Oloneo PhotoEngine is a new player in the HDR space.  They just released their public beta 1 of their PhotoEngine application (links at end of post). I am very impressed.  Not only does it have a very desirable tonemapping operator, but it also has a truly unique way to approach relighting a scene in 32 bit space if you shot that scene with various light sources while the camera stayed on a tripod for each lighting change.  It is amazing.  User interface comments and samples here:
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/photoengine/index.html

Click Image to View Larger Version

I’ve been using multiple applications to achieve the results I am getting with just PhotoEngine.  However, I’ve only run a few brackets through it so far and I’ve only tested landscapes, no architectural interiors.  I will report back what my results are for those much higher dynamic range scenes once I’ve had time to do so.  Here’s the biggest win using this app…

The slider to crush the dynamic range down does so WITHOUT introducing unwanted detail enhancement. So… You get to pull up shadows and bring down highlights with that slider and it has NO IMPACT on detail or sharpening.  Yipppeeeeeeee!!!!!

The slider just below the tonemapping strength slider is the one that seperately controls detail strength. Finally an application that gives you the results of Enfuse/Enblend without introducing unwanted detail cranking.  Oh, and did I mention halos?  No.  Because I’ve been unable to create any halos thusfar!!! Crazy!

I’m just addressing the default setting here which is the local tonemapper. There is also a drop down that allows you to switch to a global tonemapper or you could use the more detailed Advanced Local Tonemapper which has more controls surrounding how detail is enhanced.

Also, Oloneo PhotoEngine also has a very effective HDR DeNoise feature that reduces noise WITHOUT blurring/smoothing the image details.  Another major feature of PhotoEngine is that it is a very capable RAW processor.

And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the Relighting module allows you to take separate frames (that you took from a tripod) of a scene that was shot with different lights turned on/off for each frame.  On the merge PhotoEngine recognizes the different light sources and then get this…

… it allows you to control each light seperately for both white balance, hue and luminance controls.  FRIGGIN’ AMAZING!!!  It actually creates separate controls in the user interface for each light source so that you can control them all separately for lighting.  Its easier to watch it in action then explain so watch the YouTube video on their landing page for that Relighting module.

OK… so the app has some pitfals.  No mac version (that’s going to upset a ton of folks).  I don’t see any way to save recipes/settings and I don’t think it has any kind of batch processing.  I know it doesn’t have any ghosting controls either.  That said, there’s a lot to like.

Here’s the link again which has a gallery showing you various controls of the user interface and some sample images:

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/photoengine/index.html

Oloneo’s Home Page:  http://www.oloneo.com/

Oloneo on Twitter: http://twitter.com/oloneo

This is your chance to help determine where and when my first workshop will likey be (city).

I get emails weekly with questions as to how I’m achieving my results and about my HDR pipeline.  I always defer to just watch the blog for any information about workshops and/or any video training online or off.  That ends up leading to more questions about what kind of training I plan to provide.  One on one, workshops, online training, etc.

I also get asked what books I have read or who I trained under to learn what I know about HDR.  None and nobody are the answers, therefore I can’t point you in any direction to learn what I know.  Everything I have learned and will teach are techniques, tricks and work arounds that I had to figure out on my own.  When I started looking around at what others were teaching about HDR, that was when I first realized how little information there was about pipelines/workflows for commercial work.

If you are looking to just use HDR for artistic images or creating grunge, that is so easy.  Just use Photomatix and ramp up the sliders. There really is no hard core training needed for that genre if you are just looking to create grunge.  There are some teaching how to take it a step further in post, but from what I’ve seen they are actually teaching you photoshop techniques and most of the magic they are teaching are photoshop tutorials, not HDR workflows.

I have no issues with that look personally, but The Robb Report, Architectural Digest, duPont Registry and other publications demand realism.  And the first time you shoot for an interior designer, custom home builder or architect… I can promise you that they will NOT tolerate hue shifts and color saturation issues.  Your repeat business from them will largely be determined by how well you can represent their product.  My experience has been that they expect their work to be represented as precisely as they created it.

Most folks that tap my shoulder requesting training are looking for something different than what they have found out there already. So let me start by addressing interest and needs.  I get requests about my workflow from two sets of photographers.

