- 2022 Processing High Dynamic Range Photos in PhotoLab 5 - Part One, Fireworks

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

OK. Time to show off the D850 with 14.6 stops DR.

We went out to Locquirec this morning, with a strong sun and the slightest of haze.

Here are two shots, which might not be perfect compositionally but were meticulously spot metered to maximise the DR.

This was directly into the reflected sun on the water, metered to place the highlights at +2 stops…

This was taken with the sun and I metered it for the highlights on the bright strip on the right at +1 stop…

I must admit, with the second one, I was totally gob-smacked at being able to recover the detail inside the hut without any noise, once gain, due to DeepPRIME

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Oh, and I must thank @mikemyers for his encouragement to use back button focussing. I used it in anger for the first time today and it takes the worry of accidentally refocussing when you press the shutter out of the equation. Now, if I can just keep on remembering to press the button - something I forgot on the last shot of the outing and got a rather blurred subject with a beautifully sharp background

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

Here are two shots, which might not be perfect compositionally but were meticulously spot metered to maximise the DR.

I see something similar in Biscayne Bay, just outside my home, every afternoon, but the reflections are so bright it’s almost hard just to look at them! That the reflections aren’t blown out, AND that you even got some detail on the side of the boat is amazing. I didn’t think I could do anything like that, but after seeing your photo, intend to try later today. I wonder if a polarizing filter might reduce the brightness of the reflections. Until I saw this photo, I just assumed it was an impossible photo for me to capture, and it still might be. I’ll have to use my long 200mm lens, so it will be with my D750, and no polarizing filter as I don’t have one that size.

Second photo is strange - verticals remain vertical, so you must have used a long lens (?), and the door is warped, as if you were shooting downwards, at an impossible angle. …or was the door really that warped? I need to view your image in a darker room, so I can see the interior detail.

You’re welcome, regarding the back button focusing. For me, eventually it just got burned into my brain that I had to do that before capturing an image. I was too stubborn about this - several people told me very strongly I should do it, and the video was the final straw. For a while, I found it confusing, but after a month or so it was completely natural. Now I do this on all my cameras.

Not much new here - last week I took a fall, so things hurt in places I didn’t know even existed. My fault. So I’ve not been very active. The only thing that happened was someone in my building burnt their dinner, setting off the fire alarm, so we all had to rush outside. I grabbed my M8 with the Chinese lens - big mistake. I found myself outside at night, with a 35mm lens that acted like a 50, needing to shoot wide open which this lens is not very good at, on the M8 which was at ISO 100. I bumped it up to ISO 640, and decided that it was going to be a battle of me vs. the camera, and I intended to win, which meant telling my hands to behave and stay still. Out of ten photos, half were junk, one was technically ok, but a lousy photo, and the last photo got everything together properly for the photo.

I learned my lesson - leave one camera at all times available, with a wide lens, ready for me to snatch and grab it, and head to wherever I need/want to take a photo. I’m still amazed the above photo came out as well as it did, but the crowd of people was om the other side of the fire truck.

For today, I’ll try to take the boat photo I wanted to take yesterday, but the weather didn’t cooperate, and see if I can get an acceptable reflection shot, with the sun reflecting off the water right into my eyes. It’s hard for me to even look at it…

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

@mikemyers

That the reflections aren’t blown out, AND that you even got some detail on the side of the boat is amazing.

That was my thought, even though I knew it was possibly possible.

@mikemyers

I wonder if a polarizing filter might reduce the brightness of the reflections

It might well do if the rotation angle is correct.

@mikemyers

verticals remain vertical, so you must have used a long lens (?), and the door is warped, as if you were shooting downwards, at an impossible angle. …or was the door really that warped?

Calling it a hut was raising expectations - I would think “shack” is more appropriate and, the whole thing was warped in all sorts of directions, especially the door had dropped. I was stood only 4-5 ft away with a focal length of 58mm, matching the edge of the viewfinder frame to the edge of the door rather than doing anything sophisticated like use the internal levels.

@mikemyers

Not much new here - last week I took a fall, so things hurt in places I didn’t know even existed

I have a solution for that - don’t do things like that. At our ages, the floor seems a lot further away than it used to, it’s harder and getting up is so much harder. My last fall was in a grassy rut next to a field, which didn’t bruise but twisted a few joints and took a good couple of weeks before I could transition from sitting to standing without leaning on something solid.

