HDR Photography Use (Part 1)

When thinking of high dynamic range photography, many imagine an elaborate, highly saturated photo of unrealistic nature. This may be of good use to some artists, but for most photographers not so much. The essence of HDR's abilities is to take a scene with very contrasting exposure needs and output the best of each situation. No saturation about it. That means you can take several differently exposed photos which are each "correct" for some portion of a photograph and put them together into one, creating a photograph depicting total ideal exposure. The HDR revolution provides a way to solve the same problem photographers have had from the beginning: what exposure will give the best possible balance? Keep in mind that we have always had a method of adding excessive saturation. Try it by going with a tripod and taking some shots with easy and difficult exposure scenes. The best software may be Adobe Photoshop CS5 or free solutions such as Photomatix Basic or another found through a quick Google search.

Microsoft Bing’s Prizes

As you may already know, I recently won Microsoft Bing’s Earth Day Photo Contest, and was awarded an HP desktop computer, along with 5 computers, 2 printers, and 2 cameras for Habersham Central High School in Mt. Airy, Georgia. These are all awesome prizes! The administrators at HCHS have already told me how excited they are about the new equipment, which will be used in a digital media class. My computer is blazing fast…here are some specs:

• AMD Phenom II X4 820 2.8 GHz Quad Core Processor
• Windows 7 64-bit
• 8 GB Ram
• 1 TB internal hard disk drive
• 18.5” 1366 x 768 Monitor

In the few days I have had this powerhouse, I have used it to edit photos, play a virtual pipe organ with my midi keyboard (with around 700 MB of real samples), and construct 3-dimensional molecular models and bond-line structures for my organic chemistry class. It’s a great and convenient addition to my laptop and 25” 1080p Vizio due to the fact that it is stationary, expandable, and already powerful.

To download the official Microsoft Windows 7 theme pack which includes the my photo of the bullfrog, follow this link:

http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/search/archive/2010/06/08/earth-day-photo-contest-winners-visit-and-win-7-theme-pack.aspx

I especially appreciate Microsoft’s promotion of Earth Day, and support engaging education of our environment, also in respect to the impending need, ongoing research, and implementation of global alternative "clean" energy. Photography is my way of expressing appreciation of nature's unfathomable beauty, though "beauty" may be an overused understatement. Contests such as theirs not only provide fun nationwide and worldwide competition, but allow the mixture of ideas and perspectives about the Earth. These contests introduce incentives for thought into the natural world, its history and beginnings, and most importantly: development, enjoyment, and future.

Thanks to Microsoft, and especially to all who voted.

As always, visit http://jacobthompson.vze.com to view my personal website including some of my current and not so current photographs.

Bing’s Earth Day Photo Contest [UPDATE]

I recently entered Bing’s Earth Day Photo Contest. Of the 17,000 photos entered, my photo of a bullfrog has been awarded a finalist, one of the twelve top photos, and second place in my age group.

To vote for the winners, go to http://earthdayphotocontest.com (Don’t forget to vote for the bullfrog)

To learn more about the contest, visit:

www.bing.com/community/blogs/search/archive/2010/04/14/the-bing-student-earth-day-photo-contest-finalists.aspx

 

UPDATE

Visit:

www.bing.com/featured/content/search?q=Earth+Day+Photo+Contest:+Bullfrog

www.bing.com

My photo of the frog maintained 2nd place in my division. Thanks to all who voted. I won a computer, and Georgia Tech wins a digital photo lab!

Fantasia on Great is Thy Faithfulness

I recently composed a Fantasia for organ based on William Runyan’s hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness. It is collection variations on the hymn. One section features Johann Sebastian Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor (BWV 582).

Here are links:

Fantasia on Great is Thy Faithfulness mp3 file  and  PDF file and IMSLP.org

…Weeks Without Camera…

So I have been without a camera for several weeks now. It’s starting to really hurt. I sold my XTi, planning to buy a T1i, but the same day I sold my camera, Canon announced the T2i. I decided to wait for the T2i. It comes out sometime in March. It’s February now. My photographical expression has been suppressed for too long. I know it’s worth it to wait…a better sensor, over 18 million pixels, 1080p video at 30 fps…please come, T2i!

My Canon Digital Rebel XTi FOR SALE! [SOLD]

I'm currenty selling my camera (the reason is that I want an upgrade). It's a Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Black). I have had this camera for 2 years. The image quality is excellent as it has always been. There are only some scuffs on the right side and bottom of the body, and some tiny unnoticeable scratches on the screen, as you'd expect from 2 years of use. This is a great deal especially if this will be your first DSLR.

Price: $450; If you'd like to buy it, contact me and we can work something out.
Comes with: 
* Camera Body 
* Kit lens (18-55mm) 
* 2 2GB Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash cards 
* USB Cable 
* Strap 
* Battery / Battery Charger

UPDATE: SOLD

High Dynamic Range Images, Part 2

One common misconception about HDR images is that the output image should be much more saturated than the original. In some cases this may be a decent solution, but most of the time it only creates an unrealistic surreal image that does not come close to accurately depicting the visual nature of things.

The idea of an HDRi is to take several exposures and blend them together, giving a larger possible exposure range compressed into one image. It’s an attempt to put everything in the image how the eye would directly see it. This exposure correction is something your camera cannot do natively unless it’s just amazing. Composing such images are most useful when you have a very bright and very dark element together in one frame.

More is to come on how to use Adobe Photoshop to get a precisely balanced HDRi.