Most of these are 5 2ev shots merged in Darktable. The first image is 3 images at out 5 as there was some camera shake in the ++ shots as it was windy and forgot to turn off IS Olympus Em1 mk1 Location Kamloops Briitish Columbia. The last image is what I had to traverse for 2km on the Thompson River to bypass private property to get to the old building, 2km each way of jumping unstable boulders lol
12 Likes
I like them all, but especially the first and fifth (house) ones.
1 Like
Love the train car! Really nicely handled all around.
1 Like
Really like the blue ones, the HDR does not feel āover-cookedā and the composition/framing kind of fit my tastes.
The strange thing for me though is that it feels like there some kind of grain/noise and the images are not detailed with stark sharp edges as it would be expected from pictures taken using a tripod ā¦ Did you use your based ISO ? Is it an artistic choice ?
That said, gorgeous views !
2 Likes
Probably just the processing that doesnāt bring out the edges and noise some of them are pretty long exposures in wind and even stacked thereās always going to be some noise. I personally donāt bother too much if any in noise reduction, unless its in the sky. Darktable doesnāt align the images so that could also be causing issues. I hate jumping from software to software so just stick to DT for the HDR merging.
Also Iām using kit lenses and as sharp as they are they were no where near as sharp as my stolen gear like the Oly 12-100 and Panny 8-18mm
If I was making money from photography Iād probably pay more attention but since its 99% for online postings I try to concentrate more on subject matter and mood/atmosphere than IQ.
1 Like
I guess you achieve your objective then, the mood is there !
PS your experiment really makes me want to try this 
1 Like
There is a lua script to integrate HDR merge which does a much nicer job than the button in dt.
4 Likes
I think I looked at that some time ago. I tested out Hugin for the merging but both times I go some weird halos around mountains like you see in DT when using Shadows and Highlites module but that was only a couple tests.
HDR merge will output an exr file that you can then edit in DT.
+1
A beautiful series
Greetings from Brussels
Christian
1 Like
Great photos! Love the way youāve handled the processing too. FWIW I donāt see any noise or lack of sharpness, except in the very last image - maybe this one isnāt a stackā¦
Anyway, thanks for sharing!
1 Like
The last image is just a example image of what I had to cross to get to the house.
I thought it might be - just goes to show that even your snaps are pretty good 
In the Shadow and highlights module set the soften option to bilateral filter and the halos usually disappear. BTW, you have inspired me to look more at the HDR option in DT. I liked the train and the sunset below that image the most. They were all good. Well done.
1 Like
Thanks will test it out. I upgraded Mint so will be 3.8.1 now instead of 3.0.1
1 Like
I started using dt in 3.8 as itās what there was when I found it - pretty good!.. FWIW, in my opinion, if you went all the way (not suggesting you should) to the current 4.2.1 you wouldnāt (I think) find yourself forced into anything new if you didnāt want it - the new defaults can be turned off pretty much with the pixel workflow settings on ānoneā.
But having said that, why upgrade if what you have does all youneed? I donāt know an answer to that reallyā¦ 
Even though I usually seem to end up on a recent ābetaā buildā¦
I always upgraded as wanted new features then they went crazy with the colour since and workflows and seems to be way more complex than it need to be so I stayed with the 3.0.1 version.
Hereās todays edit with 3.8.1 using Olympus Live Composite Thereās some issues with the left side just at the top of the mountain as that side was much brighter from the sun. I exposed for the sky but that corner was still overexposed.
3 Likes
Ooohhā¦ lovelyā¦
I can relate to that - Iāve stuck almost entirely with using sigmoid, instead of filmic or base curve, since it came out (in 4.2.1 IIRC), and feel itās the perfect compromiseā¦ but again, thatās just me.
Have to say once more, I love that shot - Iāve had a dream of doing one with light trails on a highway near me (well, sorta nearā¦ only 50kmā¦) for ages but never get round to it. My EM5ii would be perfect with that live exposure feature. Never really used it!
1 Like
Iāve been meaning to use more of the Live Composite but just havenāt had time last year but will be doing more this year.
Looks like Iām going to have to do some reading on the new features, just smashing buttons and moving sliders to see the effects doesnāt seem as easy now lol
I got more live composite images here Urbanscape Photography - AREK HALUSKO
2 Likes
Maybeā¦ Iāve settled a while ago on a small handful of modules that do almost everything. Then a few more that just get switched on or used when needed.
But I have done quite a lot of reading, now I come to think of itā¦ 