@mikemyers

I grabbed my M8 with the Chinese lens - big mistake

I have answer for that too. Lock it in a cupboard and admire it from a distance and leave you Nikon next to the door

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

I have a solution for that - don’t do things like that. At our ages, the floor seems a lot further away than it used to, it’s harder and getting up is so much harder. My last fall was in a grassy rut next to a field, which didn’t bruise but twisted a few joints and took a good couple of weeks before I could transition from sitting to standing without leaning on something solid.

OUCH! I completely agree with you - falling ain’t what it used to be. I fell on January 3rd, and things are improving, slowly. I may be getting an ultrasound and an x-ray, but my doctor thinks I most likely sprained/strained something, and it’s just taking time for me to heal.

@Joanna

Lock it in a cupboard and admire it from a distance and leave you Nikon next to the door

I placed it in a drawer, along with the infrared filter, and closed the drawer. I’ll probably put a wide angle lens on my Df, and leave it ready to go should something like this happen again.

One of my D750’s is mounted to my 80-200 which is mounted on top of my tripod, which I keep by my balcony door. If I go on “walkabouts” or whatever, it will be with my other D750 or my M10.

I’m gradually feeling better day after day, and I see my doctor again next week.

@Joanna

At our ages, the floor seems a lot further away than it used to, it’s harder and getting up is so much harder.

So true!!!

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

This was taken with the sun and I metered it for the highlights on the bright strip on the right at +1 stop…

This is from my attempt earlier today. I metered the image, but then used bracketing - and ended up using the settings recommended by my D750. Then I spent hours editing, waiting, and re-editing, constantly changing my mind about what I wanted in the photo. The entire upper part was going to be cropped out, but then I liked it.

MM2_0073 | 2022-01-15.nef (28.9 MB)
MM2_0073 | 2022-01-15.nef.dop (11.5 KB)

It’s not the image I set out to take, as I kept changing my mind. As I was uploading it, it failed to show the ultra brightness from the reflection of the sun in the water, that made it difficult to look at. I went back to it and made a virtual copy that shows the brightness better. Of course, in the forum with a white background, it loses that effect.

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

Hi Mike

The image you have posted seems to be well exposed given the contre jour lighting.

The files you have posted, however, are not for the same image…

… which was taken in Program mode and therefore doesn’t count

[OXiDant (Peter)]

@mikemyers get well, falling is a thing that hurts harder when age and weight starts raising upwards.
Aldoh my father of 91 is falling of his electrical bicycle from time to time. (don’t ask) and every time just some bruses and minor scrapes of the skin. somhow the Judo training of years still kicks in on the way down!

Me same thing, thinking of the many times i dropped or smacked to the ground wile playing Badminton or ski-ing en had almost no or no damage every one should be having Judo for a few years as training very good for the older ages periode.

[Wolfgang ([ Win10, PL+VP+FP, Nik6 (+3) ])]

@mikemyers

It’s not the image I set out to take, as I kept changing my mind. As I was uploading it, it failed to show the ultra brightness from the reflection of the sun in the water, that made it difficult to look at. I went back to it and made a virtual copy that shows the brightness better. Of course, in the forum with a white background, it loses that effect.

For better contrast set all channels e.g. to black point 23 / white point 238

or consider B&W – independent of the forum’s background.

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

The files you have posted, however, are not for the same image…

Oops, maybe these files will be more appropriate…
MM2_0107 | 2022-01-15.nef (32.8 MB)
MM2_0107 | 2022-01-15.nef.dop (27.1 KB)

Yeah, falling is not good, as one can hit other things on the way down, resulting in major problems. For years, in the morning I stand on one foot while wiggling the other foot into my pants, and this time my foot got hung up while on the way through, and the chair that my left hand was resting on moved, and all of a sudden it was like “off to the races” as the world around me shifted 90 degrees, and I came to a rest with my head resting on my couch, and the rest of me on the ground. I have since decided that a more graceful way to put on my pants is with me sitting down on the chair, so everything is stable. This was followed by just under two weeks of feeling rather uncomfortable as I had pain coming from places that I didn’t realize were even part of me. On the positive side, yesterday I felt substantially better than the days before, and while it’s now only 5:45am, I still feel better, even more so.

The photo came from my second D750, the one that had a front end transplant, after having the front of the camera violently ripped off during a fall - this is long before I was given the remnants of the camera, and had my local photographic magicians bring it back to life. The first three letters of the file name, MM2, mean it’s my “second” D750. I spent an hour or so going through every setting on the camera, matching it with how I have my original D750 set. I never noticed that it was in “P” mode, which was easily moved back to “A” mode.

