Wednesday May 4, 2011

HDR Photography

All About HDR Photography

There is so much to the new sport of HDR Photography! It’s a new a fun way to take photos and capture the world around you. This page will answer some of the basic questions and tendrils will drift off to other areas of the site that may interest you.

Farewell India - The Taj MahalI had a great time in India! I am very thankful to my various hosts for showing me such a good time. Besides a weekend trip to the Taj Mahal, I was also treated to a full immersion into Bollywood here in Mumbai, the center of the movie world here in India. It started with a 3-hour viewing of Om Shanti Om, complete with a pre-show standing for the Indian national anthem. Afterwards, we ate dinner at Olive's, which is a trendy place where many of the Bollywood stars go to see and be seen by the Page 3 newspapers. My host was leaning over to me telling me who was the sister-in-law of whom and which directors were entering while escorting which starlets. from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

A sample HDR Image of the Taj Mahal in India.  Many more samples below…

How do you make your photos look like that?

“Anyone can do this!” This is what I always tell people when I speak at universities, photo clubs, seminars, and the like, and I mean it! I am very open about my process, and I made a free HDR Tutorial here on StuckInCustoms.com that describes the step by step process. If you’d like to get in deeper, I also have a bunch of videos available for download at the HDR Video Tutorial link.

What is HDR Photography?

HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a post-processing task of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed.

An HDR image is commonly made by taking three photos of the same scene, each at different shutter speeds. The result is a bright, medium, and dark photo, based on the amount of light that got through the lens. A software process then combines all the photos to bring details to the shadows and highlights both. This helps to achieve the same task in the final photograph that the human eye can accomplish on the scene.

I would say that about 75% of my images use the technique, and if you are new to it, then you may notice a slightly different “look and feel” to the photographs. There are all kinds of nerdy technical things I can say about HDR, but in case you are like me, you can learn best by example. I posted a bunch of my HDR photos below.

To me, the HDR process helps the photos look more… let’s say… evocative.

I can talk a little bit more about the philosophy behind the photography style here for a quick moment. You might consider that the way the human brain keeps track of imagery is not the same way your computer keeps track of picture files. There is not one aperture, shutter speed, etc. In fact, sometimes when you are in a beautiful place or with special people and you take photos — have you ever noticed when you get back and show them to people you have to say, “Well, you really had to be there.” Even great photographers with amazing cameras can only very rarely grab the scene exactly as they saw it. Cameras, by their basic-machine-nature, are very good at capturing “images”, lines, shadows, shapes — but they are not good at capturing a scene the way the mind remembers and maps it. When you are actually there on the scene, your eye travels back and forth, letting in more light in some areas, less light in others, and you create a “patchwork-quilt” of the scene. Furthermore, you will tie in many emotions and feelings into the imagery as well, and those get associated right there beside the scene. Now, you will find that as you explore the HDR process, that photos can start to evoke those deep memories and emotions in a more tangible way. It’s really a wonderful way of “tricking” your brain into experiencing much more than a normal photograph.

What kind of camera do you need to make HDR Photos?

Really, the hardware does not matter…  The bulk of the look comes from the software process, as described in the aforementioned tutorial.

I have a Nikon D3X, but it does not require a camera that beefy to make photos like the ones you see on the site. In fact, many of my photos were taken with a camera that only costs a fraction of this beast. I have a full rundown of some HDR camera recommendations here on the site as well.  You can get started in this hobby fairly cheaply! :)

What is your philosophy behind art and photography?

Ahh! That is a good question, even if I did write it myself! Well, the answer is too long for this format, but you can find a few nuggets of truth inside this article I wrote entitled “10 Principles of Beautiful Photography“.

eBooks on HDR Photography

I’ve also penned a series of books on photography. You can find those over at my sister site at FlatBooks.com.

