HDR question

I have read all the Photo Shop CS3 help files and I’m still having trouble getting HDR to do what they say it does.

In most cases I am taking interiors that were shot with available light (on a tripod), using one dark exposure so that the highlights are not blown out, and one lighter exposure that has detail in the dark areas.
I am not getting the highlight areas to tone down, even when I can clearly see that they have detail in the darker exposure, at least not w/o making everything else darker.

I have tried View > 32-bit options > Highlight Compression, but that seems to make the whole image darker.

I have also tried Image > Adjustments > Exposure but that also seems to make the whole image darker.

Adjusting the "White Point Preview" slider before committing to the merge also seems to make the whole image darker.

If I kill the highlights first, then use Levels to open up the midtones, I actually get something close to what I’m trying to do, except that there is a profound lack of contrast and color saturation. The whole image looks sort of gray-ish and transparent.

What I always seem to end up with when I just run the HDR merge and don’t adjust anything is something very close to what the brighter exposure looked like to begin with.

Any clue as to what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks

Maybe you could try taking more than two shots. I’ve used HDR before in CS2 and it worked great with 5 exposures.
I think you are on track with the highlight/shadow range, maybe just need to fill in some intermediate exposures.

"John" wrote in message

I have read all the Photo Shop CS3 help files and I’m still having trouble getting HDR to do what they say it does.

In most cases I am taking interiors that were shot with available light (on a tripod), using one dark exposure so that the highlights are not blown out, and one lighter exposure that has detail in the dark areas.
I am not getting the highlight areas to tone down, even when I can clearly see that they have detail in the darker exposure, at least not w/o making everything else darker.

I have tried View > 32-bit options > Highlight Compression, but that seems to make the whole image darker.

I have also tried Image > Adjustments > Exposure but that also seems to make the whole image darker.

Adjusting the "White Point Preview" slider before committing to the merge also seems to make the whole image darker.

If I kill the highlights first, then use Levels to open up the midtones, I actually get something close to what I’m trying to do, except that there is a profound lack of contrast and color saturation. The whole image looks sort of gray-ish and transparent.

What I always seem to end up with when I just run the HDR merge and don’t adjust anything is something very close to what the brighter exposure looked like to begin with.

Any clue as to what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks

Maybe you could try taking more than two shots. I’ve used HDR before in CS2 and it worked great with 5 exposures.
I think you are on track with the highlight/shadow range, maybe just need to fill in some intermediate exposures.

"John" wrote in message

I have read all the Photo Shop CS3 help files and I’m still having trouble getting HDR to do what they say it does.

In most cases I am taking interiors that were shot with available light (on a tripod), using one dark exposure so that the highlights are not blown out, and one lighter exposure that has detail in the dark areas.
I am not getting the highlight areas to tone down, even when I can clearly see that they have detail in the darker exposure, at least not w/o making everything else darker.

I have tried View > 32-bit options > Highlight Compression, but that seems to make the whole image darker.

I have also tried Image > Adjustments > Exposure but that also seems to make the whole image darker.

Adjusting the "White Point Preview" slider before committing to the merge also seems to make the whole image darker.

If I kill the highlights first, then use Levels to open up the midtones, I actually get something close to what I’m trying to do, except that there is a profound lack of contrast and color saturation. The whole image looks sort of gray-ish and transparent.

What I always seem to end up with when I just run the HDR merge and don’t adjust anything is something very close to what the brighter exposure looked like to begin with.

Any clue as to what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks

It’s worth a try. The help file shows amazing results with a "A" shot and a "B" shot resulting in a marvelous "C", but they also show a "mystery frame" between A & B that they make no mention of.
Trying it right now…

"Bruce" wrote in message

Maybe you could try taking more than two shots. I’ve used HDR before in CS2 and it worked great with 5 exposures.
I think you are on track with the highlight/shadow range, maybe just need to fill in some intermediate exposures.

"John" wrote in message

I have read all the Photo Shop CS3 help files and I’m still having trouble getting HDR to do what they say it does.

In most cases I am taking interiors that were shot with available light (on a tripod), using one dark exposure so that the highlights are not blown out, and one lighter exposure that has detail in the dark areas.
I am not getting the highlight areas to tone down, even when I can clearly see that they have detail in the darker exposure, at least not w/o making everything else darker.

I have tried View > 32-bit options > Highlight Compression, but that seems to make the whole image darker.

I have also tried Image > Adjustments > Exposure but that also seems to make the whole image darker.

Adjusting the "White Point Preview" slider before committing to the merge also seems to make the whole image darker.

If I kill the highlights first, then use Levels to open up the midtones, I actually get something close to what I’m trying to do, except that there is a profound lack of contrast and color saturation. The whole image looks sort of gray-ish and transparent.

What I always seem to end up with when I just run the HDR merge and don’t adjust anything is something very close to what the brighter exposure looked like to begin with.

Any clue as to what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks