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Christian Bloch

The HDRI Handbook 2.0: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists 1st Edition

by Christian Bloch (Author)

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! BONUS DVD ONLY WITH THE PRINT EDITION (NOT AVAILABLE WITH eBOOKS) !

In 2007, The HDRI Handbook was the first book to present this revolutionary new field to a larger audience. These days HDRI is a fully mature technology available to everyone. Real estate and landscape photographers have adopted it as part of their regular workflow, it has become one of the hottest trends for ambitious amateurs and creative professionals alike, and the modern movie industry would be completely dysfunctional without it.

Now The HDRI Handbook 2.0 redefines its own gold standard. It has been completely rewritten and is packed with practical hints and tips, background knowledge, reference tools, breathtaking artist portfolios, and inspiring interviews. The book includes dozens of new step-by-step tutorials. Beginners will get a methodically solid introduction and advanced readers will be able to refine their technique to perfection.

Topics include:- Understanding the foundation of HDRI- HDR software comparisons and evaluations- Capturing HDR images: today and tomorrow- Tonemapping for creating superior prints- HDR image processing and compositing- Shooting and stitching HDR panoramas- Image-based lighting and CG rendering

2.0 updates include:- New cameras, sensors, and HDR beamsplitter rigs- Open Camera Controller for endless auto-bracketing- Correct RAW pre-processing and ghost removal- Dozens of practical, easy-to-follow tutorials- A structured approach to tonemapping, inspired by Ansel Adams- Set etiquette and tips for capturing HDR panos for visual effects- Seven artist spotlights showing unique perspectives on HDRI- Seven crossword puzzles: a fun way to test yourself

! BONUS DVD ONLY WITH THE PRINT EDITION (NOT AVAILABLE WITH eBOOKS) !

ISBN-10

1937538168
ISBN-13

978-1937538163
Edition

1st
Publisher

Rocky Nook
Publication date

January 14, 2013
Language

English
Dimensions

8 x 1.4 x 10 inches
Print length

672 pages
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68
7 offers from $13.12

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christian Bloch is a visual effects artist by trade and a photographer by passion. He lives and works in Hollywood, California. During the 11 years of his professional career he has created effects for the television shows Star Trek Enterprise, Firefly, Lost, 24, NCIS, and Chuck, as well as several theatrical movies. His work has been rewarded with an Emmy Award as well as a nomination for the Visual Effects Society Award.

Bloch also holds an engineer's degree in multimedia technology. Years of research went into his diploma thesis about HDRI, which was honored in 2003 with the achievement award of the University of Applied Sciences Leipzig. The HDRI Handbook was the successor to Bloch's diploma thesis, rewritten from the ground up and heavily expanded, and now available in six languages. Bloch has rewritten the book once more to produce The HDRI Handbook 2.0, incorporating so many updates that it has doubled in volume.

Many hints and tips in this book originated from Uwe Steinmueller, Dieter Bethke, and Bernhard Vogel. As respected digital photography experts they contributed tutorials to the first edition, and their personal roads to HDRI left heavy footprints all over this book. The HDRI Handbook 2.0 also features up-close interviews with seven exceptional photographers, each one spearheading a different frontier of HDR imaging:

Shooting star Trey Ratcliff from stuckincustoms.com
Jazz producer and portraitist Luke Kaven from New York
Real estate photographer Michael James from Florida
Flickr phenomenon Anthony Gelot, a.k.a. AntoXIII, from Paris
Professor Kirt Witte from the Savannah College of Art and Design
Gigapixel pioneers Greg Downing and Eric Hanson from XRez
Visionary researcher Paul Debevec, founding father of HDRI

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rocky Nook; 1st edition (January 14, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 672 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1937538168
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1937538163
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.22 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 1.4 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,602,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #167 in Photography Lighting (Books)
- #210 in Cinematography (Books)
- #226 in Photography (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 117 ratings

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Christian Bloch

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Christian Bloch is a Visual Effects artist, who works and lives in Hollywood, California. During the eight years of his professional career, he has created effects for the TV shows StarTrek: Enterprise, Smallville, Invasion, Lost, 24, and Chuck as well as several movies and commercials. He has been a pioneer in the practical application of panoramic HDR images in postproduction, specifically under the budgetary and time restraints of TV production.

Bloch is the author of the HDRI-Handbook, where he shares all his knowledge about shooting, stitching and using panoramic HDR images. Years of research and development went into this book. It is roughly based on his diploma thesis, which was honored with the achievement award of the University of Applied Sciences Leipzig, and then heavily expanded with hands-on tutorials and practical workshops.

