[Polly]

StudioJ's point has intrigued me: I don't know if it's just my eyes but this odd halation effect does seem more evident in the stuff on the site... I haven't come across it any of the HDR images I've seen here on the forums. Furthermore, it seems as though it is there on the pre-merged images and most evident on the pano example.
Now, that series of shots does seem as if the original pics were taken with a grey grad of some sort, with the main light source being behind the tree(sorry, am referring to something that some of you haven't seen): thus, the halo effect. This has subsequently come through all the shots into the resulting final image.
Toad, Polly or anyone else: is this effect rife(ie, software-based) as StudioJ has maybe indicated? Or is it merely the logical consequence of what happens in the original shots?
Sorry to drag out this thread, yet after Irma and G's initial forays and Toad and Polly's work with this, I confess I'm catching the HDR bug(and even the spending of 40 quid sterling needs much justifying in the povertystricken halls of Castle Zig of late!)

I've also noticed the tone mapping can produce some weird and unwelcome halo effects. You need to look closely as you map otherwise you can end up with the lighting all cock-eyed - sun apparently shining into the shadow as well as sunlight coming from another source to produce shadow ... ie apparently 2 sources of sunlight. the other thing you need to watch is the colours in the sky. Any burned out areas can end up looking a sort of flat and unrealistic grey - once again I've found that to be better managed by using a separate layer for the tone mapping.

I mainly use the tone-mapper on a second layer so that I can tweak to 'lift' the lighting where I want it and 'dim' it slightly in other places. I find changing the smoothing and microcontrast as well as the luminosity and strength usually gives me something closer to what I want - then I copy/paste the tone-mapped second layer over the original and select the blend mode I want (usually normal or multiply) and reduce the transparency of that layer to anything between about 7-20% ..... depending on the image and what pleases my eye.

As for those images on the site - they always look rather extreme to my mind, though they do give some idea of what's possible.

David Nightingale (chromasia.com) and his friend John Washington have quite a lot of very artistic HDR images ont their blogs. I wish I could get the same sort of results but I sin't sussed how they're doing it yet so I just pootle along at my own pace.


Pol