Aldoh is 91? Wow. I might have helped myself on the way down, had I not been so sleepy. I wish I had been as active as you while growing up. You don’t develop those reflexes and self preservation while sitting at a computer. I was never very active, and while I try to get in my daily exercise, that’s not enough. My weight seems to be stable, but as I keep getting shorter, the weight is getting re-distributed in the wrong places.

That the photo of the boat dock was taken in “P” mode is all on me. That’s the mode it was left in when it left the repair shop, and I forgot to change it, because in my mind I “knew” it was in “A” mode because that’s what I always use nowadays, if I’m not using “M” mode. Between that, and posting the wrong files here, I guess my mind wasn’t running on all cylinders!

[mikemyers]

@Wolfgang

For better contrast set all channels e.g. to black point 23 / white point 238

Somewhat confusabobbled here - what’s the point of trying to use a camera with the highest dynamic range, is I’m then going to limit the available range like this? I understand that it will increase the apparent contrast, but is this something we should want to do?

@Wolfgang

or consider B&W – independent of the forum’s background.

I shot the image in color, and was surprised to see that PL5 actually retrieved some of that color in the top part of the image. Converting to B&W certainly simplifies the image, but I don’t understand why I would want to do that?

Maybe you can read through this write-up, and suggest how it applies to our dynamic range photography:
dynamic range and latitude

For the photo to look best, we need both the dynamic range, and enough latitude. I didn’t understand that until just now. @Joanna was suggesting we can cover a bit over 14 stops of dynamic range in her D850 (which I can not do), but if the camera system doesn’t have enough latitude, some of this is being wasted.

My “rule” for this kind of image was to use spot metering to measure the exposure for the highlights, and then over-expose by 1.7 stops. The most important step seems to have been to get the exposure right.

Quoting from the summary from that link:
“Dynamic range is the range the camera can see from the deepest darkest shadows to the brightest highlights in the same shot. Latitude is the range within the dynamic range where we can expose and still get a useable image……A camera with lower noise will allow you to expose darker and bring your levels up in post, this gives an increase in under exposure range.”

So my next question for @Joanna is whether the “latitude” in our D850-D750 cameras allow us to expose darker and bring the levels up in post, giving an increase in under exposure range. I’m also not sure where my M10 fits into this scenario, but based on previous experience, I do better with the Nikon.

[Wolfgang ([ Win10, PL+VP+FP, Nik6 (+3) ])]

@Wolfgang

For better contrast set all channels e.g. to black point 23 / white point 238

Mike, those numbers were meant for the soso jpg you provided. Instead to adjust the output for ‘best’ presentation, you complained about the forum “with a white background, it loses that effect.”
– It’s one thing to capture a pic and another to present it accordingly.

For the raw-file you came up with later, please see yourself.

Personally, I tend to prefer the ‘golden’ light in an almost monochrome rendition to the B&W version, but would keep the top part as a silhouette (if it has to be in the pic).
– Maybe you find another composition with boats not been covered from a mast or similar and present them as a pure (almost iconic) graphic.

[mikemyers]

@Wolfgang

Mike, those numbers were meant for the soso jpg you provided.

Totally, completely, my fault. I hadn’t yet realized that I uploaded the wrong image. I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly. The ‘wrong image’ was just messing around, making sure the camera was working, as I gradually got the camera set properly for the photo I wanted to take.

@Wolfgang

Personally, I tend to prefer the ‘golden’ light in an almost monochrome rendition to the B&W version, but would keep the top part as a silhouette (if it has to be in the pic).

I too prefer the “golden” effect, and was pleasantly surprised the top part of the image came out the way it did. Part of me wanted to decapitate the photo. Another part wanted to keep it whole. I still haven’t made up my mind which I prefer.

@Wolfgang

– Maybe you find another composition with boats not been covered from a mast or similar and present them as a pure (almost iconic) graphic.

I’ll try to do so - maybe tomorrow, if it’s clear. Today it rained all day. Like I said, I’ll try. To get the reflection from the sun, it needs to be sunny, and the timing requires mid-to late afternoon. I’d like to have people on the boat, to give the photo some life. I can do this from ground level, but then I lose the reflection in the water. But it’s something I can relate to more than when I shoot from above.

[mikemyers]

Rather than work on old images, I went out for a walk this afternoon with my M10, again with the 50 Voigtlander in place. As I was walking by some trees and shrubs, I found this fellow trying to decide what to do. Before I did anything else, I took a photo, lens almost wide open, rangefinder focused on the head. He looked to his left when the camera clicked, and I took another shot. After a few minutes I took one step forward, and he decided it was time to get the heck out of there, in a hurry.