Bloch also runs HDRLabs.com, which started out as the companion website to the HDRI-Handbook. Later it turned into a buzzing hub of HDR-related software projects from several enthusiasts.

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Charles K Leja

The deinitive book on HDRI.

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is possibly the best book on digital photography that I have read to date. It is a technical book but not one that is obtuse. The first chapter gives a well crafted description of the limitations of digital cameras, sensors and the output (LDR images). From there a thorough discussion of the HDRI process with a descrption of most if not all the current HDRI software. There where hints here which improved my source images immediately. Merging a set of images into an HDR image is only the first step. Tone mapping is the next step. As is explained in the book tone mapping is the process of converting an HDR image to an LDR image. Christian Bloch explains the need for this process and gives a tutorial on a number of the HDR software packages. Also covered is the use HDR and stiched images to created a panorama image. A single reading of this book is not enough. When I started I was looking for specific information to take better source pictures and get more out of photomatrix pro. Now that I have satisfied that need I realize that a number of topics discussed early on have a greater importance to me. I will probably start reading it again too fill in holes that I left.

5 people found this helpful

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Jurij Dolanec

Perfect!

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book opened a whole new world of digital photography to me. The magic of HDR is now within my grasp! I can actually go out, shoot a difficult scene with my DSLR and produce an image that even I will say: Wow! when I am done. :)
Thanks to the HDRI Handbook 2.0.
A lot of information about digital photography and processing in this book. What I like most is how Christian Bloch is trying to make the reader understand what he is writing about. It is not just a set of instructions for certain actions telling you to press this button, then move that slider but instead we are made to understand what is going on in the background. Starting with the basics, explaining the basic principles of (digital) photography, Christian moves slowly to advanced techniques, guiding readers by the hand all the time.
I learned a mighty lot and what is even better, the HDRI Handbook 2.0 with it's many practical examples and tutorials is now my standard reference and help when I sit down behind the computer to process digital photographs. For an amateur like me with a modest DSLR camera, the HDRI Handbook 2.0 is a treasure. Highly recommended!

One person found this helpful

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Pio Valenzuela

Textbook of HDRI

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

I have bought and read other books on HDR Photography, but I wanted to learn more. When I saw this on Amazon.com, I glanced through the contents, because I was looking for evaluations on various software programs that are available to help me decide on what to purchase.
This book is far more thorough, and I believe Christian Bloch really knows in detail the history and technical aspects of HDRI photography. I am reading my way through this chapter by chapter; there's a quiz at the end of each chapter, and interviews with HDRI artists/practitioners. Christian Bloch has a sense of humor that some may miss on cursory reading. I find myself taking notes as I read, and the book stimulates me to have other ideas.
As I read through this book, I find myself agreeing on the importance of taking the time and care to create HDR raw material before going to Tonemapping. He has suggestions on workflow to achieve this. The CD included with the book is loaded with a lot of resources.
For the reader who is looking for a quick cookbook recipe and brief reviews and pictures on a sample of selected software, this is not the book for you.

5 people found this helpful

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Andrew S.

This is one of the most complete and detailed technical ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2015

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This is one of the most complete and detailed technical books I've ever read. Christopher deserves a round of applause, sharing his knowledge and insights deep into the minutia of HDRi.

This is one of the most complete and detailed technical books I've ever read. Christian deserves a round of applause, sharing his knowledge and insights deep into the minutia of HDRi.

The book includes detailed tutorials and in-depth knowledge into every aspect of HDRI and many of the surrounding technologies in which HDRI is used.in particular the chapters (6) on creating panoramas, and (7) on Image based lighting – that is, using an HDRI panorama as the lighting environment for a 3-D rendered scene.

Earlier chapters delve deeply into the many file formats and current HDRI tools available.

This book is an absolute must-have for any photographer interested in HDR I still photography and perhaps even more so for any filmmaker doing any of 3-D CGI work and visual effects.

4 people found this helpful

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Peter N.

Great bool but somewhat dated.

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

If, like me, you’re a scientist, then this is a great book. As the author states, HDRI is a rapidly developing field, so the book is rather out of date in terms of available software and operating systems, but the workflow for creating HDR images is the best I’ve seen. The book includes lots of superfluous material that could well be included in the DVD, making it more succinct and easer to manage when reading. The downside of that, most do not read the material available on a DVD. If you are into HDRI, then it’s a great book. Just figure out what’s really important for your work.

