[kayasaman]

Did you try Photomatix software? You can't get a real good blend of bracketed exposures without a lot of work without an HDR software app. An app makes it pretty easy. Photomatix offers a trial download (unlocked to the full version with payment) if you want to experiment. It puts a watermark on the finished product but you can see what it offers over doing your own blending of bracketed exposures.

I might mention that a good starting point is to let the K-1 do its own metering (area metering) and choose bracketing for 1 or 2 stop intervals on either side of the metered exposure (depends on subject matter but try both options and see what you like best - 1 stop bracketing is a good start point).

Final note: I'm in no way connected to Photomatix - just tried and liked it myself but there are others out there - some freeware - which you might consider.

Download HDR photo editing program Photomatix Pro

@Bob256 (thanks so much for all the assistance and suggestions!!) I had a look at Photomatix but it won't run on my system... it's only for Windows and Mac.

What I have found however, is something called LuminanceHDR:

Welcome to LuminanceHDR?s documentation! ? Luminance HDR Manual

the guide I'm using loosely is this:

Making HDR Photos with Luminance HDR


The output is kinda funky though

Not sure what's going on here but will have to play around with it a little.

---------- Post added 07-06-21 at 02:37 PM ----------

@Bob256 (thanks so much for all the assistance and suggestions!!) I had a look at Photomatix but it won't run on my system... it's only for Windows and Mac.

What I have found however, is something called LuminanceHDR:

Welcome to LuminanceHDR?s documentation! ? Luminance HDR Manual

the guide I'm using loosely is this:

Making HDR Photos with Luminance HDR


The output is kinda funky though

Not sure what's going on here but will have to play around with it a little.

Ok a test using a different set of images. My GND filter simulation brackets. The software seems to work. For some reason it has issues on the flower.... I'm gona go back and test to see if I can get something usable.

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[kayasaman]

Sorry... problem uploading. Here it is:

[gatorguy]

If anyone is interested here are some daytime samples of what I have managed to do so far:

Update your browser to use Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Sites, Slides, and Forms - Google Drive Help

One thing I can definitely say is that the 28-105mm rocks for flowers (as that's pretty much most of what I've tested it on so far, apart from indoor stuff which it's ok for but not wide enough )

Looking at those images you and your K1 look to be developing a solid friendship.

[kayasaman]

Looking at those images you and your K1 look to be developing a solid friendship.

Thank you

Yeah I couldn't be happier with it!

Sure there are many different takes on the camera concept by many different brands, and before deciding on the K1 I was almost ready to go for an Olympus EM1X.

What really swayed me last minute was the sensor size and astro features, plus what many people had to say about the camera for landscape photography.

A bonus to everything really is the amazing community of users here, at first to help me decide on a starting setup and start thinking about where to go next; and now helping with my inexperience in certain areas which on the surface would seem simple but underneath are proving to be a little more complex.


Friendship like everything else needs to be worked at so I will do my best to keep learning about the K1 and adventuring with different things

[kayasaman]

Did you try Photomatix software? You can't get a real good blend of bracketed exposures without a lot of work without an HDR software app. An app makes it pretty easy. Photomatix offers a trial download (unlocked to the full version with payment) if you want to experiment. It puts a watermark on the finished product but you can see what it offers over doing your own blending of bracketed exposures.

I might mention that a good starting point is to let the K-1 do its own metering (area metering) and choose bracketing for 1 or 2 stop intervals on either side of the metered exposure (depends on subject matter but try both options and see what you like best - 1 stop bracketing is a good start point).

Final note: I'm in no way connected to Photomatix - just tried and liked it myself but there are others out there - some freeware - which you might consider.

Download HDR photo editing program Photomatix Pro

@Bob256 I found another program which is much simpler called HDRMerge. It seems to work better for this image though the image is still pretty complicated to get right. I think my initial attempt to use -2EV for it then bring it up was the best call on this one.

Here the link to the software:

HDRMerge User Manual v0.4.5

I ended up having to compile the software from source code, but no biggie.... (attached additionally)

The result has been edited in RT and looks nothing like the original now

But** it does seem to have it's own character ironically

[Bob 256]

@Bob256 I found another program which is much simpler called HDRMerge. It seems to work better for this image though the image is still pretty complicated to get right. I think my initial attempt to use -2EV for it then bring it up was the best call on this one.

