to go fly a kite and………….
The rest of 2013:
What could possibly make clouds form this uniformly?
(Compare with version in HDR section)
Is that a ………………?
Uh-oh…………
.
.
.
What I did with all of my photo passes (not shown: a door covered with them):
PHOTO STITCHES
This 8-image stitch was done at the Union St Park in Hackensack. The wall is L-shaped.
I’m not sure how often it happens, but periodically, the artwork is completely changed. They’re all interesting, but so far, I think this one is my favorite (subject to change).
Click the image once. After it takes over the screen, hover the mouse over the image. You should get a + sign. Then click it again. It’s now full-size and must be scrolled to see everything. Click it once more to shrink it back and then use your back button to return to the post.
This was really cool and fairly easy to get. It’s a 6-image stitch of a World War II bomber called “The Yankee Lady”, which had been coming here every year as part of an air show at Teterboro Airport, which is just south of me.
When it’s here for the weekend, paying customers get to take 40-minute flights in it. This occurs several times a day for two days.
The plane has distinctive-sounding engines and when I hear it coming, I can sometimes get a decent shot of it from home. There are a couple of these shots elsewhere on this blog.
This particular Sunday morning, I was out on my roof reading the Sunday paper (with my camera right next to me), when all of a sudden I heard those engines. The plane was coming right towards me from Teterboro.
The plane then started turning well short of my location and I took 6 pictures of the turn that luckily stitched together nicely, considering that I didn’t have a chance to plan anything or even think. I originally thought I might be getting a couple of shots of the plane as it went by me overhead, but then suddenly had to switch to stitch mode.
And I even got to include most of my favorite steeple.
Start this scroll from the right – the same way I shot it.
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