The Ohanaware Weblog
HDR and Funtastic Photos
HDR currently is a fashionable photography technique, whereby multiple images of different exposures are combined to create an interesting look. While Funtastic Photos doesn’t have sophisticated HDR options as some HDR programs, it’s still possible create some HDR looking effects.
If you’ve not seen HDR before, check out these flickr groups.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hdraddicted/pool/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fhdr/pool/
More information on HDR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging
I’ll use this rather unexciting image of a castle in Germany (don’t recall the name sorry).
Currently there are two ways that we know of and they produce different results.
Technique 1: Soft HDR
In the “Artistic” section of the 1-Click Styles, simply click this effect and bingo it creates a fake HDR effect.
You can make this effect a bit more prominent, by opening the Advanced Options and changing the blending mode from “Soft Light” to “Overlay”. You can also adjust the “Halo” by adjusting the blur effect in the Advanced Options.
Technique 2: Shadows & Highlights
In the “Advanced Options” there is an effect called “Shadows & Highlights”, if you enable this effect and then drag the highlights slider to the far right, you’ll notice that the the light areas of the picture get darker, well do it the shadows and the dark areas get lighter. Adjusting the blur of the effect controls the “Halo”. The trouble is that your picture now looks washed out…
Find the “Auto Contrast” effect and click on the checkbox, your picture might get better, but still bad, so click and drag the “Auto Contrast” effect down so it’s below the “Shadows & Highlights” Effect, let go. Hopefully your picture will now look something like below.
And that’s it… Once you’ve had a go, why not share your fake HDR’s with the Funtastic Photos Flickr Group http://www.flickr.com/groups/funtasticphotos/ or the Funtastic Photos facebook fans http://www.new.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=25765426689.