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S. Burg

It's All Here and Then Some

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

Quite simply, this is THE definitive book on all aspects of HDRI photography. In setting about trying to photograph and put together my own HDRI panoramas, this book answered every question I had, and tackled every problem I ran into. It's very clearly written, well organized and well illustrated. It contains loads of specific technical information as well as a solid overview of the underlying principals of this specialized area of photography.

This is the kind of book you can pick up, open at random, and learn something new and valuable. I'm not sure what I was expecting, exactly, but what I discovered was a volume that is probably one of the best overviews of the technology of digital photography I'm aware of. And it manages to be that while never losing sight of its primary focus on HDRI images specifically.

Whether you want to shoot your own images, work with pre-existing HDRI resources, or simply gain an understanding of what it's all about, this book is simply terrific.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

M. Fairman

Expensive but will change your HDR processes so should pay for itself

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2014

Verified Purchase

Very expensive so was it worth it.

Actually yes it was. I mean I do HDR and have learned a lot. But this really helped me improve on all that. By comparsion other books are a poor second to this one. Yes it is very expensive, but I read it cover to cover twice it was that interesting. He's got a sense of humour too which helps, and he basically lists all the HDR programmes out there, showing you each ones weakness and strong points. I use Oloneo, not cheap but very photo realistic. Thanks to this book I went from the lighter version to the full verison and haven't looked back since. But also since reading this book have given FDR tools another try and used Photomatix as well more.

You can really up your HDR photography with this book. It's the bible of HDR and I am really pleased I took the plunge and brought it. (I hesitated a lot first cause of the price).

Brilliant book and one that will change your game.

Mr. David Vasey

Could have been better

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

I love this book and bought primarily as a guide to HDRI. slightly disappointed towards the end of the book with the 3D & panoramic and CGI chapters. Personally I believe most people will not be interested in these last chapters & feel the subject matter contained in them should be confined to another book. Although detailed there is a lot of long winded technical info that is well beyond most. A more detailed approach to creating an HDR photograph with walkthroughs & settings would serve this book much better. A lot of early talk about settings that never seem to materialise! Far too much emphasis on the film industry. I'm sure there will be books better suited to a photographer than this one.

One person found this helpful

_mg_

All you'll ever need for HDRI

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have the first version of this book on Kindle and hesitated to buy the physical product at first, but I'm so glad I did.

The book is substantial and has many new additions that newcomers and owners of the first edition will benefit from. It is exhaustive in it's exploration of the subject matter but not exhausting. The author writes in an entertaining and engaging style and it's hard not to be won over by his passion for this subject matter. Aside from the business of making HDR images there are tutorials, software, image examples from the bracketed exposures to the sIBL library all included on the DVD and even open source projects to improve the functionality of your camera.

If you're interested or exploring HDR for Tone-mapping, panoramas, CG-Relighting this will take you from knowing nothing, to shooting and producing excellent results.

3 people found this helpful

C. Ehrenstein

Extremely well balanced between getting a complex matter across and giving very helpful insights

Reviewed in Germany on May 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

This (e-)book belongs in the (virtual) shelf of any digital imaging enthusiast.

Christian Bloch very skillfully gets a pretty complex matter across – never before have read a technical book that connects dot after dot after dot, giving me countless a-hah moments when suddenly bits and pieces of (half) information I had gained before formed a meaningful picture through the author's explanations.

Christian Bloch convinces the reader that HDRI photography isn't merely a fad, but an inevitable shift in technology. Sooner or later, everyone with an interest in digital photography will have to deal with HDRI – this book gives the reader a head start.

A perfect mix between theoretical background, practical tips (even an elaborate overview of available HDRI software!), and a refreshing dose of humor.

Well done.

Derek Watkins

Brilliant in-depth guide to HDRI

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book should convince you to investigate the techniques of High Dynamic Range Imaging. The author includes many step-by-step guides to techniques using a variety of HDRI software, some of it freeware. Also included with the book is a DVD with example pictures for you to experiment with, a range of software and a host of other goodies. And if you're into experimenting with hardware, there's a couple of projects including one that modifies and programs a Nintendo DS console to control your camera's shutter for producing the necessary range of shots at different exposures (especially useful for Canon users many of whose cameras are limited to +/- 1 stop bracketing). Expensive, but well worth it.

One person found this helpful

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The HDRI Handbook 2.0: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists 1st Edition

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