Awesome HDR Portraits

paulo - 04/07/2008

Do you know when you try to make a cool self-portrait but you never know what to do in order to get out of the box? Well, why don't you try a HDR Portrait? It's really awesome!

And if you are a new visitor to Abduzeedo, you might want to check our HDR series: 20 Beatiful HDR Pictures, Superb HDR Pics of Graffiti and How to create HDR Photos. Enjoy!

About author

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Hello, everyone! I'm Paulo, a 23 years old designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil. I work as a webdesigner since 2006, but websites and blogs have been a hobbie for me since 1999. At Abduzeedo, I try to bring only the hot stuff for you guys... and hope that all of you enjoy my posts! Cheers!

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What a load of rubbish - quality is OK, but composition is crap!

JB's picture
JB (not verified) 07/23/2008
Lisa's picture
Lisa (not verified) 06/30/2008

WTF! This picture is AMAZING! How do they do that?!

lisa's picture
lisa (not verified) 06/30/2008

I like these in my darker rooms in my house

Cartoon Quiz's picture
Cartoon Quiz (not verified) 05/05/2008

This is an interesting article - and the photos are certainly riveting - but you didn't really do much to explain what HDR photography is - or even point your readers to your own tutorial so they could learn more about how to do them. Here's a start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

Rob O.'s picture
Rob O. (not verified) 04/17/2008

HDR photography has officially jumped the shark.

Bill from Accounting's picture
Bill from Accounting (not verified) 04/17/2008
Manfrys's picture
Manfrys (not verified) 04/09/2008

After seeing these i was reminded of the image used as a cover on the Sopranos series 4 boxset. I am convinced this is an HDR image but my friend argues that it would be impossible to take three images at different exposures without someone moving. (I know there is a method out there of doing it somehow)

Does anybody know whether this image is HDR?

Related image: http://www.schemamag.ca/archive2/images/sopranos2.jpg

Kane Whitlock's picture
Kane Whitlock (not verified) 04/09/2008

It seems to me that that a person in an HDR picture looks more dramatic and depressive than natural.

I think people should smile a lot more if their face is going to be portrayed in an HDR photo portrait.

Ellison Gavrelova's picture
Ellison Gavrelova (not verified) 04/08/2008

Great set mostly.

i love how some really messed with the saturation of the images to get a really under saturated look. i find that much more interesting than the over saturated look (my unprofessional opinion)

I just figured out how to adjust the EV level on my camera. one day i might actually make one myself!

Scott Loqw's picture
Scott Loqw (not verified) 04/08/2008

Not all of them are that good, but they're cool anyway. Thanks for sharing.

therapix's picture
therapix (not verified) 04/08/2008

Some of them are gourgeous, some not, i love this one:
http://360degreez.net/photo/handy-hat.html?lang=en

Eva's picture
Eva (not verified) 04/08/2008

None impressed me all that much. How about:

http://www.davehillphoto.com/

Kennedy's picture
Kennedy (not verified) 04/08/2008

I have to agree that although HDR can be beautiful, most of these are downright ugly. HDR is useful in a lot of ways. Portraits are not one of them...

Xavian's picture
Xavian (not verified) 04/08/2008

Am I the only one noticed that there are only guys in the pictures?
How about a nice female with no photochopped face on HDR?

Eli's picture
Eli (not verified) 04/08/2008

Most of this are a bit overcooked (some burnt to a crisp, then burnt again), but a couple of them are quite awesome.

Conglom's picture
Conglom (not verified) 04/08/2008

What is HDR? and how do you do it?

Dean Scholnick's picture
Dean Scholnick (not verified) 04/08/2008

I personally am not a fan of HDR, at least not in portraits.

In the majority of the shots far too much detail resulting in grainy faces, no place for the eye to rest as well as creating distractions from the actual subjects. The only photos on here that really work are the ones which have a simple background. Otherwise they are just too detailed or the amount of detail simply results in too much information and an inability to focus on the subject.

The majority of the images here look over done, force and altered a bit too harshly. HDR is a great tool for getting lots of details in the shadows and in the highlights, but only if used properly, unlike the vast majority of photos posted here.

Otomo's picture
Otomo (not verified) 04/08/2008

Well indoors self-portraits are still hard,. you still need good lighting. i like using Pallite VIII.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified) 04/08/2008

not natural.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified) 04/08/2008

You don't need 3 shots for an HDR image. You can create an HDR image with 3 shots. You can also shoot a single RAW image which IS and HDR image. Then you tonemap the HDR image back to a low dynamic range (LDR) image.

Look up HDR on wikipedia.

mcbutterbuns's picture
mcbutterbuns (not verified) 04/08/2008

TO do a HDR portrait you have to take the shot in RAW. Then use a program like Photoshop CS3 to create 3 - 7 'different exposures'. Use a program like photomatrix pro or PSCS3 and you have made the portrait. The more images or exposures the better the tonal range.

Nathan's picture
Nathan (not verified) 04/08/2008

These people don't deserve to hold any camera. They have spat in the face of beauty.

I didn't realize I was in hell until I saw this.  's picture
I didn't realize I was in hell until I saw this. (not verified) 04/08/2008

These comments sound like bots. This is the worst HDR collection I have ever seen, being myself an amateur phorographer.

Leonardo Maldonado's picture
Leonardo Maldonado (not verified) 04/08/2008

I say most are photoshopped with RedynaMix.

asdf's picture
asdf (not verified) 04/08/2008

You can do a real HDR self portrait if your camera has an auto bracketing feature. You tell it to take a 3 shot (or 5,7 or 9 depending on your camera) bracket and then set the timer. When the timer goes off the camera goes 'click, click, click' and you've got your three frames.

You can also do "pseudo HDR" by just tone mapping a single image.

jagthedrummer's picture
jagthedrummer (not verified) 04/08/2008

This is one of the best HDR Collection I have seen.... nice job...

Jingjong's picture
Jingjong (not verified) 04/08/2008

I also don't get how to do a self-portrait in HDR if you need to take 3 shots on different exposures. What am I missing here that would allow a kid to take a self-portrait without moving while adjusting the settings needed to create HDR?

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified) 04/08/2008

It's not just humas you know ;)

Schubert ( Tonemapped )

Lee's picture
Lee (not verified) 04/07/2008

hey man, thanks to you i started looking into HDR too.. i love it and i wanna create photographs as other do.. i don't think that its always necessary to have more exposures.. i think you can do some really crazy stuff with single shot too...

logos's picture
logos (not verified) 04/07/2008

These pictures are amazing!

Ad sales's picture
Ad sales (not verified) 04/07/2008

wow...great work. How do they do it, you have to make 3 pictures with different exposures

macx's picture
macx (not verified) 04/07/2008

These are great! I don't know why I never thought of using HDR for portraits, I am going to try it later.

Anthony's picture
Anthony (not verified) 04/07/2008

A couple of those are pretty nice. Intersting that if done right, the image has almost a painted look to it. HDR on people needs more expoloration and time to mature.

Braintrove.com's picture
Braintrove.com (not verified) 04/07/2008

Really cool man, awesome.

filipe's picture
filipe (not verified) 04/07/2008

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