The first is those that are INTERESTED in creating realistic looking images via my HDR pipeline, but it isn’t do or die for them.  Interests are everything from landscapes to HDR portraits. Most of these photographers who have emailed me are either advanced amateurs or shooting professionally part time.  In either case, they are serious about quality and want a more definitive recipe to get better results.

The other camp is comprised  of photographers either shooting full time and looking to add real estate / architecture to their current services or photographers that are already shooting real estate, but want to know  how I’m tackling all the annoying problems associated with shooting interiors.  This group NEEDS (and wants) all the little tips and tricks in my pipeline from capture to final image to better tackle exposure issues associated with shooting interiors.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

If you would be interested in attending a workshop covering any of my workflows, then shoot me an email and let me know what the nearest city to you is (with an airport).  I’m not against traveling abroad if there is enough interest.  However, if I’m going to fly into an area, I will do so only if there is enough demand in that region to make the time for a workshop.

The last time I posted my email here I got spammed badly so I’ll just ask that you use the email linked at the bottom of my home page http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/

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Yes this will impact HDR as it relates to me and future blog posts, tutorials, etc.  I’ll explain in a moment. LINK to BP OIL SPILL IMAGE (Before it began poluting wildlife and major fishing regions).

I live in North West Florida along the Emerald Coast. I’m a couple hundred miles from where the BP (British Petroleum) oil rig blew up. It has been spewing oil at an alarming rate per day and it is so deep it will take many weeks and possibly months to cap it.  Already predictions are saying this will dwarf the Exxon Valdez disaster. The big difference is the Valdez ship had a finite amount of oil on it.  This uncontrolled hole in the gulf of mexico is gushing many thousands of barrels of oil a day.

NEARLY 40% of United States seafood is fished from the Gulf of Mexico.  Many of the bayous already being hit with oil are major migration points of birds that fly from Canada/North America down south for the winter.

So how is this HDR related?

Because it has already impacted my world and means I’ll be more active on this blog in coming weeks.  Why?  Unfortunately not for positive reasons.  Some background…

About 5 years ago when I was looking at how to best run a real estate photography business I was seeking ways to not have to re-create the wheel with marketing and the constant trolling for new clients.  So when I decided I was going to move from Atlanta to the Emerald Coast of Florida I looked at affluent areas that had expensive homes for sale and beach rentals (high end trophy properties).

I quickly connected with companies that rented high end properties.  These gulf front homes rent for $5,000 to $15,000 per week in peak season. That’s not a typo.

So for rental companies that are getting 20-40% of each weekly rental as a fee for managing the property for the owner (again, not a typo), they have money to spend on marketing (photography being #1).  And photography is absolutely critical when 90% of the bookings are coming from out of state and those folks are making their vacation decisions based on photos they view online.  So…

I decided to contact and work with many of the rental companies that rent the higher end homes and some of the more exclusive / high end condos.  I also contacted several of the top producing real estate agents and real estate companies that deal with multi-million dollar listings. Then slowly got around to contacting builders, architects and interior designers.  Again, my goal with the rental companies was to tap into the turnover that was inevitable with them and the new properties they’d need shot yearly or rooms of units to reshoot because beds/bedding, furniture or repainting took place.  How did my little plan work?  Perfectly until the oil spill.

Rental companies have been getting vacationers calling in to cancel their May/June bookings due to watching the constant coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill on CNN, The Weather Channel, FOX, you name it.  National coverage on every media outlet including print/web.  Even if the impact is not as bad as they are predicting now, the damage for me is done.  These rental companies are playing it safe and canceling/postponing new shoots, indefinitely.  Some have resorted to just grabbing point and shoot pics for now to “wait and see what happens” with this oil spill.  I’m not out for good, but the outlook for this oil spill is bad enough that it is impacting MY clients.  Shit happens.  To me in this case.

Since moving to the Emerald Coast I’ve shot over 1000 properties.  But I didn’t bracket all those properties to then merge shots to HDR and then tonemap.  I’ve “only” shot about 700 properties employing a full HDR pipeline.  I’ve averaged about 20 shots per property so I’m probably as I type this crossing the 14,000 mark for tonemapped images from HDRs merged from brackets.  I’ve learned a few tricks along the way.

