Practicing Faux HDR

[kevin99989]

I agree with Marco - and i like the original image also (before processing).

What were your processing parameters - ie - how much fill light did you use? Did you bring up the contrast and saturation?
my suggestion would be to bring up the fill light parameters - there might be too much contrast in there now. But I see what you're trying to do....

[theantiquetiger]

I agree with Marco - and i like the original image also (before processing).

What were your processing parameters - ie - how much fill light did you use? Did you bring up the contrast and saturation?
my suggestion would be to bring up the fill light parameters - there might be too much contrast in there now. But I see what you're trying to do....

I was just following a simple single-image HDR technique I found on YouTube.

I adjusted the color curves a little and made a duplicate layer with a mask. I made that layer B/W and inverted the colors and added a softglow. I then moved the opticy (spl) to about 75% and set to soft light. I then merged the layers and adjusted the color levels to my liking.

Does this make sense?

[Gremlich]

check this link

Gimpology seems to be the best place to stop and read.

[theantiquetiger]

check this link

Gimpology seems to be the best place to stop and read.

I did see that link but it was a little over my head. The one I used has about the same steps, just not as much in depth.

[Gremlich]

I did see that link but it was a little over my head. The one I used has about the same steps, just not as much in depth.

Pixels are free, the only thing it costs is your time.

[theantiquetiger]

Pixels are free, the only thing it costs is your time.

OK, Grem, I followed the link you posted. What you think?

Original



Old HDR attempt:



New HDR attempt:

[edbayani11]

agree with everybody that the original is much better. the "hdr" is just more saturated in color but it has so many dark areas with no details.
since you're doing faux hdr, why not put some detail by painting like the backs of the chair and maybe the top shelfline on the top left of the image. as marko says a little dodging and burning and some sharpening would help a lot.

[thoughton]

Your second HDR attempt is about a bazillion times better than the first Although to be frank I also can't see much more detail in the shadows, which would normally be a hallmark of HDR.

The softness was killing the first attempt. In fact I wouldn't even have called it softness, it just looked out of focus to me. I don't believe that mere JPEG compression could cause such extreme softness either. I'd ditch that HDR technique and stick to the new one