Sample HDR Photos

And here are some HDR photos for you:

The Bamboo ForestToday's daily photo was taken while exploring the wilds outside of Kyoto a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful place! The walk took me into this giant bamboo forest. After strolling through it for a short eternity, I set up for shot. This is a standard 5-exposure HDR; it was shot with a 14-24mm lens. For those of you new to the site, you can find out more about my process in the HDR Tutorial.

Fourth on Lake AustinAs for the process, it was a tough night because I was on the edge of a bridge that was rumbling as cars went across. The evening was very windy, and there was a light driving rain right into my lens. I had to wipe down the lens after every few exposures and try to cup my hands over the top during the shot.from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Sunset in IbizaIbiza is a fabulous island off the coast of Spain that is the "in" destination for all the Euros that like to get trashed, party, dress in white, do medium-level-drugs, and stay on the beach without many clothes.I saw this girl bouncing around and very happy about something, so I went over and said hello, introducing myself. She didn't speak much English, but I managed to ask her if I could take a photo of her. She enthusiastically said yes, and I explained the sitch as we walked over to the water, mostly using interpretive dance to span the language gap. She was Italian and her name was Wendy. I think that is a strange name for an Italian, but I didn't question it. Anyway, I asked her just to walk off into the ocean and I would take a photo. She did just that, and I grabbed this shot just as the sun was dipping below the horizon.The rest of this entry resides here at stuckincustoms.com.

HDR Photo

The Chinese MothershipLook at this magical place in Beijing... it's on the edge of belief.I could hardly fathom the nature of this place. I expected the lights to appear on the grid with melodic tones a mystical, alien language, like in Close Encounters. But none of that happened... So I just stood there for a long time, thinking about how incredible this place was... and took my time, setting up my system for a fitting photograph.Remember when we were kids, and we never finished our food, even under the threat of starving children in China? Now, I say to my kids, you better eat your food, or else Chinese children will grow up and create an economic powerhouse. Well too late for that!This is the amazing National Centre for the Performing Arts, or as I like to say, the 国家大剧院 -- I find that rolls of the tongue a bit easier.from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com

HDR Photo

The Open RoadIf you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial. I hope it gives you some new tricks!I had a long lonely weekend in Iceland, so I took my rental Jeep out into the wild. I drove all over the country from dawn till dusk seeing what I could find. The sky and landscape was an ever changing palette of colors and clouds.The sun is so low on the horizon during the winter that it is almost like a 5-hour sunrise followed by a 5-hour sunset. I drove up and down one of these highways to the next, listening to all kinds of strange and eclectic music on my iPod, occasionally jumping out to take a shot of something like this... it was a perfect weekend.In the distance, you can see the snowy mountains which always seem to be just a few songs away.from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Bay at PortofinoThis isn’t really Portofino, but it sure does look like it, eh? We might even make the case that it is more pretty than the real Portofino! This is a beautiful resort in Orlando, over at Universal Studios.Google Buzz is great for photography and friends!Follow me on Google Buzz here. And, if you are a Photographer, come add a sample photo to this Buzz Thread - so that people can follow you too if they like what they see! For the first photo I released on Buzz, I decided to add a brand new unpublished work of boats at sunset at the Portofino Hotel.Here is why Google Buzz is great for photography and conversation and friends: The photos go Full Screen and can be viewed in their proper glory I get to see people's photos as soon as they go up and scroll through them in a nice lightbox It's very simple and built right into the GMail interface Conversations are real-time and it has all the "fun" of a chat room without the pressureWhat do you think about Google Buzz?Book Giveaway on Abudzeedo!The editors over at Abduzeedo (who, by the way, attended my talk at the Google HQ) launched a book contest to give away a free copy of "A World in HDR". Even before I mentioned it, there are already over 300 entries, so pop over there and leave a quick comment to enter. Easy and fast!from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com

The Secret Passageway to the TreasureAfter the crowds of Angkor Wat, it was nice to go find a remote temple in the jungle and be alone. This temple laid under the jungle, completely undiscovered for centuries. The hallway and mysterious chambers seemed to go on forever.from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

A Sunset on a Texas FarmAs for this photo, it was shot about two hours outside of Austin in a little town called Brady. You'd like it. They have a Sonic there. This was a 5-exposure HDR shot at f/16. This kept everything in focus and kept the shutter open long enough to let the clouds drag across the sensor. In these conditions, you don’t have a lot of time to fool around because the sun is bookin’ it towards the horizon.

