Motorcycles in HDR - Post Yours Here!

HDR is an acronym for High Dynamic Range. It is a photographic technique usually involving multiple exposures of the same scene shot in rapid sequence at different exposure values in order to capture a scene of bright and dark areas that your eyes are usually capable of seeing, but your camera cannot capture in a single exposure. The photographs are then merged using a computer program. In the above photo a single shot from most any camera looking towards the setting sun would show a completely over-exposed (white) sky and/or a completely under-exposed (black) foreground. Because of the local contrast, clarity and color saturation this process can work well for motorcycles.

If you shoot motorcycle HDRs, share them here! If you want to know more about HDR photography, there are stunning examples and a free tutorial here: Stuck In Customs

This is what some people think of when they think HDR (and why many hate HDRs).
Overcooked...


But they do not always need to be so obvious.



HDRs can make even cloudy days look interesting.






























BTW, If you HATE HDRs, you're in the WRONG THREAD!

While I usually try to keep my HDR photos from being too obvious to the casual viewer, most can be identified by someone using the process, such as this one -


The brilliant orange of the SPOT tracker is a giveaway in this photo -


Aside from the clouds, this one isn't noticeably HDR -


Once again, the exaggerated orange (reminiscent of good ol' Kodachrome slides) provides the clue that this is HDR -


The brilliant reds and oranges (which could be adjusted out, but would then leave the photo looking rather normal) identify this shot as HDR -


Adjusted to bring out the clouds and add definition to the mountains without the usual red and orange flare -


HDR does a nice job on flowers -


Fall colors are a great opportunity for HDR to show its stuff -

Fantastic! A new world for me... thank's for sharing.

Very nice shots. Thanks for sharing. I have tried to do some HDR shots in the past but at the time I didnt have a remote and I was still bumping the camera so my final image was a bit blurry after all the shots were overlaid. I reformatted my hard drive and lost my hacked version of photoshop. Need to get back into working on that again.

Nice thread!!!
I'm just starting to learn HDR,,, no pics with a bike yet.
When people put up their photos,,, might help the beginners if they could maybe say what HDR program they used and how they went about it? Right now, I'm using Photomatix and just doing 'what looks good' for me.

Good suggestion.

The program I use is Photomatix. Extremely versatile and pretty much intuitive. It comes with a small assortment of what they call "Presets" to get you started, and then you can adjust the various settings to suit your tastes and save those separately. Over the years I have come up with 50 or 60 variations that I have labeled and saved as my own. Simplifies the tonemapping phase. Even those, I tweak a bit to improve individual photos when I think it will improve them.

You might give Photomatix a try. 99% of my HDR's were shot with the camera handheld and the program has done an excellent job of overlaying them accurately. Not perfect, but certainly acceptable. Three of the four cameras I use currently can be set to automatically bracket a shot, which helps. The downside is that they can only be set to under- and over-expose by one f-stop (1 EV) each way. For special scenes, that are worth the extra effort, the tripod comes out and I'll do a total of five exposures, from -2 f-stops to + 2 f-stops. Photomatix has no trouble with any number of exposures I throw at it.

You can download and sample the full Photomatix program at no charge. It will add a watermark to the photos before you pay for the program, but you can put it through its paces to see how well you like it.

All of these were done with Luminance HDR (formally Qtpfsgui) - http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/

It's free (as in speech), and works pretty well. Now onto a few pictures:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtadlock/5416384937/" title="Untitled by rtadlock, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5136/5416384937_be30e0611d_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Untitled"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtadlock/4589959786/" title="HDR shot of my SXV by rtadlock, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4053/4589959786_d41f655490_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="HDR shot of my SXV"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtadlock/5585377395/" title="Untitled by rtadlock, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5304/5585377395_d1242aa8ea_b.jpg" width="1024" height="681" alt="Untitled"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rtadlock/5585666710/" title="Untitled by rtadlock, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5138/5585666710_2a77065b74_b.jpg" width="1024" height="681" alt="Untitled"></a>

I don't do much HDR, so these are all I have. Most of the time I just like to use it to make my colors vibrant like in the SXV shot above.

I shoot in RAW and convert to TIFF in Lightroom 3. Then import to Photomatix Pro where I play around with the multitude of controls until I like the result. I send it back to Lightroom 3 where I finish the processing and import to Smugmug. I typically go for a more natural look, but unlike many I don't mind obvious HDR stuff like Trey Ratcliff is known for.

Excellent photos rtadlock. I really like the first one.

Alcan Rider, I've seen so many great photos from you, but never really noticed you had been using HDR. Nice!

Why HDR?

This is a High Dynamic Scene. A camera will only capture so much of the range of light in a single exposure.











These were shot in rapid succession with the exposure values 2 stops apart.

None of the above photos really reflect what your eyes are capable of seeing, but are typical of what a modern camera is capable of. I used the 5 photos above to create this HDR.



Many would say they do not like the finished result and that it looks unnatural. That's fine, but I would argue it looks closer to reality than the 5 previous photos that were over and under exposed. Photography has never really been good at depicting reality anyway. Why not use photography to create something you like?

A few I have done.

I'm Two Damn Tired and Wiped Out!!







Muley Point, UT My Dad's ashes are spread here



Okay…had to throw in my other toys picture…during a blizzard.

Hey Dave…Ever checked out http://dpchallenge.com? I use to compete on there ALL the time and have dropped off competing there much lately, but, it is a great place to get feedback, instruction, etc. Learned a lot on there!! I have been a member since it "pretty much" started. Got time, check it out.
My Profile is HERE

Ahhh.... a fine subject!

dacrazyrn, I really like the perspective and composition here. Nice shot and an excellent choice to use HDR. Muley Point is a neat place for your father. Had he visited there often? I love that area of Utah. The 2nd shot in this thread (the psychedelic one) was taken just below Muley Point on John's Canyon RD. I haven't seen dpchallenge before. It looks like it could be fun.

Excellent shots. Thanks for jumping in. Both of these shots show how HDR reveals the details in the clouds.

I found a few more. I've only been using HDR for about 6 months.

Thanks. Funny thing is that first one was a quick HDR I did for a TOR and it was shot with my crappy D10 P&S. Turned out to be my best HDR I think. Anyway, cool thread and all your pictures rock. You've inspired me to try a few HDR shots with my NEX 5....Stand by.

Also, Geek, I know you like HDR. Where you at?

Well, I was inspired by this thread and the fantastic shots in it to give HDR a try. Did a quick ride today while the wife took the baby to meet friends for lunch. Im using a Pentax K200D, Pentax 18-250mm F3.5 and a Bell & Howell 8MM for these shots. I also am giving the Photomatix Pro a try, hence the water marks. I think they came out decent for my first go, any feedback would be appreciated. I do like how the HDR allows me to get it to look like what I was seeing with all the vibrant colors.