Entering the Surreal Realm: Experiments with HDR Photography
January 8th, 2008 : Nik RowellFor those of you who read my recent article on High Dynamic Range images, you’re already aware of the power of HDR in creating images that trample the boundaries of traditional photography. When pushed to the max, it’s quite easy to create eerie, surreal or just plain fake looking photos.
I recently did some night photography at the old train yard outside of downtown St. Paul, near Shepard Rd. The photo opportunities were endless. Surprisingly, both times I was approached by someone with a blaring walkie-talkie on their belt, I didn’t get kicked out - they only stopped to chat photography. And trains.
During processing, I realized that the combination of night photography (and expsoure times ranging 3 to 20 seconds) and a yellow-orange cast from the surrounding lights didn’t produce the best HDR candidates. Furthermore, all HDR work was done with single RAW image file, so the final images where littered with digital noise, despite shooting at ISO 200. I tried to restrain myself from creating images that looked like they belonged in Alice in Wonderland; I wanted the casual viewer to be fascinated, not suspicious.
Pair this setting with some Armin Van Buuren iPod action, and it was quite the eerie experience (the fog helped). I hope these images capture that!
January 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Wow…I had to study the pics for some time to realize they were within 50 yards of where we stood and talked. I’m looking forward to my first SLR.
If I ever see you again down there Nik and the opportunity exists I’ll take you into the engines for some inside looking out shots.
That’s a bit delicate though and I’ll have to talk to one or two people to make sure I don’t get into trouble.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Very nice work. The first one looks almost computer generated, from something like 3DS-Max or Lightwave. Do you also adjust levels at all? I have seen people be able to reduce noise and artifacts that way in low light level shots.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Dennis -
Thanks for your comments! It was a pleasure meeting you the other night, and it’s cool that you’ve stumbled upon the photos and blog post!
A good place to do some research on your DSLR is DP Review - you can compare models side-by-side. Very helpful.
Looking forward to my next photo shoot at the Train Yard
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Thanks Nick!
I adjusted the levels a bit… probably could have tweaked things a bit more though. I’m not sure what was a bigger cause of the noise: creating the 32-bit HDR image from a single exposure, or the 20 seconds it took to make said exposure.