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20 Beautiful HDR Pictures

abduzeedo.com — I was looking around for some new HDR pictures and found this great one from a car race. That's when i decided to make a third part of our series "20 Beautiful HDR Pictures". Hope this will never end.

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warrior007 159 days ago, made popular 158 days ago

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195 Comments
Who Dugg It?

HuskyPuzzle, on 06/27/2008, -11/+50Damn the first two of Paris and Madrid are amazing! Make me want to go to Europe.
- Gravey9, on 06/27/2008, -11/+1or just learn photoshop
- MrTulip, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4you won't go, go, go
- jeriqo, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5Madrid ?
  First two are Paris, me think.
- DSizzle, on 06/28/2008, -0/+2Definitely Paris...The restaurant is called Le Coral and the license plate on the energizer van is yellow.
bstory, on 06/27/2008, -21/+12Some nice shots there.
Kiryuu, on 06/27/2008, -19/+7Hey you got some decent shots!
CDep, on 06/27/2008, -18/+9Beautiful shots. I share the same organizational skills as the occupant of the office in your post. Somehow my office doesn't look as artsy, though.
annjay, on 06/27/2008, -18/+4Amazing!
Manny70, on 06/27/2008, -17/+5Thanks, Warrior. Magnificent images. Sharing this with friends.
BennyGreenberg, on 06/27/2008, -15/+4The eiffel tower is amazing and that ckluttered desk - just like mine!
Awesome shots@
sassyt, on 06/27/2008, -14/+2Fantastic shots!
CitizenKane, on 06/27/2008, -17/+119some of these make me want to vomit.
- raynar, on 06/27/2008, -0/+22exactly. the whole "fantasy" look looks like crap.
- N00F, on 06/27/2008, -1/+14HDR photography has a tendency to do that. I really don't see ANY appeal of this method.
  - npowel, on 06/27/2008, -0/+8Done properly, they can look fantastic. However, the majority of these pictures are clearly done by people who don't understand what they're actually trying to achieve, going for a "kewl photoshop effect".
- winampman2, on 06/27/2008, -2/+10the first one is okay, the rest are way too over-exposed.
- stephengotlost, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1..rainbows
- mrloco, on 06/27/2008, -2/+4i think the racing one is amazing
  
  it brings out so much detail in that one
- augustwest30, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4People seem to be confusing HDR imaging with Photoshop trickery. I think a lot of these photos are more of a study in how to combine and manipulate photos using software. I have never seen an HDR photo with stopped action like the ones with the race cars. For HDR photos, you need several photographs of the same subject shot at varying exposures to capture all of the detail in the shadows and highlights.
  - dn11, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2yeah, you're right. that is not HDR, it would be impossible. even a windy day blowing around the foliage can mess up HDR - the scene has to be still
  - scottsutherland, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1No, not necessarily. Some cameras shoot pictures in .raw format and require only one shot to be taken. However, I do agree that some of these aren't true HDR pictures.
  - jamble, on 06/27/2008, -2/+1Can't you set your SLR to autobracket shots at varying exposures and save as RAW? That would enable you to capture moving subjects.
    
    Those pictures really did suck balls though.
  - jcsoc, on 06/28/2008, -0/+2autobracket isn't fast enough to stop anything in place. a RAW HDR is basically just the same shot darkened, lightened and then merged with the original to create the effect. You need really even lighting for this to work in the first place though, otherwises there isn't enough dynamic range present to recover the lights and darks.
- burnin8r28, on 06/27/2008, -2/+4really now?
  there not bad give em a break
- dn11, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2i've been messing with HDR since back before it was a photoshop button and you had to do it by hand... it's getting pretty tiresome. it's good in some situations but not a lot. personally, I like seeing shadows and contrast in images.
- tylercomp, on 06/27/2008, -2/+2I LOVE HDR IT IS SOOO AWESOME!!!!!!
YME1280, on 06/27/2008, -14/+2Cool pix
Jasper710, on 06/27/2008, -13/+3these pics look fantastic
seks03, on 06/27/2008, -9/+69Some were just way over done, not every HDR photo is an automatic winner in my book,

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs26/i/2008/130/5/0/Roo ...
http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs22/i/2008/010/0/8/tes ... ...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2595871163_921 ... ...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2120/2529423867_f0a ... ...
- Bizarrkley, on 06/27/2008, -0/+16The middle two didn't load for me. :-(
- brandanasan, on 06/27/2008, -1/+0http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2120/2529423867_f0a ...
  