Sleeping InDriving from Reykjavik to Isafjordur is just about one of the longest possible drives you can make in Iceland in a day if you have a reasonable level of sanity. There comes a point when you feel like you're getting close, when you start weaving in and out of fjords. They are huge and each one seems to take over half an hour to drive around. (here is part of my driving path)In the midst of one of these, I espied an old house up the side of one of the valleys. It was partially obscured by a hand-built stone wall. I stopped the car and started hiking up the side of the valley to investigate. Once I got up there, I began to think that maybe this place was actually occupied! There were new lace curtains hanging in the windows and everything seemed to be in pretty good repair. So then, I felt like I was intruding, and not just exploring an old ruin. But, it was 3 AM in the morning, and I figured if anyone was indeed inside, they must be fast asleep. So I set up for a shot and then made a hasty elf-like egress.- Trey RatcliffRead more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

A Neo-Rockwellian ChristmasIf you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial. I hope it gives you some new tricks!When dad is a photographer, then there is a major degree of pressure to deliver photos on all the requisite holidays and celebrations! So, I decided to try to re-invent the family Christmas photo with HDR. Please note that many of my inventions go down in flames, but, as Winston Churchill said, “success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm”.Christmas scenes have a lot of light levels. The lights on the tree, the deep greens withn the branches, a roaring fire, lights in the room, reflections off the ornaments, and the like. It’s wild! I’m pretty sure this is why people like Christmas scenes so much - a wonderful treat for the eyes that is rich in texture and rich in light. Traditionally, it’s been very difficult to capture so much richness in a single photo, saving a lucky and heroic combination of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and lenses.The tree lights made the faces of my three stunt-children (who are also my real children) glow perfectly. No flash could have achieved this, unless you are the kind of Rambo-flash guy that would go bury one inside the tree to hit their faces from the left. But, let’s face it. That’s hard.This was a 5-exposure HDR. You will notice that I often use 5 exposures, but note I could have done it with 3 exposures at -2, 0, and +2. Some silly Nikon cameras, like the D3X I use, will not let you step by twos, so I had to take 5 at -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2. The middle exposure, from which the kid’s faces were masked in and perfectly lit, was shot at f/4 aperture, shutter speed of 1/250, 100 ISO, and at 28mm.From the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

 

HDR Photo

An Icelandic Horse in the WildIf you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial. I hope it gives you some new tricks! I consider myself very lucky to have a network of great photographers around the world. I met most of them through Flickr, where we are constantly commenting and giving feedback on one another's photos. This has enabled me to meet up with great photographers wherever I travel, and they are great people to hang out with because they already know the prettiest places around where they live! One of the people I was lucky to shoot with was Rebekka in Iceland. We met at a coffee shop in Reykjavik and talked about where to go shoot. We jumped in her car and drove a while until we reached a fjord. Nearby were these horses running around like wild beasts. They have no fear of humans, and we were able to go right up to them. Their hair is very long, and I'm sure it evolved from the hyper-cold whipping winds around the edges of the sea. I don't shoot a lot of animals, because I find it hard to improve upon what other great animal photographers have done in the past. However, here is a tip for shooting animals. It's kind of a lame trick, but it always works. Use a wide-angle lens and get in close. It always makes the head look really big and cute. Humans love big-headed animals and it always makes them smile. Why this is, I have no idea... Note this trick also kinda works with babies.Seriously, thanks to Rebekka for a great day tooling around the fjords of Iceland.Oh, and yes.... I have pictures of Rebekka coming up at some point wearing her green-thing ... nothing too salacious for public consumption, I assure you... but in more of a "photographer in her milieu" milieu. from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

