HDR

What's HDR?

High dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range of luminances between light and dark areas of a scene than normal digital imaging techniques.
The intention of HDRI is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to shadows.

And how is it done?
Well, you take (at least) 3 pictures of the same scene, but every one of 'em should have an increasing step of luminance. (First one underexposed, second one correctly exposed, third one overexposed)
And then it's photoshop time. You can merge the pictures to 1 HDR file, and then start tone mapping to get the picture right.

I tried this for the first time this evening, and here's the result:

Van EarthBlues

Time for a picture update

It's been a while, and some people have been complaining about it, but I've managed to find/make some time to update my picture experience page.


There's a new Special: James' Amazing UK Christmas Tour '08, where you'll find some serious, less serious and funny pictures of our visit to the UK around Christmas. Janet, Sandra, Brian, Justin, Rachel, Liberty, Cate... if you don't like the way you're on the pictures... though luck :-D (Pictures aren't photoshopped, they're just a mere reflection of reality!)




It's finally happened: The pictures of our house renovation project have found their way to my picture page as well. I'll have to make some new pictures, though, as the last ones you can see here, were taken in November... (not that thàt much has changed since then, but... still :-)

Enjoy!

The colour of magic

Yesterday Cate and I started watching the first episode of this 2-episode film-adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novels "The colour of magic" and "The light fantastic".

After having seen the Hogfather (the first Pratchett novel to be moviefied (is that a word?)), I had high hopes for this one. (As in "I hope it's a lot better than the Hogfather!")
As "The colour of magic" and "The light fantastic" are the first two Discworld novels in the series, it would be important for the movie adaptation that the whole impression, the complete picture you get from the Discworld and it's inhabitants, was painted in an witty, describing and somehow accurate way...
After having seen episode 1, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Rincewind, Death, Twoflower, The Unseen University, ... it's all there, and it's there in detail! And to my great satisfaction, even Cate liked it!
If you'd like to see Inspector Frost (David Jason) play an anxious, skilless wizzard (yes, with double z), Samwise Ganmgee (Sean Astin) the first (and maybe last) tourist the Discworld's ever known, Tim Curry (Tim Curry) as a superb, power-mad wizard, and many many more great actors, (or if you simply love the novels of the Discworld, it's a must), go buy this movie!