[Super Takumar]

I don't have the capability for any type of post processing. I'm doing landscape, specifically sunsets.Does in camera HDR have the ability to pull off nice images? Or am I better off with graduated ND filters?

[civiletti]

Excellent advice: obtain post processing capability. I kid you not. It is essential for landscape images.

[Super Takumar]

Excellent advice: obtain post processing capability. I kid you not. It is essential for landscape images.

My computer can not handle post processing software. It seems I'm at a massive disadvantage for the photo competition i'm entering.

[MJSfoto1956]

IMHO, the two techniques look quite different. I often like to "combine" both techniques in post by shooting three bracketed shots, doing some subtle HDR, then manually blending darker and/or lighter parts of the images to my liking.

Michael

[pathdoc]

Depending on what camera you have, the answer is yes, HDR can do some pretty nice things so long as you don't ask it to do too much. However, if you already have the grad ND, I would tend to reach for that first. It makes more sense to me to work on the light going into the camera before dabbling with the image coming out of it.

[sholtzma]

May we ask what computer capacity you have (RAM, hard drive space, processor, etc)? Not all image processing software is equal in its demands.

[jimr-pdx]

I often use in-camera "Base Parameter Adj" (under Digital Filters) on both my K-r and K-s1. Those plus cropping to the in-camera rectangles can do a lot of work, and I prefer what I can do there to the HDR results. I also use Picasa for a lot of the simpler processing, which isn't very hard-working software - for web pictures it's quite sufficient.

[Fenwoodian]

I have owned most of the major camera systems. I've tried in camera HDR on most of them.

For what it's worth. I've found that in camera HDR does not compare with HDR I get from doing it in post with Photomatix.

In Photomatix I have the ability to try numerous presets, and to make infinite adjustments.

In camera HDR comes out with HDR baked in using someone else's preferred setting (which in most cases is not optimum).

[mcgregni]

Bearing in mind that you must be shooting camera jpegs, then there's no quality loss from using the HDR feature. Do you actually take processing control and edit your images (as intended) with the camera custom controls, or do you just use one pre-set for everything?

If its just simple balancing of darker ground and bright sky, then I think a grad filter would be best. If you are struggling with wide Dynamic Range scenes and want to show status details in shadows while compressing highlights then HDR may be more successful. Really, both are valid and worth a few spots each .....

[Super Takumar]

IMHO, the two techniques look quite different. I often like to "combine" both techniques in post by shooting three bracketed shots, doing some subtle HDR, then manually blending darker and/or lighter parts of the images to my liking.

Michael

I tried in camera HDR, did not like it all honestly.
I'll use the grad filters next time.

Bearing in mind that you must be shooting camera jpegs, then there's no quality loss from using the HDR feature. Do you actually take processing control and edit your images (as intended) with the camera custom controls, or do you just use one pre-set for everything?

If its just simple balancing of darker ground and bright sky, then I think a grad filter would be best. If you are struggling with wide Dynamic Range scenes and want to show status details in shadows while compressing highlights then HDR may be more successful. Really, both are valid and worth a few spots each .....

I set the camera to landscape and up'd the saturation.

that was it.

May we ask what computer capacity you have (RAM, hard drive space, processor, etc)? Not all image processing software is equal in its demands.

I'm not sure because it's my brother laptop.


My sunset photos are in, unedited.
You guys are right. Once the sun goes down, everyone leaves, I stayed behind and it was worth it.
In order to get an actual shot of the sun, i'll definitely need a grad filter.





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Well, I'll check out the specs and see what post processing software I can use.
Thanks for the answers.

[pinholecam]

Both ways work, but I won't count on in-camera HDR to give me the control that can sometimes be necessary.
In fact, with the dynamic range of the sensors nowadays, I see little use of the in-camera HDR feature anymore.
Reason is that if I use a more natural HDR setting, I might as well just adjust a single RAW to get what I want.
If I need a stronger exposure latitude, the in camera HDR becomes too 'fake'.

To get more control you'd need to explore exposure blending in a post processing software (eg. Photoshop Elements )

Else, the GND is fantastic as it always have been

[Sideway]

Just a friendly reminder that you probably want to clean your sensor before you go out and shoot for the competition.

[Rondec]

Either way can be fine, although I don't ever use the in camera HDR feature, choosing rather to do my own HDRs with Photomatix or HDR Efex. With HDR, you have to be careful or you end up with weird artifacts or halos. On the other hand, depending on the quality of your GND, you can increase your flare considerably with one of those. I do think you get your best HDR results when shooting from a tripod, although there are plenty of hand held HDRs out there that are pretty decent.

[Super Takumar]

Thanks again everyone.

I'll check out all of the programs mentioned above and see which one works best for me.

Just a friendly reminder that you probably want to clean your sensor before you go out and shoot for the competition.

I just ordered the Pentax cleaning kit. Glad you looked out for me.

[civiletti]

Lightroom CC likely has moderate system requirements: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/system-requirements.html