Daily Photo - Central Park in the FallI had spent the afternoon alone while traveling (as usual, it seems) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the middle of New York City. It sits on the Eastern edge of Central Park. It was a little cold outside, but I decided to walk across the park anyway, just as the sun was setting. As I moved through the trees, I found this little place and thought it would be fun to share.HyperMac ReviewI have a new HyperMac Review here on the site! It's an amazing device, and even if you are not a photographer, you will probably find a reason you need one!Basically, it is an external battery that you can use to power up your Mac laptop and your iPhone. I keep running into situations where I am running out of battery power on my iPhone and/or computer, and I just am not near a power outlet.I bought mine from the Hypershop just recently, and I could not be happier! Maybe the worst thing is that all my friends are always using it to charge up their iPhones too... It's like I'm the guy at the party that brought the beer!New Version of Woopra OutYou guys probably know how much I love Woopra... I did a little Woopra Video Review here on the site several months ago. The product is even better now... and you can get the basic version for free. If you want all the cool features, you can upgrade, but that's up to you! Anyway, I continue to make it part of my web-life... and I am lucky enough to be friends with the clever guy behind it. But, I'd use this thing even if I didn't know the guy... !!from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com

HDR Photo

About Me
  • http://anachronista.blogspot.com/ Anachronista

    Oh, thanks for the HDR camel!

  • CatXtwo

    Thanks Trey – this is great.

    It would be great if you might expound a bit as to how much PS work you do on your photos. I realize, from your HDR tutorial, that you use PS for post-processing, but I’ve always wondered how you achieve your stunning work. For example, I’ve never even seen the type of clouds you capture in your shots. Is there PS work behind them?

    Thanks!
    CatXTwo

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com tratcliff

    CatXtwo – I do use PS – but not to paint in clouds or anything like that.

    I think a lot of the cloud effect comes from using my wide angle lens… and maybe I get lucky with good clouds too!

  • Joe

    Sweet… my only question on the clouds is how you do these shots without getting ghosting from the clouds moving. When I do hdr’s I always run into this problem.

    Thanks,
    Joe

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com tratcliff

    With fast moving clouds, that can be a problem. I talk a little in that tutorial how to handle ghosting with people – it is similar with clouds.

    Another good tip is to use a low fstop. For landscapes, the DOF is usually fine… the low fstop will have quick shutter speeds, minimizing cloud movement.

  • http://www.modernmusemakeupartistry.com Katie Astoria

    Wow. This is incredible! I am new to photography and I’m very slow when it comes to technology, so about 60% of all this blows right over my head, but WOW! I’m geeking out right now. This is about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Nice work!

  • Colin

    Hey Trey,

    I was so inspired by your work that I bought Photomatix yesterday and started messing around with it immediately. Check out my latest entry in the Peterman’s Eye contest, under CKG, to see my first attempt.

    Thanks for the tutorial and inspiration> I’ve got a long way to go (and a lot of money to save before buying LucisArt), but it’s fun getting started.

    Keep up the good work.

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  • http://flickr.com/photos/dragonhide jallen dragonhide

    If you don’t mind me asking…

    My very limited experience with HDR shows that moving items poses a challenge to taking the handful of shots to merge.. but yet I see you pulling it off with portraiture and animals…

    I think I’m gonna start poking around your tutorials now. :)

  • Ivan

    Unbelievable.

  • Mike Cloud

    These images are stunning — thanks for sharing, and for spreading the word. I have a question though: What kind of printing do you do for these images? It seems obvious that looking at them on a monitor (I would think any monitor) isn’t going to give you the full effect (which makes editing them hard), but as I understand it, most printers even ones at print shops are 8 bit 4 color, 5 at best. I would think you would need an extreme level of color resolution and print accuracy to see what’s really in the data. Yes, no, maybe so?