Obviously these rental companies are savvy.  There are many photographers in the area that shoot real estate so the rental companies can beat me up to some extent on pricing.  However,  for the level of work that I deliver, they can’t get cheaper. I make more money than any of the other real estate photographers in the area not employing a HDR pipeline.  Likewise, there are amazing architectural photographers that live here who can blow me away , but they charge far more than I do and use lots of lighting gear and/or professional level flash units.  They also take all day to stage and shoot a trophy property.  I’m the middle ground option here.  Not cheap, not expensive and you get a high quality product.  HDR allows me to get in and out of properties with only a camera bag and a tri-pod and move quickly through a shoot.

Tapping into those rental companies meant a constant flow of properties and when I got emails from followers of  this blog asking when am I going to do some kind of workshop, video training, personal training, … my response has always been… “someday, but I’m too busy shooting/editing”.

It was a great run.  Its not over, but this oil spill has spooked all the rental companies. In the last few days I’ve had 27 shoots cancelled.  This is going to be a hell of a test on me.  I have savings I put away for retirement and will likely have to tap into those if I can’t re-market myself rapidly with new clients.  I’ll likely start considering out of state shoots as well given there is no telling how long this oil spill impact will linger.

How this relates to HDR is that I will now have more time to spend testing all these apps for merging/tonemapping and review them.  I’ll also likely setup some kind of weekend workshop for those interested in learning how to shoot/edit high contrast scenes employing a High Dynamic Range Imaging pipeline.  I’m only 3-5 hours from Atlanta, Jacksonville, Birmingham, New Orleans and Mobile as cities go, but only a 3/4 day’s drive from Orlando and Tampa.  Those would likely be cities I’d hold a workshop in.

I’ll also be thinking long and hard about online training options.  Currently I”m assisting with a few of the Background Fundamentals Classes covering HDR basics over at http://www.FXPHD.com and I’ll be thinking about expanding my online presence to more online training for sure. I’ve never written a book and I have no contacts in that industry so I’m not sure that will be an option unless I decide to self publish.  Lots to think about in the coming days, but I won’t drag my feet.

Regardless.  The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill means I’ll be spending more time yapping about HDR both online and off.

I’ve already downloaded Photoshop CS5 beta and have been using it to test out the HDR Tools.  I’ll have more to share once I’ve used it more in depth tomorrow and Monday.  More to come…

First up to bat for testing out HDR/Tonemapping aps is HDR PhotoStudio 2 (see blog post from this morning below).

Just a first run using it.  It is so very different from any other HDR/Tonemapping app I’ve used.  The color fidelity is tremendous.  It took me an hour to really figure out how to tame the app.  At first the windows/highlights were blown out and I could not figure out how to clamp down the exposure.

Full review once I have run it through its paces.  Here’s a sample from my first attempt using it.

I often get emails asking about which app to use for merging to HDR and/or which app to use for tonemapping.  That’s not an easy one to answer given I use various apps in my pipeline for various reasons.  It really varies (slightly) on what I’m shooting.  Pools, Interiors, Exteriors, etc.  My answer may change soon so I’ll let you all know once I’ve played with the new Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro tools and other apps I’m going to test/try again.

I won’t be reviewing all the apps out there, but I am about to explore the various HDR/Tonemapping options for mac/pc over the next 30 days.  For selfish reasons.  I want to see if there is a better way to do what I do right now to get better results.  Better for me is faster, more natural or both.

I’m happy with my current workflows (yes I have more than one).  But I know a lot of releases of various applications have occurred over the last 1-2 years.  Even though I keep an eye on what is out there I don’t test and play with all of them.  I’m about to start doing just that now to see if I can refine or improve my current somewhat proprietary/unique post workflow.

I definitely get the feeling that folks think I hate Photomatix Pro.  I don’t hate it folks, I just struggle with the amount of saturation and hue issues it creates during the merge/tonemapping process.  It is a very stable app and probably the best app to use for artistic and surreal images.  But something else about it makes it a no go most of the time that I don’t talk about much…

Photomatix Pro will CHANGE the pixel dimensions of your image depending on what camera you are using.   This makes it impossible for me to then bring in one frame from the capture later and overlay it in photoshop if I want to mask in something.  They don’t match.  Photomatix Pro does some kind of voodoo in the merge/tonemapping that causes the image to grow in width.  Now it’s only a couple of pixels, but it is just enough that even if you use Photoshop to try and align images…  they never will.  Because the pixels are added on one axis, not both.

