Urbex HDR photos, they seem to become more and more popular. While I usually publish only photos straight out of the camera (resized, URL in the lower right corner) I decided to create this page to showcase some of the HDR photos I created over the last couple of months. Since I would like to stick with my “no post-production” philosophy I’ll update this page only every few months – and announce it via *Twitter* and *Facebook*. Please enjoy!
Abandoned Kansai 
Fab pics!
Thanks, Emily! I’ll update this section soon – I already created some new tonemapped HDR photos…
Superb shots, congrats! And thank you for following my phlog, I’m following yours on Twitter, it is so interesting. Lately my interest for urbex has been steadily growing, and right now I’m looking for cool locations here in the Czech Republic. I’ve already located a few, actually, and I’m supposed to arrange an expedition on Nov 3 or 4. Will see… Greetings, Emi
Hey Emi,
Thanks a lot!
I’m sure you’ll find tons of awesome urbex locations in the Czech Republic – all those Cold War military bases… Those and gigantic factories are locations I really miss in Japan!
Hi Florian, you’re welcome! Yes, the Cold War bases are on top of my list, and I have already located several of them, including an abandoned nuke launch facility hidden inside a hill, with the surface buildings hidden in a wood and surrounded by a wall fence. I’m trying to find a way to get permits for those places, though. They’re abandoned, but still restricted. Factories and other types of locations are usually easier to get access (and permits) to. I’ll keep you posted. Bye 😉
Thanks for coming by my blog and reading my first posts! I really like your HDR photos. Keep them comin’!
Thanks, there will be an HDR update soon!
Excellent HDR work. Particularly like the subjects you select and the way you use the technique to add to the overall mood.
Thank you very much for your kind words!
Absolutely gorgeous
Thanks a lot!
Like you I prefer a more “natural” look to my images but every once in a while there’s a composition that calls for that stark HDR look. These are very much in that vein. I like how you use the sky as a way to give strong emotion to the scene and how the colors seem to merge together in places.
Those tonemapped HDR photos have a really unique look – that look contradicts my efforts to make the locations I visit “approachable” for everybody reading Abandoned Kansai, but once in a while I like it, hence this sub page.
Thanks a lot for your nice comment, it’s good to hear that you like the photos, too!
very nice set of pics.
Benoit
http://mesphotosetvous.wordpress.com
I am getting into HDR much more than in the past. I find it very helpful in tricky lighting situations. And as you say, it adds strong emotion to a sky! Great images!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Much appreciated! 🙂
Long time no see. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Wonderful work-I especially like the green building-looks like it could be in Oz-
Cheers! I wonder if they have an airport tower in Oz… 🙂
I think you are correct in having a separate page for these as they are so very different from your regular fare. As with all HDR, some work better than others, but they are all very interesting interpretations of your travels.
Hey Robert,
Tonemapped HDR photos have a very… special… look. Depending on my mood I like them – or not. That’s why I would never mix them. But quite a few urbex pages use HDR as a gimmick as you know, doing post-production like that with all of their photos.
Tools – yes, Gimmicks – no. I think we are alike on this.
First time I’m reading about HDR photography! Interesting to see how it lends a surreal touch to your urbex images. I especially like the picture taken on the boarding platform of the rollercoaster.
Hi Angelina,
The boarding platform one I found particularly interesting, because most of it is out of focus. The unedited photo didn’t really work for me, but the tonemapped version… My favorite though is still the Tokushima Healthspa one. The rust, the sky, the vegetation… everything fits together perfectly.
I didn’t realise that this was an image of a healthspa (didn’t put the mouse over it). Had actually thought that it was an amusement or water park with a giant spiral slide! It’s a cool pic 🙂
Thanks! It’s quite an old photo, taken within the first year of my explorations. The Healthspa was a wonderful location – *please check it out* if you haven’t seen it yet.
These are awesome.
Thanks a lot! 🙂
Florian, that horse is sick…
It sure ain’t healthy! 😉
The lighting there was very difficult and the pp gave the horse a very rotten look.
I must say I find these HDR pictures fascinating to look at. I think I must look into this HDR photography.
It’s basically the extreme opposite of my usual “no enhancing post-production” policy. It’s amazing how different those photos look depending on the program / settings you use.
Great photos!
Thanks a lot!
Awesome photography, but it looks so scary and foreboding.
Thanks a lot – then I did everything right! 🙂
superb! The photos are great. I want to learn this type of editing. Urbex is really interesting. Let me try that here in the Philippines.
All the best Abandoned Kansai 🙂
Thanks a lot, Lalaine!
It’s actually quite easy to create those HDR photos. I use a freeware program called Luminance HDR and three bracket shots – then I play around with the settings for about a minute or two… and done! 🙂
wow! thanks for that advise 🙂 I’m starting it already. Update you with my HDR photos soon.