From six or so feet away, I was wondering if even with the Voitlander lens, would the photo be sharp. The photo came out better than I expected, and I think I learned something - as in shooting with lens almost wide open, and a very high shutter speed.

This photo was shot the way the folks in the Leica forum thought is best for “rangefinder M grab shots”. ISO was set to Auto-ISO, the exposure was set to Aperture Priority, and all I needed to think about was focusing, and composition. I know you’re all going to tell me this is wrong, but had I taken the time to figure out the right exposure, I’d have missed the picture.

I was looking for strange and unusual things by the water’s edge, and I almost missed this fellow completely had it not moved its head slightly.

It’s not going to make a big print - a 50 was not the right lens by a long shot, but things just worked.

L1004074 | 2022-01-19.dng (26.1 MB)
L1004074 | 2022-01-19.dng.dop (13.0 KB)

[mikemyers]

Addendum - I just heard back from KEH, and my Nikon 24-85 that I returned for repair, has now been returned to them from Nikon. I don’t know for sure what was wrong, but I did find out what Nikon did to it: "The vendor adj resolution, AF operation, and chk VR system, lens mount, and clean lens element, and firmware upgrade. Performed full overhaul and clean and check to GWO.

I hope to have it back in a week or so.

Curious - did my computer get confused, or did DxO mess up this forum? I’m typing now in a tiny little box, unlike the way it has been for years. I preferred the way it used to be. Now it’s too cramped.

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

@mikemyers

Curious - did my computer get confused, or did DxO mess up this forum? I’m typing now in a tiny little box, unlike the way it has been for years. I preferred the way it used to be. Now it’s too cramped.

No, it’s not you. Us prolific posters are all suffering, possibly due to a forum software update that went rogue

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

No, it’s not you. Us prolific posters are all suffering, possibly due to a forum software update that went rogue

All the fantastic posts you have made in the past, teaching us (me!!!) how to do things, are going to be a nightmare if they don’t fix this. I hope whoever did this doesn’t also work on the PL5 software!!!

[chris43]

Dear all,

A few days ago we had a really beautiful sunset at my place. Unfortunately, I did only have a few minutes for some snapshots and could not take the time for optimal setting up my camera. Still, the atmosphere was just amazing and I believe that my shots could preserve it. As I am not (yet) an expert with Photolab , I would be highly interested what the experts here in the forum could get out of the RAW files. I know that colors and mood during sunset can be highly subjective, but still it would be interesting how you guys interpret the scene. My first attempt revealed the following result. By the way I use PL5 and FP5…

The RAW file is below:
Download RAW File

[mikemyers]

I’ll leave it for Joanna to give you better advice. For me, I’ve given up on having the sun in the photo, because it’s always burned out. If I saw this scene, I would first set the ISO speed to the lowest setting, and then take the shot you did, then gradually decrease the aperture one or two stops at a time, in the small hope that the sun would no longer be burned out. When you run out of adjustment, start increasing the shutter speed. Eventually you might get a shot with the sun not burnt out, and hopefully you could use PhotoLab to bring back the shadows.

Plan B, would be to wait for the sun do drop below the hills. In that case Joanna has taught me to meter for the brightest part of the image (after the sun is no longer directly exposed), then over-expose by 1.7 stops, and take the photo.

What I love about your photo is the sun reflecting on the ground, and that would start to go away as the sun got lower.

Did you take any photos that were not so bright? Less exposure?

Even if it fails the no burnt out pixels test though, it’s a lovely image!

[Wolfgang ([ Win10, PL+VP+FP, Nik6 (+3) ])]

@chris43 – no sunset specialist here, but wouldn’t change much and keep the beautiful atmosphere.

Just did a little cropping to move the hoizon and very gentle Local Adjustments to the foreground.
I couldn’t download the raw-file and tried the jpg instead → VC1 P1001542_M_DxO.jpg.dop (18,1 KB)

[platypus (Canon & Mac (Intel and M1))]

@chris43

My first attempt revealed the following result.

Looks good to me…

You could try to get the foreground less dominant - it looks a bit overcooked - by cropping some of it off or by reducing its contrast (use the control line tool)…but these are just proposals.

All I did was a different crop (less foreground, plane trail,) and “closing” the lower RH corner with a gradient. No need for any other tweaks imo. Maybe shift the crop up a little bit…