Now if you have a camera like an origianl 5D or otherwise, you may not have experienced this issue.  With the D3 and other cameras I have… this is a problem for me.  It adds pixels on one axis when I save images from tonemapping.

Even with that downside, I have used Photomatix Pro and have delivered nearly 1000 commercial images using it.  If you wrestle with the sliders long enough you can get decent results for commercial work.

This gallery is from one shoot… not the whole shoot, just a handful from the shoot.  They were all merged/tonemapped in Photomatix Pro.  Probably more saturated than a lot of my work, but that was why I moved away from this app a few years back.  This particular builder liked the look he saw from another builder’s website that I had used Photomatix Pro on, so he asked for the same “results”.  So be it.  I also shot many other properties for him after this one.  So much so that he put up a new website last year and pretty much every gallery on the site I shot for him.  His website  is linked below as well.

PHOTOMATIX PRO EXAMPLES (GALLERY)
11 tonemapped images from one shoot (1200px wide)

Builder’s website (nearly entire site I shot for him)

Today I edited the HDR Timelapse sequence of the Las Vegas sunset.  I had shown one frame from the sequence over the weekend and posted a larger version previously as well.  This is one single tonemapped edit from the HDR Timelapse sequence. (Video link to Vimeo below).

Today I had a real estate shoot cancel, so I got a bunch of past real estate shots edited and then took some time to piece together the Las Vegas Sunset HDR Timelapse.  Because I chose to merge to hdr and tonemap that one single image over the weekend (above) using Photomatix Pro, I thought I’d use Photomatix Pro again for the entire sequence.  What the hell.  Its not for a client so a little over saturation won’t matter here.  I made a few mental mistakes in the pipeline because I generally use other apps, but the results are O.K. for government work  :)

This was the capture/post flow:

Nikon D3  + Nikon 85mm f/1.4D shot through my hotel window on a tripod utilizing the in camera HDR Timelapse (You can combine a timelapse with bracketing in the D3).  I chose to go with a 7AEB with 1EV steps and the camera was firing off that bracket every 15 seconds.  Of the 7AEB I killed off the final over exposed image of each bracket.  I felt adding that latitude would brighten the image too much.  So each merge to HDR was 6 shots spaced 1EV apart.  The total number of tonemapped shots was 90.  Basically covering a span of  22 mins 30 seconds worth of time during the sunset. Both the Merge to HDR and Tonemapping was done in the batch feature of Photomatix Pro.  I then took the tonemapped images into Final Cut Pro for time and color treatment before exporting for YouTube & Vimeo.

Because I shot this sequence in portrait mode, I opted to make slight color correction differences to two versions and post one video with both playing together.  I should have pushed on image a lot harder to show variation.  Now that I’ve watched it online it seems very subtle.

I also simultaneously shot a HDR Timelapse a foot away from the D3 with a Canon T2i in horizontal mode as wide as the kit lens will go (18mm for that EF-S, but on a crop body).  I shot for a full hour with the T2i.  About 15 minutes prior to setting up the D3 and the same after the D3 exhausted the compact flash I had in it.  It will be interesting to see those results versus the D3.

I’m no expert when it comes to compression/encoding.  I can only say that the video looks a hell of a lot better in FCP than online!

Vimeo 720p Version LINKED HERE (opens in a new window)

Here’s a daytime shot from the trip to Vegas. A 3 AEB capture with a Sigma SD14 merged to HDR in Photoshop CS3 and tonemapped with CS3. A larger version is linked below this blog sized image.

LARGER SIZED VERSION LINKED HERE:
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/vegas/sd14-hdr.html

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The Sigma SD15 will be shipping within  a month.  I’m very excited about this new release. The Sigma SD15 is basically a Sigma SD14 with a new processor that has a much larger buffer and a new 5 AEB capture mode which makes the SD15 a serious contender for HDR capture given it is retailing at $895. I have not yet tested the SD15 and don’t know if the new processor makes it better shooting in certain shooting conditions, but for daylight shooting the SD14 is an amazing tool with a very large dynamic range (sensor).  Also, the SD14 – SD15 is a non-bayer pattern sensor which records RGB on every pixel.  It makes an AMAZING camera for those who like to convert to Black and White.  Lastly, the software that comes with the camera has a slider in it that acts like none-other application I’ve used. It is essentially a built in tone mapper of sorts which makes editing single shots extremely useful for utilizing the sensor’s capabilities. (warning: Apple has no support for processing sigma raw files through iPhoto or Aperture 3)

I’ll review the SD15 once I get mine (I pre-ordered mine when it was first available for pre-order).

