Help with HDR

[A.meiring]

Hi peeps. Ive just started experiencing with HDR and i was wondering if anyone can give me some tips. do you use bracketing or just do it manual? Any advise would be appreciated..

[r3g]

Exposure bracketing is the proffered method.

[Prospero]

In my signature there is a link to a HDR tutorial I wrote.

I use bracketing too. Bracketing allows you to take the shots very soon after each other, which is great, as the sky can move quite fast.

[erichlund]

What he said. Read that tutorial. It's awesome. Be aware that there is an alternative to Photomatix and Photoshop. Paint Shop Pro now has an HDR capability.

Also, yes, bracketing with a tripod is best, because you don't have to worry about camera movement. Also, the quicker you can take the series of photos, the less likely cloud movement is to become a problem. My D200 can take 9 shots in about 2 seconds, bracketed up to 1 stop apart. If I'm worried about movement in 2 seconds, then maybe I should not be going for HDR. Sounds like an action shot (Turtle races, anyone?).

[herc182]

also see this thread i started a while back when i was getting into it:

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29062

[A.meiring]

thanks, i did it without bracketing today but will try that in future. So is one stop like one (block) on the meter? My d70 can only take 3 different photos in bracketing is that correct? "F3 2.0" does that mean one up, metered and one down? I prefer to take more than 3 for the reason that i dont always know where to meter for the correct situation and with taking at least 5 exposures I can use 3.

[erichlund]

thanks, i did it without bracketing today but will try that in future. So is one stop like one (block) on the meter? My d70 can only take 3 different photos in bracketing is that correct? "F3 2.0" does that mean one up, metered and one down? I prefer to take more than 3 for the reason that i dont always know where to meter for the correct situation and with taking at least 5 exposures I can use 3.

Actually, that's 3 f 2.0 : 3 shots, one at 0EV, one at -2EV and one at +2EV. The D70 only allows 3 shots in bracketing, so it allows a wider per shot bracket. My D200 only does up to 1EV, but includes many more shots.

The table for your camera starts on page 90 of the manual.

[fionndruinne]

Three bracketed images should do it, most of the time.

Alternately, if you don't have a tripod handy and can't get a still bracketed series, HDRs or pseudo-HDRs from a single raw image can be good. Just develop multiple jpeg versions in a photo processor like Lightroom. Tools like highlight recovery here come in handy.

That's what I make do with, as I've no auto-bracketing, and am too lazy to haul out a tripod most of the time. Granted, my tripod is ancient and oh-so-heavy.:cool:

[herc182]

A resource for HDR:

http://forums.popphoto.com/camera/board?board.id=26

I subscribe to the magazine (its so cheap even though I am in the UK!) and recently started looking at their website. Really good

[truflip]

What if you take one shot in RAW, then adjust exposure (-2, 0, +2) and merge?

[TheObiJuan]

That does work, but not as well since the RAW shot will not have +2 worth of highlight detail.
Imagine if the headroom if you took three raw shots at -2, 0, +2?

[herc182]

What if you take one shot in RAW, then adjust exposure (-2, 0, +2) and merge?

A lot of people say this works but I dont believe it and have actually tried it. You WILL NEVER get the dynamic range with one RAW that you would with 3. For you to get a HDR effect from one shot means that the scene must have probably not needed HDR In the first place (i.e. the photo you took was fairly well exposed, and had enough dynamic range to work as one photo).
The minimum is three photos. And their exposure compensation does not always need to be -2,0 and 2. It will depend on the scene (for example, -2 might result in a black shot that will on add noise to the photo).

Another thing that I think is under rated is the use of a tripod. I am not that steady handed and my D80 fires at 3fs. Usually ok but to get the sharpest photos available, you need a tripod.

Alternatively, if you are shooting a landscape you could take two shots. One exposed for the foreground and one for the sky. Then merge the two in photoshop or elements or whatever software you might have. Its easier than HDR and looks more realistic. HDR is good for complicated scenes.

I have stopped using it and only use it if the scene really is that hard to meter that I cant achieve it without the extended range of 3 shots.

Thanks

[erichlund]

A lot of people say this works but I dont believe it and have actually tried it. You WILL NEVER get the dynamic range with one RAW that you would with 3. For you to get a HDR effect from one shot means that the scene must have probably not needed HDR In the first place (i.e. the photo you took was fairly well exposed, and had enough dynamic range to work as one photo).
The minimum is three photos. And their exposure compensation does not always need to be -2,0 and 2. It will depend on the scene (for example, -2 might result in a black shot that will on add noise to the photo).


I don't think that anyone is arguing the point that using a single RAW will get the same results as independant shots. Only that it can be done. However, I think with CaptureNX, I can do as well with the tools in NX as I can doing an HDR from three versions of a single RAW. OTOH, given an image with sufficient dynamic range, I can do better with HDR using independant images.

[fionndruinne]

What if you take one shot in RAW, then adjust exposure (-2, 0, +2) and merge?

You can definitely do it, and end up with a very significant amount greater dynamic range than a single processed shot will give you. It won't be as good as a true multiple exposure HDR, but it's sumthin'.

The only problem with this in my experience is noise. To capture a high-dynamic-range scene you have to underexpose significantly in order to get the highlight detail. RAW tends to do a good job keeping detail in underexposed areas, but when you go in and lighten these areas, some bad noise can show up - it's an unfortunately unavoidable result of serious underexposure. Your HDRs will still look pretty good, but are no longer fit for bigger resolutions.

I'd give you some examples, but I'm not very good with tone-mapping yet (plus the tone-mapping type available with the free version of Photomatix is pretty poor, and I can't afford the program right now).