    Mike

  • http://photobucket.com/hdr_imaginghdri.wetpaint.com Adrien Nash

    I’d never heard of HDR imaging until the day I saw a woman shooting pictures with a camera that takes bracketed photos. She explained it to me and that night I went online and googled HDRI and found your site. Since I’ve have been creating HDR images and pseudo HDR image for many years without knowing anything about that area of photography, I was glad to finally learn that there was a name for what I was doing. Seeing this amazing site gave me the motivation to create one of my own. So I gathered all my HDR and HDR-like images (about 60)and put them into an album within my massive Photobucket.com gallery (arnash). It’s url is http://photobucket.com/hdr_imaging
    Then I went a step further and created a Wetpaint.com website to showcase them along with explanations of what HDRI is and how I created individual images. It’s url is: http://hdri.wetpaint.com I’d like to invite all who are lovers of HDR images to see what I created over the last 7 years as I’ve sought to capture many of the amazing natural wonders found in California’s northern-most coastal county (Land of the Giant Redwoods -think Moon Endor from The Empire Strikes Back) I hope that word will spread about HDR imaging and people will learn how to create HDR images so they can capture the many amazing sights that simple snap-shots can’t.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kumaraswamy-Reddy-M/522112581 Kumaraswamy Reddy M

    Man you are so Good, keep up your work, I have become one of your fan and you have truly inspired me. All the best for your future.

  • http://www.webblisa.blogspot.com lisa webb

    Just got turned on to your blog from digital photoraphy school, and wow how inspired are your photographs! I am so exicited you share so much info on how you do your work, so inspiring! Thanks!
    your newest blog stalker, Lisa

  • http://www.thehyperfocaldistance.com Bob Beerbower

    Trey,
    Just caught the interview you did on Pro Photography Podcast, awesome job. What struck me most about the interview was the passion you have not only for creating these images but with sharing what you have earned with others. I listened to a few other podcasts where the focus of the discussion revolved around defending HDR as a legitimate form of photography. It was refreshing to listen to someone for whom its not a question and likely not even a concern.

    There is one aspect of HDR that I seldom hear about, actually two aspects but there related. In all the tutorials and podcast’s I’ve seen on HDR little if any reference is made to applying HDR to B&W or to applying HDR to interior photography. It’s easy to understand how dramatic and colorful landscapes can show off what HDR has to offer but it leaves me wondering if some aspects of HDR are being left in the dark (OK bad pun).

    It could be argued that B&W is more dependent on a wide range light and tone then is so in color. This would seem to imply that B&W HDR could in some respects lead to even more dramatic shots then color.

    HDR would also seem to offer some significant advantages for interior architectural photography although in this case the advantage would seem to be more technical then artistic. I’ve seen HDR used to great effect in capturing the dark corner of a room without blowing out light coming through the windows. Yet for all the advantages it offers interior HDR does not seem to get much attention.

    Bias, conspiracy, or am I just off on a tangent?

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    THanks all!

    Yes – HDR is great for architecture and for B&W. You might notice some of my cambodia shots are really HDR B&W with a sepia feel.

  • http://www.bazna.com Dulal Ahmed

    Hi,

    Just want to know how you get multiple shots of moving objects such as the camel above for your various exposures without getting ghosting?

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    Dulal – I talk about that step there in the HDR tutorial

  • sacha ryder

    hi, thank you so much for sharing this amazing style /format /ethos.

    The shot with the fireworks going off, the road sunset, and the blue mountains are my favourites, though the camel shot is right up there.

    they are so beautiful , I totally understand where your coming from with the emotion/feeling link to imagery. sometimes the camera can’t come close to the depth that you felt when you took the shot, but with HDR we can seek to bring baxck the emotion/

    Superb.. i am almost brought to tears.