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Another quick HDR capture I chose to tonemap via Photomatix Pro
(Those two images will likely be the last I run through Photomatix Pro for some time. I’m just not thrilled with the way it handles color and has more than subtle hue shifts that cause saturation/hue issues)
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/vegas/test-50mm.html

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I have a lot to share regarding NAB and HDR, from cameras to software. For now just a quick peak of one frame of a sunset HDR Timelapse sequence. I haven’t processed the sequence yet, I just grabbed one frame to quickly process (Nikon D3 + Nikon 85mm f/1.4D set to AEB).  I decided to do what I never do…  use Photomatix Pro to get a saturated and more surrealistic looking tonemapped image for feel.  Because that’s how I feel about Vegas.  Warm and glowing.

I got a ton of shots, but didn’t shoot as often as I had thought because of a few time consuming reasons. I had food poisoning one night/day as well as both speaking briefly in the Post Pit at NAB and also spending two days trying to see all there was to see at the NAB Show itself (which is so big, that words fail to describe).

More to come next week, but I have back to back to back shoots lined up with builders this week for properties that have to be shot right away.  Its torture not being able to process the Vegas stuff right away, but all in good time.

Another quick HDR capture I chose to tonemap via Photomatix Pro
(Those two images will likely be the last I run through Photomatix Pro for some time. I’m just not thrilled with the way it handles color and has more than subtle hue shifts that cause saturation/hue issues)
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/vegas/test-50mm.html

More to come soon…

I’ll be speaking briefly about HDR and HDR Video at NAB via an invite from Mike Seymour of FXguide.com.  It falls under their time slot in the Post Pit at the NAB Show. If you plan on being at NAB, come say hi  :)

Tuesday April 13th, 4pm – 4:30pm.  Lots of topics going on at the Post Pit Mon-Wed linked here:
http://www.nabshow.com/2010/education/post_pit.asp

I’ll be in Vegas from Friday April 9th (land 5pm) and leaving Friday April 16th (afternoon flight).  A “Work-cation”.  I’ll be shooting far too much and often to consider it a vacation.  But this is what workaholic geeks do in their spare time!

Magic Bullet Photolooks 1.0 for Photoshop was announced last week, but I’ve been so busy shooting it slipped right by me. Some of you may already be familiar with Redgiant Software and Magic Bullet Looks which runs in Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Final Cut Express, Apple Motion, Avid Xpress Pro, Avid Media Composer and Sony Vegas.  Well now Adobe Photoshop gets to play too!

So why is a blog that focuses on HDRI (high dynamic range imaging) mentioning a photoshop filter?

Redgiant Software Magic Bullet PhotoLooks 1.0 works in 32 bit space.  That means the looks and tools provided in PhotoLooks 1.0 can be used on your HDRs.  Yeeessssss!

So if you haven’t yet thanked Stu Maschwitz for birthing the original concept and product that became Magic Bullet Looks, we can all thank him again and even moreso for getting that wonderful plugin over into the photo community via Photoshop.  Thanks Stu!!!

I grabbed a handful of shots from a few model shoots I’ve done and threw them into a collage to show how the looks can really change the feel of a shot (reference image linked directly below)

I tried to grab images with different primary colors and different contrast ratios (not a perfect mix, but good enough).  I then created a screen capture as I cycled through the images after launching PhotoLooks 1.0 from the Photoshop CS3 filter menu.  This is a compressed video (vimeo & youtube versions) so the quality is not tremendous, but I uploaded a 720p HD version to both services.  Also noteworthy, some of the presets were meant to be applied to one image, not a collage of images so vinetting for some presets won’t apply perfectly to the collage.

Last and important to remember.  I’m applying these presets on WEB JPEGs.  Results will differ if working in higher bit depth than 8 bit.

I decided NOT to embed the videos here because you really need to see them full screen or in larger format to appreciate Magic Bullet PhotoLooks 1.0 as I apply them to the larger image.  Links to vimeo and youtube below (vimeo generally has higher quality …. generally speaking).

VIMEO LINK

YouTube LINK