Erik;
That looks like a good start. But it still reads a bit complex for non-scientists. Remember, you're addressing teenagers, amateur photographers, and artists (the ones posting ugly images on Flickr).
In the introduction, you should indicate that HDR means High Dynamic Range - you use both, but don't equate them. I've spoken to several photographers who think HDR is a look, and have no idea that it might mean something else.
On the problem page: Where is the "executive summary"? Starting with "Creating an HDR Image" is good for a book on HDR imaging, but not for a teenager with a 3 second attention span. I would suggest giving them your thesis up front, then going into detail. (problem summary, solution summary, background, details, summarize again) And be careful about disparaging specific software.
Where are directions on how to do it right? You show some examples, and discuss some settings. But can you point to tutorials, and other sites that host HDR images toned in a non-offensive manner?
Comparison - on the Flickr group, they'd go even farther than your example. They'd push it until there are more artifacts than image.
And I think you mean "bad rap" not "bad wrap". You should probably restate your problem at the beginning of this page as well ("HDR is not a style or look", "tone mapped images are supposed to look natural").
Overall, I think you've got the arguments and facts to back them up -- but the presentation needs to be geared toward the intended audience.
Chris Cox
"If it looks like charcoal smudges, you did something wrong."
···
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] on behalf of E. Reinhard
Sent: Mon 7/7/2008 8:42 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [HDRI] HDR on Flickr
Hi All,
After lots of hard work on high dynamic range imaging, it is
good to see that the general acceptance of this exciting
technology is on the up, even with amateur and semi-professional
photographers.
There is only one thing that's been bothering me for quite a
while now. In certain circles, especially on the Flickr website,
folks are using tone reproduction operators not only for dynamic
range reduction, but also to achieve a certain 'look'. The problem
I have with this, is that there is now a seemingly large community
that equates HDR with that specific look. This is wrong.
In an attempt to explain what is going on here, I have developed
a micro-site with some comparisons. It is strictly informal, and
gives my personal take on where the photography community appears
to have gone wrong. It is located here:
http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~reinhard/tm_comp/
My aim was to write it such that it will be easy to understand for
a non-technical audience.
I hope that this will be useful to some.
Cheers,
Erik
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