HDR Software - a recommendation.

I'm usually the first to shout "foul" when things go wrong so believe it's only fair to give credit where due on the occasions things go right. It's only usually when things go wrong you see just how good or bad any company is. I really get infuriated when I'm on a pay to complain number on hold listening to recorded music that would be banned from a prison to prevent rioting inmates. Or the on line alternative AKA sifting through a labyrinth of useless absolutely useless FAQ's whilst desperately looking for the email direct button. I'm quite capable of writing up an explanation that qualifies my query, what I need and even how I can pay for it, but that of course involves employing people to read my enquiry.

Enough bitching, but I'm sure I can't be alone in being a responsible person who pays for licensed software and registers everything to ensure that the inherent customer service/technical support is there should anything go wrong and then can't get anywhere near even basic "support". No wonder forums are so successful.

So I upgraded to a 64 bit PC a while back and also wanted to reinstall one of my two licensed copies of Photomatix Pro 3 which I bought in a bundle a short while ago. When I visited the Photomatix site I noticed that there was an upgrade available, but there was a problem sorting out the transfer to the new PC because my codes didn't match. A quick email answered very quickly by Andreas sorted out my problem (which was actually my fault).

It has renewed my faith in customer services and places Photomatix' software even higher up my list of people/companies I'm happy to do business with.

So for the non photographers, what does this HDR thing do? Well the previous link to their site gives a much better description and some great images of what it does, but I thought I'd post a few examples of stuff that Tom Ivory has done for the coop in recent weeks.

This work was all done with the now replaced V3. Free upgrade cometh today to V4.

***

In order to get the darkest corners of the church illuminated, we would have needed to crank up the exposure so high that (as in the above image) the light coming in through the main window would have burnt out the whole area surrounding it. All these images were taken at Sarah & Richard's wedding earlier this month and subject of a previous blog entry.

***

***

To expose the main church window correctly however would have put the rest of the church in darkness. Photomatix Pro used a selection of images (usually at least 3) that cover the range of exposure levels from darkest to lightest and in lay terms merges them. The result can sometimes look awful as skin tones might make Gran look like she's made of leather etc, so it doesn't always work but tone mapping software is integral to the Photomatix arsenal and included within the software pack, helping to create much more realistic tones and colours.

***

The image above is the result from this work.
Tom also used HDR for this salvage shot after we'd run out of light and they wanted an outdoor group shot. We used 3 Canon off camera flashes triggered with the ST-E2.

Natalie & Arber

On Saturday 25th September Natalie and Arber married at the Ponsbourne Park Hotel. The venue is a great one stop wedding shop with impressive grounds creating so may great photo opportunities. The joy of this sort of venue is that if we experience horizontal rain and need to use studio lighting, sheltered doorways and umbrellas, we only have to empty the car once. If it's a two or three venue event, then it all has to be unpacked and packed up again (in between sweeping up the confetti from the church steps and getting to the reception to shoot them getting out of the car).

Having everything under one roof where there is ample parking and facilities is a real joy. Sadly it's being knocked down in 2011 and a state of the art training centre is to replace the grand old buildings apparently.

These images were taken by me with Martin Malocco riding in the second seat. Martin covered Rod & Teresa's wedding with me just over a year ago and I'm also to shoot his daughter Maria's wedding to Kevin in September next year with the legendary Marta Demartini from HM Digiart.

Natalie's bridesmaids were predominantly women she'd gone to school with. The sororal networking in the years that have passed since their full time education was evident throughout the day and featured in Natalie's father's speech which reduced several people to tears as well as fits of laughter as he jumped from moving to mirth. After 388 weddings I've heard quite a few speeches but Natalie's dad Brian offered an outstanding performance that people were still enthusing about 5 hours later as I left.

During our consultation earlier this year at their home in Hornsey, North London, the two of them expressed the desire to have a traditional mounted album. It was the first time I've been asked to do this since our transition from film to digital cameras, but within 6 weeks we'd had another two bookings with the bride and grooms also requesting mounted albums. From talking to some of my peers at the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers It would appear that this trend towards "proper" printed photos in mounted albums is enjoying a resurgence across the UK.

As with most weddings, dancing featured towards the end of the day and an impromptu training session took place on the dance floor between dining courses.

We have always prided ourselves in adding something special for our clients and their guests if we can help. Over the years this has ranged from use of a set of jump leads to start the vintage Daimler that had broken down to sewing up a torn seam on the grooms trousers. On this occasion a couple of the guests had run out of things they needed that the hotel couldn't provide, so after a 7 mile drive and lots of "sorry mate not here" we managed to get what they needed. All part of the service - or as they say at Tesco's who own the property "Every little helps".

A full set of images are available on our TPS web site.

Sarah & Richard

On Saturday 18th September after a decade together, Richard and Sarah tied the knot at Hanwell Methodist Church.

Given away by her father Keith, Sarah looked stunning and drew a gasp from Richard as she entered the church. There were a number of readings, some fun, others more serious and the best choir I've ever encountered in almost 30 years of wedding photography.

The reception was held at the Trailfinders Sports Club, refurbished after a major fire destroyed their old premises.

I worked on this shoot with Tom Ivory, an established member of the TPS cooperative whose artistic eye always has great value in our post production. His Photoshop skills are legendary and although we always try to get things right in camera, he's been known to carry out some very tasteful cosmetic surgery from time to time. None were needed on this occasion however.

We'd like to wish Sarah and Richard a long, fruitful, happy and loving marriage that they deserve.

As always there are a full set of images at the TPS Website.