  i keep looking for a guy wearing acid-washed jeans. and just because it can be done, doesn't mean it should.
- davidrools, on 06/27/2008, -2/+3that's the look they were going for
  - Zoojeff, on 06/28/2008, -1/+1At least there is some people who could understand that
- DerekkL, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1Could you please link me to the last one's profile page? Sorry, I tried messing with the URL and I'm really interested in that photograph.. I'm actually pretty sure I know where it is, lol.
krets, on 06/27/2008, -26/+158I'm so tired of HDR.
- ragonamuffin, on 06/27/2008, -0/+50I'm so tired of 404's
  - AdibT, on 06/27/2008, -3/+36I'm so tired of being alone
    - Dokument, on 06/27/2008, -7/+18I'm never going to give you up.
    - MrIso, on 06/27/2008, -7/+16never gonna let you down.
    - jkarhu24, on 06/27/2008, -4/+13Never gonna run around and desert you
    - tsaxer, on 06/27/2008, -2/+11Baby don't hurt me.
      
      Oh...wait...
    - TheMidnight, on 06/28/2008, -1/+10You guys made me cry, now I'm gonna say good bye and hurt you.
    - Easyoffbam, on 06/28/2008, -0/+4I'm so tired of people taking a screenshot of these mildly funny threads and saying "This is why I love Digg part #5704"
    - AdibT, on 06/28/2008, -1/+1mission successful?
      
      Indeed.
- dafragsta, on 06/27/2008, -10/+21What's wrong with HDR? Sure, it can be overdone, but the results are unparalleled. It's given photography something new, which it probably hasn't had in ages. The results look like fine works of art, and not in a gimmicky photoshop filter kind of way. There is real detail that results from the natural shift in exposure that we can't even compensate for with our own eyes, which won't allow us to see the world this way.
  - stealth45, on 06/27/2008, -4/+16No, the way 90% of them are done results in a gimmicky photoshop filter look.
  - Origin415, on 06/27/2008, -3/+4These just look like regular pictures, most with their saturation turned way up, as well as other filters, to me.
  - kuwan, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5"...which won't allow us to see the world this way"
    
    Most of these pictures are processed in a way in which you could never see in the real world because they are over-processed, unrealistic pieces of artwork - they are no longer photographs. The fact that people label these as HDR is disgusting. HDR images are merely images that have been created in a way that gives you more details in the highlights and shadows - a Higher Dynamic Range. The end result is to try and create a photo that is more realistic than what a camera can ordinarily capture due to its limited dynamic range. There are only 4 pictures of the 20 here that are actually good examples of HDR images: the Eiffel Tower, the Fireworks, the Clouds over the water and the 2nd picture (though this one is over-processed in my opinion).
    
    The rest of the images fall into the category of "tone mapping" (or more accurately "creative tone mapping") which unfortunately is mistakenly labeled as HDR because it shares some of the processes that people use to create HDR images. Tone-mapped images can look very good and produce images with a very artistic style, but there is usually nothing realistic about them.
- Bizarrkley, on 06/27/2008, -5/+7Then why do you open an article on it? If you don't like it... move along!
  - skyroket, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3Maybe he just realized he's tired of HDRs after looking at this pathetic set.
- CoreyHalliwell, on 06/27/2008, -4/+3HDR and people who praise it, just come off as pretentious. "Oooh the Eiffel Tower at an angle AND in HD!". I'm all up for good photography but just because a picture is taken in HD doesn't mean it's a good picture.
  - InsaneOni, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2And just because it is, doesn't make it suck.
    
    How about basing your opinions photo to photo versus: "omg HDR sucks and so do people that use it".
    
    I could say that about people who oil paint.
  - CoreyHalliwell, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1you missed the entire point...
- OhTheHumanity1, on 06/27/2008, -0/+24I think HDR should be unobtrusive. It should really help you capture a truly high dynamic range. It doesn't necessarily have to LOOK HDR.
  
  These are a few examples of my own work that I think don't just SCREAM HDR as has become the stereotype, but rather showcase the dynamic range:
  
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54782136@N00/26164673 ...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54782136@N00/26164673 ...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54782136@N00/26156546 ...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54782136@N00/26156545 ...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54782136@N00/26164828 ...
  - skyroket, on 06/27/2008, -0/+8I agree. I think people are trying too hard to make HDR pictures just so they can make an HDR picture, instead of utilizing HDR to make a good-looking picture.
    