  • Kate

    Hi Trey!
    I absolutely love your photography; the camel one above never fails to make me laugh!
    Once I found your site, I decided to try a little with HDR. I think I’m rapidly improving, but there’s one thing I was curious about. Your clouds all seem so beautiful. Unless I capture a sunset, sometimes my skies and clouds fail to look as nice as the rest of the picture. How do I keep my white fluffs from turning to that nasty gray?

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    Kate – thanks! I have a step for that in my HDR Tutorial here on the site… it involves remixing with the orig Raw. See the HDR Tutorial link there on the right? Try that one out! :)

  • Horacio

    I have a question. How you can make HDR of people? What I understad is that to do a HDR you need at leas to shots. Am I right? so, how can I get HDR of people who is moving all the time?
    thanx
    p.d. great picts

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    I would not HDR people… maybe the background or the clothes a bit… HDR people always look a bit strange.

  • Irm Hollenbach

    Blown away by your pictures. They are just amazing!!
    Got here by chance and have spent a most enjoyable half hour, gasping and exclaiming.
    Wow!

  • http://www.peligra.com/photography Mike

    Hi,

    I love your site and you have given me much more to think about than just bracking and pressing the button.

    In a few weeks I am hoping to walk all the way to Mount Everest Base Camp. Do you have and hint, tips, or just thing I should be aware of for photography at high altitude or when taking pictures of mountains in general?

    One thing I can never understand is how to you get so sharp an HDR image from scene that is constanly moving. I followed your tutorial on the NY Time SQ scene and I understand the idea of using the original image to remove ghosting, but is this the only method? Do you do this alot?

    Any insights would be great.

    Thanks

    Mike

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    Thanks

    Have a good time in Everest.. I suggest just taking a good camera that will be hardy in that weather and wind.

    That’s the best method – I have others but too long to write about here – sorry bsy here mate

  • Bryan

    which version of photoshop do you recommend?

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    I think the Basic version is just fine… in Fact you can probably get CS3 pretty cheap nowadays!

  • http://adamglick.net/Photography Adam

    i like your stuff.

    I live in Austin and am taking more and more HDR shots around town.

    I also spent a ton of time in Argentina – as, apparently, did You.

    Anyway, Nice work!

  • http://theofficialbumsite.blogspot.com/ whia

    really great pictures here. You’ve just inspired me to try making hdr photos. But i have a question. Will the sony cybershot DSC-T77 do?

  • http://www.rjamason.com Robert Jamason

    Hey Trey
    im a huge fan of your work! I have never been able to do well with landscapes at all.. But I find shooting people my main love and I do them in HDR only.. if you get a chance please check out my work and let me know what you think :-)
    and congrats on your new book i plan on buying one :-)
    Robert

  • ozlem tekin

    I love your work. Your pictures are mesmerizing. Thanks for all the great tips. I’m just getting into photography and HDR. There’s a lot that I need to learn. I’m thinking about getting a wide angle lens. What do you think about Tamron lenses? I’m thinking about getting Tamron 10-24 lens.
    Thanks!!!

  • Neil P.

    I absolutely LOVE your photo’s! Based mainly from info from your site I have downloaded the demo model of photomatix and started playing with varying success. Before I buy all the software I want to have a little more confidence in my ability to work through the processing. One question (if you know): I have an old version of Photoshop (6.0). Is it possible to use your masking techniques with the version?

  • Neil P.

    One other question (if I may). I read your opinion on the wide angle zoom with interest. Your 14-24 sounds (and looks from your results) to be an awesome piece of glass. Any recommendations for those of us shooting with smaller sensor camera?

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  • Reneta

    I like the HDR photos and am wanting to learn how to do them. I would like to know your recomendation on a monitor. I am thinking about getting Photomatix and I already have Adobe C3.

