[DFv2]

Thought I'd share two quick and dirty HDR pics of the STi in winter-mode with you guys. My brother just got a Rebel XSi and we had to take some pics despite the freezing temps. Rocking the single exit Invidia N1 turboback, Dunlop Wintersports and MSW's.

Hope you like them, even sans fofo! [wrenchin]

 

[SVT_BMXer]

Love the car. Those pics are photoshopped right?

 

[levin.matthew]

Def. A nice looking car man. I almost got an sti before I got my focus...they are quick little cars

 

[DFv2]

Photoshopped? Kinda-sorta. HDR pics are actually 3 (or more) different pictures, under-correct-over exposures. I use a program called photomatrix to combine the data from all 3 exposures and manipulate it to basically stretch the histogram. I'm no expert with it, you can see a halo around the car in both pics which is a sure sign of an HDR newb! But enjoy regardless!!

 

[mellephants]

first one hurts to look at

second one is better

you'll get the hang of it soon

 

[mellephants]

oh, nice car btw

 

[BigRed03]

me likey i want one so bad

 

[rameans23]

that looks nice i like the exhaust.....need a hks bov for it i got one i took off mine?

 

[DFv2]

Thanks! Exhaust would be a bit more decent with a single exit diffuser. I fabbed up a dual outlet (quad 3.5" tip) exhaust for the spring/summer. That baby is straight pipe from turbo to tip, no cats of mufflers of any kind.

 

[SVT_BMXer]

Photoshopped? Kinda-sorta. HDR pics are actually 3 (or more) different pictures, under-correct-over exposures. I use a program called photomatrix to combine the data from all 3 exposures and manipulate it to basically stretch the histogram. I'm no expert with it, you can see a halo around the car in both pics which is a sure sign of an HDR newb! But enjoy regardless!!

Oh that sounds pretty cool, I may look into trying that.

 

[captcurt_18]

normally not a fan of the hatch sti's, but damn! yours looks amazing!

 

[Mr.Bergner]

My gawd that thing is cool. I like winter modes too

 

[mellephants]

Oh that sounds pretty cool, I may look into trying that.

photoshop has some pretty sweet hdr functionality built-in, too

if your camera has the ability to shoot in raw, you'll definitely want to use that, as it will capture a wider luminosity than jpg... which in turn lets you take fewer pictures for the same effect

 

[wordyahurdd]

i <3 HDR....and i like the dual better but that still looks good

 

[DFv2]

I had considered playing with a single RAW image, but can you use bracketed RAW files in much the same manner as JPEGS? I really have limited experience with working with RAW. I understand you can pull out "different" exposures from a single RAW and then do the who automated HDR thang.

 

[mellephants]

yup, for HDR, I usually shoot RAW, then manually pre-process the RAW images... then use the semi-automatic HDR tool in photoshop CS3

AFAIK it will take advantage of the full luminosity range present in the RAW files when generating the HDR composite.

a little background for the confused:
LCD monitors can only display 8 bits/channel
JPEG is 8 bits/channel
RAW is 10-14 bits/channel (depending on the camera)
for HDR, photoshop generates a 32-bit/channel composite
our eyes can see "infinite" bits/channel

the last part, and the part that affects the outcome the most, is converting your image from 32-bit/channel to 8-bit/channel. this is when you choose which parts of the image get which luminosity gradients... basically letting you carefully choose the exposure for each part of the image.


anyway, I'll reiterate the use of RAW files in all this: you are capturing 10-14 bit/channel images instead of 8 bit/channel... then combining them to create one 32 bit/channel image. you don't want to discard any information until you are done processing... so shoot in RAW, and dont down-convert to JPEG until you are done combining everything

 

[mellephants]

oh another reason to use RAW every time is that you can choose your white balance after the picture is taken, without any loss of information. HUGE win.

 

[mikebontoft]

Photoshopped? Kinda-sorta. HDR pics are actually 3 (or more) different pictures, under-correct-over exposures. I use a program called photomatrix to combine the data from all 3 exposures and manipulate it to basically stretch the histogram. I'm no expert with it, you can see a halo around the car in both pics which is a sure sign of an HDR newb! But enjoy regardless!!

ah yeah I love photomatrix, but I don't like my camera lol....not good enough to do that stuff. I actually like the first one though [thumb]

 

[zx360]

the shots could be better.... i like the 2nd one but the first is to over done.. the car is hot though

 

[DFv2]

Try this on for size. Reworked the images and toned it down a bit (a lot). Improvement?