    It's like that one guy back in 4th grade who could never keep up with what's "in" because he was trying too hard to be something, instead of just being himself.
  - skyroket, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1I agree. I think people are trying too hard to make HDR pictures just so they can make an HDR picture, instead of utilizing HDR to make a good-looking picture.
- MattDell, on 06/27/2008, -1/+16Exactly. This is what HDR should look like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattdell/2286102200/i ...
  - skyroket, on 06/28/2008, -0/+2You guys should definitely check out the rest of this guy's Flickr photos. I don't know him or anything, but I just thought some of the others in his London set were pretty astounding.
- r3negadeX, on 08/11/2008, -3/+4A crappy HDR gallery and Ron Paul spam on the front page, both in the same day? It's like the good old days on Digg! Quick, start digging iPhone articles!
- Zpanzer, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1I pretty much love HDR pictures due the fact that light information is stored inside them as long as they are saved as a 32 bit image. I'm able to use a single picture to light an entire 3d scene.
  - gopy, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2...right... but these pictures you're seeing aren't actually HDR images. Certainly not 32 bit. These are horribly done 8 bit conversions. But yeah, actual hdr images are useful for lighting a 3d scene quickly, though you have next to no ability to tweak the result.
  - Zpanzer, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1Well, if they have been taking using different shutter speeds and then merged into photoshop using the right import method or a program like HDRShop, theese are true HDR images. If they were saved to the right formart, they would be useable inside a 3d application. Ohh, and btw, you do a lot of ways to tweak a HDRI result, by either adding and manipulating lights themselves inside the 3d app or in the process of merging the pictures in a program like HDRShop
- drbadass, on 06/27/2008, -6/+3I'm so tired of whiny elitists, like you. If you're SO TIRED!!!! of HDR, don't click.
  
  Jackass.
  - lukak, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1isn't being an elitist technically a good thing? I think you're after a word more closely linked to discrimination.
    I'm amazed at this new terminology as an insult...
- duffy89, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2They arent even "Beautiful" a lot of them look a mess
- upsilonh24, on 06/28/2008, -1/+1Yeah when the novelty has disapeared, they are quite flashy and annoying.
dislexicllama, on 06/27/2008, -10/+4Page is down :(
- N00F, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2GOOD!!
schnikies79, on 06/27/2008, -9/+4Teeth! ugh
LeRenard, on 06/27/2008, -5/+5Well that lasted a long time..
brandecker, on 06/27/2008, -6/+1link down!!
londonflare, on 06/27/2008, -2/+14that 'Lost in Space' image doesn't look HDR to me.
cl2yp71c, on 06/27/2008, -6/+3Houston, we have a problem!
....what?
the server told me.
galvo, on 06/27/2008, -8/+3We can't find the page you are looking for :(
Tishiablo, on 06/27/2008, -4/+6http://abduzeedo.com/20-beautiful-hdr-pictures

--page 3 was apparently taken down.
SebHughes, on 06/27/2008, -4/+9Mirror:

http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:HfUTx14iCkoJ: ...
StraylightSA, on 06/27/2008, -5/+107All of these HDR pictures are poorly done. HDR is supposed to more closely mimic the dynamic range of your eyes since cameras can't capture the full range. These look like poorly done CGI renders.
- lennybird, on 06/27/2008, -5/+5They look like CGI, but I wouldn't say poor.
- b0rna, on 06/27/2008, -9/+1Are you kidding? The shots of the Subaru are amazing. Nothing like any HDR that has been done before.
  - mtekk, on 06/27/2008, -1/+8That wasn't HDR there, can't do true HDR on moving things without blur
  - dullnation, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Actually, there are a few models of camera (a FujiFilm S3 for example) that can capture a much higher range of light in a single frame than regular slrs and that image was probably taken with one.
- Laminarcissus, on 06/27/2008, -1/+18Some of them are fine, but I agree with you in principle. In many of them the technique just looks bolted-on, like applying a Photoshop filter.
  
  The part about HDR more closely mimicking the dynamic range of your eyes is a tough call, because our available output devices -- monitors and printers -- don't even come close themselves, so the artist has to choose how to edit the palette down. That's where I think a lot of HDR photographers lose it.
  
  I'm accustomed to a conservative use of HDR (like Cambridge in Colour: http://tinyurl.com/7fts7); I think the Eiffel Tower is beautiful. I'm less enamored of the candy-colored stuff, and if you look at the gazebo picture for example, that's terrible. The colors aren't well-balanced, the color mix detracts from the composition, and it's like someone just took an ordinary picture and decided to "make it good" by turning all the knobs to 11.
  
  Contrast that with another high-color picture -- the rally car in the sand. That's perfect. The sky, trees, and sand have been balanced to create a backdrop, and the car lights up in the middle.
  