  • http://www.robcoldicott.com Rob

    Hi Trey – love your work and find it a real inspiration. I’ve been playing around with Photomatix to try and achieve ‘the look’, often with limted success, but wondered if you had any experience of HDR Photostudio which seems an interesting product ?

  • Rod Lee

    This is superb! What can I say more?

  • Rod Lee

    Will it work with Photoshop Elements 5.0?

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    Thanks!

    Yes – you can do this sort of thing with Elements – all that is required is layers — you can still follow my http://www.stuckincustoms.com/hdr-tutorial

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  • http://www.victusspiritus.com Mark Essel

    Great collection, and I’ve seen them all!

    My goal for 2010 is to have at least 50 great images and back links to StuckinCustoms.com from my blog (VictusSpiritus.com). I think I’m close already :D

  • http://twitter.com/Mac_xim Macxim

    This is great and amazing, as always !
    Your photos always let me speechless.
    They seem so unreal that they take you to a whole new world and at the same time offer a completely different way to look at the planet we’re living in…
    A million thanks for sharing.

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  • http://www.web30textures.com HDR Textures

    A lot of great inspiration! Thanks for this post!

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  • Lister Coleman

    Hi, I just wanted to pop in and tell you that your work is absolutely beautiful. There are some stunning images in this small collection. If I had a fraction of this talent with a camera and Photoshop editing, I would be happy. Of course, it all starts with a great image and you have that covered 9 ways to Sunday. Great stuff, thanks for the inspiration.

  • Frank Urquhart

    Hi Trey.

    I am new to digital photography and really love your subjects and capture. Its just I am not sure I am blown away by HDR. I dont fully understand the process, but It’s the effect I am not sure I like. The end result often looks ‘unatural’ or ‘too perfect’ to be real, and although there are some HDR photo’s that are enhanced and still look ‘real’ by the process, most look picture card perfect.

    Am I missing something???

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Stuck In Customs

    No – you’re not missing anything…. maybe there is some “newness” to it still. Also, not everyone sees the world quite like this, and that is okay too.

  • Mick Clark

    A picture paints a thousand words is a well known saying. Your pictures paints a million words

  • Greg

    This is truly amazing work you have Trey! many many thanks for sharing! i have to try this one out..

  • http://flickr.com/teroxx Rafael Hoyos

    Hi Trey, Just to tell you im from Argentina. Last March I went 1 month to the states (Dallas) with my girlfriend. Then traveled 2 days to Austin, and the first thing I did when I hit the book store was search for your book!.. Sorry I didnt buy it… But I spent 3/4 hour reading it!!!

  • http://www.asmussenfoto.dk fotograf Asmussen

    WOW!!! This is some of the best hdr I have EVER seen!!! So beautiful

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  • http://www.chk-foto.de.tl CHKfoto

    i’m very impressed. fantastic pictures here!! whish you all the best!!

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  • http://www.heartthoughts.net Heart Thoughts

    Oh, thanks for the HDR Taj Mahal! Wah Taj!

  • Umberto

    I’ve have just stumble apon your site. I can’t wait to start trying. I’m an old fart (60)but like they say… it’s never… Thanks, this is fantastic!

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  • http://pallis pallis

    Hi, I like this web page.I’m really don’t know about photography I usually take snaps of my friends and family when we have some occasions. After seeing this page i’m planning to go for some sought of training in photography. And the web page is awesome. please suggest some more tips for beginners. Thanks & Regards
    pallis

  • Kathy

    Hi, I personally LOVE these photos and would be proud to display them if only I had the talent….
    I have spent some time coming to terms with HDR and whether I like it or not and I have come up with this…. I think HDR Photography is an art form on its own. A cross between a photograph as being an exact snapshot of a scene and an artwork where the artist brings another dimension to the image to highlight his or her interpration of the scene.
    Thanks Trey.. awesome pics

  • http://www.yahoo.com/ Geralyn

    Thanks alot – your answer solved all my problems after several days sturgligng

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  • Bill Pekala

    Trey,

    Nice finally meeting you a the last shuttle launch. Hope your images worked out well.

