Well, with an S3 IS, almost any tripod will do - the camera is so light. I would avoid any with a geared center column. I had one once - the gears made it a little unsteady when raised. Budget? Slik, Bogen/Manfrotto make decent ones. Maybe you could swing by Penn Camera and see what they have in stock, I used to frequent them.
Okay, my first foray into HDR. I'm still thinking, so it's watermarked. But here is some of Sleeping Beauty's bling for her golden anniversary (which is gone now, probably because the snow would clash) <img src="http://www.themeparkphotos.us/cpg140/albums/uploads/061007/crown1a.jpg" /> Well it's from three AEB shots using Astia.
I plan on trying HDR when I'm down there this weekend. So basically I want to take 3 pictures (-2, 0, and +2) correct? Can it be done without a tripod?
yes it can be done handheld but you need to use burst mode while bracketing and you need to hold the camera VERY still. ; technique is key here.
Precisely - you want the smallest amount of movement - even just a millimeter or two left or right can mess with the alignment of the frames. ; It's definitely best to do it with a tripod, or level the camera against a wall, tree, or on a level surface. Also, beware of windy days. ; If you are shooting a scene with trees, flags, cloths, curtains, etc - anything that can move in a breeze or wind...know that you may not get perfect alignment in your merged shots, even in burst mode. ; The more still the scene and photographer, and faster the shots are taken, the better.
Sounds like you've had better luck with the weather than I have. ; I've gone down the last 5 years and I got caught in nasty thunderstorms 4 of the 5 times. ; Its not much fun having to pack all of the gear up and run for cover... ; I don't recommend trying to do HDR without a tripod. ; I have a photo of the interior of a small regional airport that I shot for the architect that I work for. I had to use HDR to capture the interior and the views through the large windows in the building and I wasn't allowed to use a tripod. ; The photo looks great on the internet and it looks good printed 8x10 or less, but poster size, it looks awful. ; At that size, a lot of double and triple lines started to show up around the edge of the windows because of the slightest movement between shots.
i second that tripod for hdr, it's just not a technique that lends itself to handholding now you could put the camera on a trashcan/bench/some solid surface, set on auto bracket, burst and timer and pull your hands off for a no tripod try, but i just don't have any faith in doing it handheld, and breezes feel good on the face but the slightest movement really hurts the hdr attempt
nice start but the colors are a little hot. ; you have the smoothing part pretty good. ; try to mute the colors a bit and see what happens.