  HDR is going through the the same phase Photoshop did when it first came out -- suffering from a lot of people that mistake something that's just a tool for something that makes them an artist. Fortunately there are still a lot of people that are really understanding it and doing great work.
  - TastyBiscuit, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akaD9v460yI
- specialK16, on 06/27/2008, -3/+4I don't give a ***** if they are not HDR. Some of those pictures are fantastic. Jesus some people!!!
  
  I bet you wouldn't be bitching if you could take pictures some of those.
- nydwarf, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1HDR is art not science.
Huevoos, on 06/27/2008, -3/+22damn and I though we were already over the HDR boom.
jonmlm, on 06/27/2008, -5/+24seriously? still with this?
- Laminarcissus, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4This is not why we're still with this. *This* is why we're still with this:
  
  Cambridge in Colour:
  http://tinyurl.com/7fts7
  
  That's HDR in the hands of an artist, not someone who downloaded Photomatix off of IsoHunt
saunders45, on 06/27/2008, -6/+121Wow... Ever heard of saturation control? Just because it's HDR doesn't mean it needs to look like a freakin' neon sign.
scarysnow, on 06/27/2008, -2/+15glad to see the same old HDR photo galleries getting top billing here at Digg.
SikkinDivigil, on 06/27/2008, -3/+5Houston can bite my shiny metal ass
- rohcky, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2Good thing we changed the detonation code to a word that you're least likely going to say.
  - awesomecleric, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1Antiquing?
- Spaceboy492, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1You must be from Dallas.
SSCrow, on 06/27/2008, -8/+3Those Rally Pics are freaking awesome.
Imagine when games will look like that.
WhiteShadow89, on 06/27/2008, -4/+4I guess I need to upgrade my real life video card
- sadisticmind, on 06/27/2008, -1/+0wa?
StanleyKoolPrik, on 06/27/2008, -6/+9220 HDR Photos By People Who Have No Idea What They're Doing.
- drexl, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3Note:Not flaming you!
  
  Would somebody tell point me to a site with "real" HDR shots? Everytime there is something about HDR on here I find that there are several posts saying that they are bad, or are in-fact not HDR.
  
  So, again, Not Flaming, just asking.
  
  Thanks
  - kuwan, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4The best HDR shots are shots that you can't tell that they're HDR. HDR, when used correctly, is merely a process of creating photographs that look realistic by capturing more dynamic range than an ordinary photograph. They shouldn't look like cartoons. This post from above shows a few good examples of using HDR correctly:
    
    http://digg.com/design/20_Beautiful_HDR_Pictures_? ...
- ipaholic, on 06/27/2008, -5/+1Links to your best shots as a comparison, or quit yer bitchin.
Infidelcastr0, on 06/27/2008, -8/+4Awesome pics. Dugg for the WRC Scoobies.
- goalieguy314, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3Scoobies for great justice!
donkz, on 06/27/2008, -4/+2Someone tell me last picture is from COD4 chernobyl map...
mdude85, on 06/27/2008, -1/+5Free cookies to anyone who can figure out how many websites these photos were stolen from without attribution
diggB, on 06/27/2008, -0/+32Okay, somebody please explain to me how to create an HDR image of a fast moving scene?

http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs28/f/2008/065/4/e/sub ...

I thought HDR images were created from multiple shots of varying exposure settings to increase the dynamic range of the camera sensor which would make the previous HDR image impossible (i.e. The subject would have moved between frames). Perhaps it's just a single shot made to look like an HDR image through the magic of photoshop?
- t0sh, on 06/27/2008, -0/+13You take the photo in a lossless format like RAW and create several images reflecting different exposure settings from that. Then you use these to make the HDR picture.
  
  Or not, because about 95% of all HDR photos you see online look abysmal.
  - HaMMeReD, on 06/28/2008, -1/+0No, that will not work because the noise will get scaled and look horrible. No extra color precision.
- iPissExcellence, on 06/27/2008, -2/+3thats what i was thinking. and thats why i dont care for these overly done HDR pics. you can easily fake them in photoshop.
- paloooz, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5Regular DSLRs take ~12bit RAW images which can be compressed and tone mapped into a pseudo-HDR image. These images really do contain more dynamic range that regular point and shoot cameras would capture, just not as much as when one takes several exposures and blends them together.
  
  It's ***** terrible.
- centran, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4they cheated... and this is why that photomatix software sucks balls becuase it allows you to do so things like that.
  
