Lake Galena, Peace Valley Park, PA

[Ed Vatza]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s1/EdV_02/0908_PeaceValleyParkBirdsandButt-1.jpg

3-image HDR. Focal length 59mm.

1/250 sec @ f/11, ISO 200, -1/3 EV
1/500 sec @ f/11, ISO 200, -1 2/3 EV
1/100 sec @ f/11, ISO 200, +1 EV

Canon 30D; Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens; handheld but steadied on a wooden bridge railing.

[David Kennedy]

Hey, Ed,
I think your processing of this image is preventing me from really accessing it--it seems you brightened the mangroves and darkened the sky and the water (there's a huge halo around the greenery). The reflection is great, but even then I'm not sure that this image has a particular "point of interest"--somewhere the eye should go. Like I said, the reflection is very nice, but I'd want something in particular--possible in the lower third--for the eye to go and then use the rest of the scene as the "background."

Cheers,
David

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ed,
I agree with David.....definitely has a glow around the greenery. I do also think he is right on with the focal point.....you really need something to keep the viewer interested.....and unlike your other forest scene....the light play and shadows was enough there.....here it is missing some of that.

[Ed Vatza]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the feedback.

This is like deja vu all over again with the halo/glow comments. Unless I am totally misunderstanding the reference, all I see surrounding the greenery is sky and the reflected sky in the water. As the overcast and fog was breaking up and lifting, there were bands of color in the sky. That is what I am seeing. Please help me. What am I missing?

The focal point issue is well... another issue. What I was looking at when I created the image was the land mass (which is actually an island) carrying the viewer out into the lake as you move along the greenery ending at the albeit very small fishing boat at the point of the island. I guess that just didn't work.

Just for the heck of it, here is an other similar image made just 10 minutes earlier. You can see how the sky was changing and things were brightening up.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s1/EdV_02/0908_PeaceValleyLakeGalenaHDR_001-E.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ed,
I've circled what appears to be the halo around the greens.....I am not generally sensitive to these but i have seen them in HDR conversions......I hope Michael P or David respond to this as they could offer some advice on how to correct. It is more noticable at the front of the point....as the sky there looks fairly even toned....hope someone chimes in with a possible fix. Your macro post was much, much, less noticable.

[David Thomasson]

As the overcast and fog was breaking up and lifting, there were bands of color in the sky. That is what I am seeing. Please help me. What am I missing?

See if this makes the halos more evident.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/10/halo1.gif

[Roman Kurywczak]

Thanks David! Any solution tips for Ed?

[Ed Vatza]

See if this makes the halos more evident.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/10/halo1.gif

First of all, this was almost hypnotizing me! :eek:

Whatever you did is clearly showing the area that you guys are referring to. That is exactly where I was looking after the initial comment. I still come away feeling it is the light playing on the low clouds and fog (refraction maybe?) rather than an artifact. Had I taken the images five minutes earlier, it may have looked like the image sans "halo".

Is that what you are suggesting or do you believe it is an artifact of Photomatix?

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ed,
I believe it is a Photomatix Halo.....I have seen it B4 but don't know how to correct it.....sorry....but I may know someone who can.....so if nobody responds before tomorrow afternoon.....I'll try to contact them and get you a reply.

[David Thomasson]

The trick is not to fix the halo but to avoid it in the first place. I agree with Roman that this is being created in Photomatix. Not having used that application, I'm not sure how to avoid producing halos like this.

[Ed Vatza]

Hey Ed,
I believe it is a Photomatix Halo.....I have seen it B4 but don't know how to correct it.....sorry....but I may know someone who can.....so if nobody responds before tomorrow afternoon.....I'll try to contact them and get you a reply.

Thanks!

(You know you can't just say "Thanks!" The message is too short (less than 10 characters) and won't go through!)

[David Thomasson]

These HDR machines also generate halos inside the greenery. Need to watch for those as well. :eek:

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2870/halo2.gif

[Ed Vatza]

Hi folks,

I found the following on the Photomatix site. I will try it this evening... assuming I can figure out what it means! :eek:

"How do I reduce/eliminate "halo" effects with tone mapping?

Increasing the value of the Highlights Smoothness setting (under the "miscellaneous" section) is useful for reducing halos around objects placed against bright backgrounds. The other adjustments that may help are lowering the Strength and/or increasing the value of the Smoothing setting.

An easier way to avoid halo artifacts is to either use the Tone Compressor method for tone mapping your image, or to process your bracketed photos with Exposure Fusion using the 'Adjust' method. The latter is particularly recommended if you are looking for natural-looking results."

[Fabs Forns]

The halos are a function of the Strength or the light smoothing used. Pull back on Strength and go right on Light Smoothing.
I like your earlier version much better, midtones are where they need to be there.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Thanks for the help Fabs! Now I know who to PM for Photomatix answers!

[Ed Vatza]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s1/EdV_02/0908_PeaceValleyLakeGalenaHDRImage_.jpg

Here is the original image redone. Pulled back on strength. Boosted smoothness and went into smoothness settings to boost micro smoothness, highlight smoothness, shadow smoothness. That is what Photomatix suggests be done to reduce halo effects. That is exactly what Fabs also suggested.

I tried the other options (Tone Compressor and Exposure Fusion) and didn't like the results. Too ordinary! :)

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ed,
Looks 1000 times better!!! Much more natural! Nice job figuring it out!!! Now...if you got a kayak in the LL area......woohaaa!!!

[Robert Amoruso]

Ed,

The problem with the halo generally occurs between areas of overt contrast changes, in this case mangroves to the sky and is a function of light smoothing or in this case, not enough of it. The less light smoothing, the more "HDR-look" you get in heightened luminance variations between image areas.

Light Smoothing controls how Photomatix smooths out luminance variations within the image. Setting too low results in halos around edges. Increasing will give more natural looking results.