  • csarnold

    These are beaautiful; I love your work. I’m still in college and started using a Nikon D40 a few years ago. I can’t upgrade to anything nicer for a while, but can would I be able to try anything like this with it? Also, can you use HDR for night shots?
    Thanks!

  • Gfoley

    Bottom line, I appreciate the look and effort you go through to make the pics.

    However, and there is always a “however” as you know, I do not believe the eye really sees things in the way you portray. I would more or so relate to the cheap rugs you see on display on a road-side set up. You know, the bblluurreedd-ffuuzzyy pics you see on the rugs, which look, at best very colorful but fake at the same time.

    Honestly, my eyes do not see a blurry water stream while a back ground scene is absolutely clear, sorry. However, for fun I can see having fun with this type of photography. But I wouldn’t give up a day job to do it, that’s all.

    Take care, and great work by the way.

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  • kjsensenig

    Hey i was wondering would a canon rebel t3i work for HDR?….I love your work

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  • Dan

    I am intreagued and dabbling in HDR as we speak. I am looking at your course. I take a lot of dusk, sunset or night hdr shots and have a problem with noise. Does your workshop cover this and do you recommend one noise removal tool over the other? I want to ensure that I have a proper noise removal tool at hand. I currently use LR3, CS5, Photomatix Pro and Topaz Adjust. Do you suggest any others?

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/teepee12 Marilyn Armstrong

    Just wondering how the effect of building layers in PS compares with HDR. I’ve achieved similar effects by layering, though not as dramatic. To be fair, I am not usually trying for dramatic, but do want the almost 3-dimensional effect and the ultra sharpness. Also, do you use a tripod? Are you steady enough to produce sequential images hand-held? Do you use bracketed bursts? I should think bracketed bursts would be the answer, but was wondering.

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  • http://shantistar.blogspot.com/ Esther

    Beautiful, this is how I want to take photos. Absolutely inspiring. Thank you. I look forward to delving into this. Just gorgeous.

  • Gordon

    Quick question. Can HDR be done using Photoshop Elements 9 or 10? I really want to try HDR but there’s no way I can justify the cost of CS5, I’ve got a family to feed! As usual finding answers off manufacturers websites is like wading through mollasses…..

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  • Diane

    I am going to purchase the tutorial through my work for a PC. I also want to be able to download it to my personal Mac. Is this going to be possible for the one time payment of $97?

  • http://www.stuckincustoms.com Trey Ratcliff

    Diane – Absolutely – it won’t be a problem at all – people do this all the time :)

  • Kevin Meier

    Your photos are amazing and I hope someday I can create something even half as good. I would love to know how you created the Christmas photo as I would like to create something similar with my children for Christmas cards. Was it created using standard HDR techniques or was there a lot of Photoshop work?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7EVJPSEGNQOAN4RDALODZVEIEU Bullbar

    HI TREY MY NAME IS BOB WILSON FROM MACKAY AUSTRALIA I’AM SO INTERESTED IN YOUR WORK SEEMS GREAT MINDS THINK A LIKE, I DIDN’T THINK WORK LIKE YOURS HAS MADE A SUCH BIG IMPACT TO PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART, I STILL THINK PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE REALLY ARTISTS WITH MECHANICAL MEANS AND BEING A SCOUT FROM YESTERYEAR I STILL HAVE A PASSION FOR THE LANDSCAPE AND OCEAN SCENES. LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR NEXT NEWSLETTER….CHEERS BOB WILSON

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  • http://www.facebook.com/thomas.k.britt Thomas Britt

    Dude — this is some seriously beautiful photography. In fact, it goes beyond beautiful. It is transcendent. Great eye, and crazy mad skillz. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/jamie.snyder.15 Jamie Snyder

    I have never seen photography so beautiful! I am fascinated!!!