aginbyte

Theo, I had seen this before and admired it very much. Interesting that you did 27 exposures. Did you use a tilt shift to align or do it manually. Can't image how difficult that must have been to put it together. Great shot. My Canon can do the automatic as well (just hold down the button on the cable release.

 

Will be going to Boston on Thursday and will shoot Trinity Church on Copley Square. Hopefully I'll get some good HDR material. I've done a dozen or so practice shots on previously photographed material and found that even my standard 1-stop or 1/2 stop brackets can yield results ... particularly in the case of sculpture. Here is a capital in St. Pierre in Chauvigny, again 1/2-stop bracketing. I'm posting the original next to the HDR so you can see the result. My belief is that this will yield excellent results in church sculpture (later I might post something from Moissac that was able to overcome hideous backlighting problems.)

Actually did one experiment here at my place as an HDR test. I tested two things simultaneously. I did a three panel vertical panorama using the Canon TS 24e, bracketed at two stops. I then created three separate panoramas (approximately 7800 pixels across), then combined the panoramas in Photomatrix. Had to use a tripod, of course, and the difference in exposure makes a huge difference. In this shot, there was some wind so there is double exposure in the trees on the left, and the dog turned her head. But, there is a huge difference between this shots and the camera originals, which were grey and fairly dull compared to this HDR.

 

I always use a cable release for my panorama shots anyway, so it works fine to do it with the HDR.

 

I'm going to do some more tests soon, including searching out a church with stained glass windows. I appreciate the discussion, and am sure that I will be doing more experiments with HDR before the May trip to France.

Have lots of pictures of the statue, but this has always been one of my favorite churches in the Dordogne, perhaps because of personal associations. I also loved the effect of the open door.

Theo and Michal, thanks for the discussion of HDR on architecture, it is fascinating, actually. I happen to have three 1/2 stop brackets of this Autun shot and tried the promotional version of Photomatix HDR to see how it works. I was trying here for the most natural result (one can surely do some very interesting effects). I wish that I had exposed for the windows, and would have added those in. Take a look at the image and tell me what you think. The added detail in the nave detracts from the power of the pillars, I think, but it gives me an idea of what the shot might be if composed.

Was requested to supply a b/w version of this shot. Made some adjustments as well.

Thanks for your assistance.

Michal, thanks for the commentary. I have been researching the HDR technique and am very interested in it. It would be very nice to get the increased dynamic range and there are no real limitations to the production of the exposures. Will be going to France again in May and will give it a shot. Thanks for the tip, and I'll keep in touch with the results! Meanwhile, Theo Jacobs does HDR on architecture ... http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=630124.

Have tried many times to get this moment (we have ospreys where I live), have never managed anything like this. Congratulations and thanks.

Like this shot a great deal, especially the "bright face".

Yinka, am dazzled by this piece. Congratulations.

Wonderful pilasters reduce the impression of heaviness of the massive pillars. Your

comments are welcome.

 

Great to hear from all the different Romanesque aficionados!

... wonderful for us. Thank you.

Use a tilt-shift lens to get it straight, but had such a short time to get this particular shot that I didn't get it right. The exposure was 5 seconds at f9, and there were lots of people milling around. Should have made sure on the shifting of the lens, but didn't. Damn! Thanks for the critique!

... and great shot. Makes me want to raise the brandy myself.

Famous statue of Isiah to the right of the doorway.

12th Century church in Auvergne. Comments on architectural photography very welcome.

Henri, the artifacting is definitely a matter of compression (you can see it with the histogram in PS). Nice shot, though. By the way, when I shoot in dark churches with long exposure, I use a pen flashlight to illuminate the edges of the frame through the lens. That way I can accurately judge where the edge of frame will be and calibrate the horizontal/vertical lines with the frame lines.

Oui, je chante toujours pendant le travail. Merci.

Home of famous madonna, ND de Notre Dame du Mont Cornador

Red and black with white highlights. Simple but beautiful. The red line works for me.

Like a dance move, Susan. Elegant.

Thanks, Susan. Looked at the cropping, but I ended up really liking the isolation of that one small red rose in the dark green background. Appreciate the feedback.

Used Orton blending to get effect

Interested in critiques

Your critique is welcome.

Your critique is welcome.