  They shot it in RAW and that allows for a greater range of exposure. It is kind of like how with film you can over or under develop it in the dark room to "change" the ISO.
  The photomatix program will grab three different exposures from a RAW and then creates the HDR.... which is then tone-mapped to hell by the user since it is so damn easy to do in photomatix(just move a slider over).
- prth8machine, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1You can fake it. You take your one shot, and go in and adjust the exposure to give you 3 shots of varying exposure. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
- InsaneOni, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3Not all images taken w/ raw and tonemapped end up looking bad:
  
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/citizen_insane/271809 ...
- nydwarf, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1Fake HDR what a joke that is.
- HaMMeReD, on 06/28/2008, -1/+2I think I can answer this, is they shoot in RAW, if you have only 1 raw exposure though it makes no sense to do the scaling like people are saying here, that is only stupid and will result in lower quality.
  
  1. Import to photoshop, Move to 32bit/per channel color immediately
  2. Run a good noise removal, noise ninja is my recommendation
  3. Scale down to at least 1/4 the size using bilinear sampling, make sure you do a multiple of 2.
  
  This will give you a 32 bit color image with fairly high precision out of a single exposure, given that you started with a good low-noise source.
  
  All HDR really means is that you have much more color precision, so that you can crank contrast and ***** with the levels more without seeing banding effects. A good HDR won't be so blatantly obvious, these idiots are ruining the name HDR.
  - leorcastillo, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1What....the...***** did you just say? Sorry, just next time try periods and commas in the right places.
- DrShotgun, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1I'm guessing either yes, Photoshop magics or it could be multiple cameras. Just a guess, I don't know much about photography.
vinsgooden, on 06/27/2008, -7/+0beautifully...author rulezz
sadisticmind, on 06/27/2008, -4/+2i wanna see a gothic HDR pic of a fat man eating MacDonald,
zmigliozzi, on 06/27/2008, -2/+10HDR is so 2006.

And, by the way, shadow/highlight doesn't equal HDR!
nicheplayer, on 06/27/2008, -4/+16Buried for HDR.
rheaume, on 06/27/2008, -2/+26Ugh, as a photographer, Im over the HDR stuff before I really got into it myself.
Seeing stuff like the gazebo shot and this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2595871163_921 ...
just make me sick, it looks garish and poorly done.
Why not just throw 500 lens flares in there too?
- Icetype, on 06/27/2008, -0/+8I just vomited in my coffee looking at that horrific image.
- etx313, on 06/27/2008, -0/+7Yeah, that's pretty bad.
- nydwarf, on 06/28/2008, -2/+1Snob.
- HaMMeReD, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1What are you talking about? That's an excellent shot of vomit, one of the best I've seen.
  
  Looks like Hotdogs and pizza.
DeFex, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2That looks like one of the guard towers from bf1942 :D
- nilez, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Dugg for referencing bf1942!
solongjack, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4When did HDR become synonymous with whack? Those aren't HDR. They are fake looking. HDR should look like what your eye would see. HDR attempts replicate the high dynamic range of your eye with the low dynamic range of digital cameras and display devices.
t0sh, on 06/27/2008, -0/+13If you really want to do HDR photos, try to tone it down and do it properly, like this guy: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/

His tutorials are rather well written, and he emphasises that you should only use HDR techniques when you can't balance the brightness of a scene using a graduated neutral density filter. Good on him.
whitej, on 06/27/2008, -3/+6I hate HDR.
- HairyGrapeNuts, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1Way to be a follower.
destro713, on 06/27/2008, -1/+5Oh boy, more photos of completely generic stock-photo-caliber subject matter that people spooge all over because they have so much artificial detail.

Good photography is a woman's eyes. HDR is a porn starlet's ransacked vagina.
- frotastic, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3and some people like it.
notyournews, on 06/27/2008, -0/+7The headline should have been, "10 beautiful views and some other stuff ruined by HDR."
coadyj, on 06/27/2008, -7/+0first time seeing hdr, its like being on lsd (really it is)
doshindude, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3Not all HDR pics are nice...this article is an example of that. Only good picture in the bunch was the fireworks one. All the other ones looked kinda...disgusting...in an odd way.
SidiousX3, on 06/27/2008, -2/+0dugg for having two pictures of petter solberg
gtluke, on 06/27/2008, -3/+7you can't HDR an action picture, some of those are just photoshopped to look more cartoony
- MidnightHour12, on 06/27/2008, -4/+2Learn a little about HDR.
  
  A single RAW file can be made into 3 differently exposed images and then those images can be made into a *pseudo-HDR* image.
  - emt1451, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3Pseudo-HDR isn't HDR.
  - Daz_Genetic, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1MidnightHour12: Perhaps you should learn a little about what the word Pseudo means.
  - h3lx, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1♫♫"Pseu-Pseu-Pseudio" Yeoooowawawawwww!!!♫♫
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20 Beautiful HDR Pictures

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