first attempt at HDR

[thumper]

my first go at this - the blend/tone mapping is done using Photomatix ...

from these 3 exporsures 1 stop AEB

to this

 

[thumper]

Firstly thanks for the comments guys now ill try & answer any questions;

Wow that looks very good. Did you just leave the camera on a tripod and set different exposures? The only way I am able to expose correctly for the sky or foreground is to move the camera and half click the shutter. Is there a simpler way to do it, or do you just guess?

yes 10d in Aperture priority on a tripod with the remote release and used the Auto exposure bracketing function set at +1/-1 - you really need to be able to hold the cam still between shots otherwise you might struggle re-combining them... altho i think the new photomatix beta has an 'automatically align' function which would suggest you can hand hold the three shots as long as you minimize any rotation which would lead to distortion in shapes and sizes ....

Stunning! Any chance of a 1280*1024 or bigger version, I could use a new wallpaper

no probs: http://www.thumperproductions.com/images/hdrbck.jpg

Looks pretty nice from here, but I think +/- 2 EV would have suited you better. Still, it's a lovely end result. I've never tinkered with HDR so, providing you don't give away any of your secrets, would you mind explaining the process to us?
PS. You've got a bit of vignetting going on in the originals - is that the lens or the filter?

the process; i found a link for the photomatix software posted on here by some kind soul - www.HDRsoft.com - i then followed the instructions which were basically input 3 images; select make HDR; then tone map; fiddle with the sliders till it all looks good - very scientific huh?
then into photoshop for some standard levels & USM...

re: vignetting - it was due to the polarizer on the sigma 10-20mm

hope that helps guys

 

[thumper]

cheers again guys - i'm away for the weekend from now - but i'll get a 1440 x 960 on sunday night for ya & hopefully come back with another one ...