Here the link to the software:

HDRMerge User Manual v0.4.5

I ended up having to compile the software from source code, but no biggie.... (attached additionally)

The result has been edited in RT and looks nothing like the original now

But** it does seem to have it's own character ironically

That image looks pretty good. Every bit of processing software "has it's own character"(so good and some evil) Keep at it!

[kayasaman]

Just as a quick FYI to everyone...

I have loaded the full res HDR brackets onto my Google Drive -> the link has been posted above in this thread.
The reason is that I'm out of quota space

Since the HDR software I found renders jpeg (both of them) (not sure if there's a RAW option yet?), today I worked on making the yellow flowers more yellow then greeny yellow.

To achieve this I opened the jpeg in GIMP then duplicated the layer. I then brought up the red mid-tones and lowered the green and blue mid-tones on the duplicate layer. I might have also cranked over the bias towards yellow in one of the color settings.. (will have to check the file history for that)

Then I created a transparancy mask with black background and painted over the flowers only using a "bristtle" type brush with white foreground.

The result definitely looks fuller and more punchy

It was lots of fun!!

[kayasaman]

Have you tried HDR shooting? There are two ways to do it with the K-1. The first way is to use the HDR mode (top adjustment dial) with RAW capture. You can let the camera make an HDR rendition (ADV is probably the best one) but a better way is to use RT to separate the three exposures and then import them into an HDR program such as Photomatix. Like RT, you can go crazy with the adjustments Photomatix allows so it will be a learning curve unto its own.

The second way is to simply use the bracketing feature of the K-1 which shoots several (in most cases, I use 3) exposures sequentially. Then you import those into [photomatix] and do your thing.

Using K-1 HDR creates a single file with all exposure variations in it while bracketing creates separate files - the choice is up to you, however if you use the K-1 HDR to create a JPEG, the camera does the HDR work and you end up with a single JPEG file which can't be broken into the individual exposures used to make it.

In any case, this might be a solution to retaining the reds and keeping black scale rendition in your high contrast shots without making the compromise of underexposing the entire shot (actually at least one of your composite exposures will be underexposed).

Just another option on the learning road.

@Bob256 sorry for going over things again but I haven't worked out where fully to post things in the forum yet and as this is on topic of your suggestion I wanted to share it!!

The last few days I went totally HDR and explored the realm. I've got a package called LuminanceHDR:
Luminance HDR

and another one called HDRMerge:
HDRMerge


What I've done is this: the Samyang (Rokinon) 24mm F1.4 lens finally arrived recently so all shots have been done using this lens. I set my focus and exposure points first, then bracketed with 3 shots at 0EV, -2EV, +2EV. The results I then merged using both above mentioned packages.

HDRMerge, I find gives quite ordinary and boring results. The output can be set to DNG but there are no settings to play with. The resulting file can then be tweaked in RawTherapee which I have done and got great results with.

LuminanceHDR is a little different. There are many different computational algorithms used and settings to adjust. I found a guide online and followed the procedure using two algorithms then blending them together in GIMP. The results are similar to HDRMerge.

However, I found that using the first algorithm in the list and then shifting the pre/post gama settings and post saturation can yield very extreme and dramatic results.

The full folder is here which contains a mixture of different shots, HDR and non-HDR: Update your browser to use Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Sites, Slides, and Forms - Google Drive Help

I am really proud of this one! I set the K1 on top of my AV Rack using ISO 100, F8 (if memory serves me well) and shutter of 1sec. I used the 3 shot bracket described above and blended. I needed to restore the curtain at the rear as it went funny but here is the result:

HDR_Blend_6-2-restore.jpg - Google Drive

It is really intense and dramatic. I am really happy with it!!

Over time, I am trying new things and adding to this album. Perhaps I should include it in my signature or something?? I have also re-ignited my Instagram feed too with many K1 images


I hope the pics will be enjoyed by many

[Bob 256]

Glad this is working out for you. As you play around with the number of brackets and their spacing, you'll get a feel for what works best for different situations. The pic looks great by the way.

[kayasaman]

Glad this is working out for you. As you play around with the number of brackets and their spacing, you'll get a feel for what works best for different situations. The pic looks great by the way.

Thank you so much for the words of confidence and all the help