What's HDR?

[LBGChris]

What is it and can I utilize it with a D40 or does the camera brand even matter? Haha. Thanks.

[DonSchap]

The digital camera brand does not matter.

HDR is a matter of getting more out of a shot than is normally available through a single exposure. The best method employs the use of a tripod ... and then taking a quick series of shots underexposed (meter reading -2 EV), normal exposure (meter reading 0 EV) and an over-exposed (meter reading +2 EV). This can only be done through manual settings on the D40, since bracketing is not available. And to be quite honest ... +/- 2 EV is not possible with current bracketing settings.

It is important that the camera NOT move during these images, because they will need to be aligned with one another.

With post processing software (namely Photomatix Pro OR Photoshop CS2 or 3), you then process the images to combined them into an HDR.

Please use these links to understand the procedure:

Simple (http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_a106/essay.html)

More simple (http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/hdr-photo.shtml)

Comprehensive (http://www.vanilladays.com/hdr-guide/)

Anyway ... read it all ... it's good stuff, since you asked.

[LBGChris]

Thanks Don, appreciate it buddy!

[Visual Reality]

Linkage

Flickr discussion / How To
http://www.flickr.com/photos/audunbakkeandersen/1623320388/ (this one has lots of links within)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/realhdr/discuss/72157603040685063/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/realhdr/discuss/72157600617178074/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cleever/145838011/

HDR Tutorial:
http://www.vanilladays.com/hdr-guide/

Bracketing:
http://beforethecoffee.wordpress.com/bracketing-number-of-images/

HDR Photography at Cambridge:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/high-dynamic-range.htm

And a 65-minute HDR video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1010353172688611065&q=uwe+photography&total=12&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

That should keep you busy for a while.

To answer your question...and to correct Don, you cannot do bracketing with the D40. That is one of its main downfalls :( In that regard, the camera does matter. You can do it manually, but you'd better be fast.

[D Thompson]

google can answer a lot of questions.

[Prospero]

Here's a tutorial I have written on about HDRs last year.

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32314

It contains some information about how to do this without a tripod (this is generally not included in other tutorials). This technique may be pretty handy if you don't like to carry a tripod around all the time.

[iamaelephant]

In simple and concise terms, HDR is the scourge of modern photography. It seldom looks good and often looks absolutely horrid.

[Visual Reality]

In simple and concise terms, HDR is the scourge of modern photography. It seldom looks good and often looks absolutely horrid.
Scourge? Hardly...HDR in its truest sense is the only way to properly expose a scene. A single camera click simply cannot reproduce what our eyes see because our eyes don't expose a scene based on how long we leave them open...

HDR is the only way to get true to life pictures. Overcooked HDRs (usually done in Photomatix) are a dime a dozen, yes. But that is not what HDR was intended for.

[iamaelephant]

I went to the biggest HDR group on Flickr and these were the first images in the group. If this is what the human eye sees then I need to see an optometrist.

http://flickr.com/photos/thorsted/2549081285/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/nukamari/2469676633/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/18694634@N00/2548948403/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/elcumpa/2549038715/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/dapatil/2549077451/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/davemckim/2548865752/in/pool-hdr

As far as I'm concerned, with the possible exception of the second to last one these all look ridiculous. Yes, there are a few (very few) good looking HDR images out there, but you could spend all day looking at HDR pictures and find maybe a handful that looked appealing and even fewer that look real. The technique is young, overused and in my opinion will never produce the results that a skilled photoshopper can produce by carefully blending multiple exposures manually.

HDR is a blunt instrument that is being used as a solution to a problem that requires precision and finesse. It's an abomination and I eagerly await the day that this ridiculous fad is over and done with.

[Visual Reality]

I went to the biggest HDR group on Flickr and these were the first images in the group. If this is what the human eye sees then I need to see an optometrist.

http://flickr.com/photos/thorsted/2549081285/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/nukamari/2469676633/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/18694634@N00/2548948403/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/elcumpa/2549038715/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/dapatil/2549077451/in/pool-hdr

http://flickr.com/photos/davemckim/2548865752/in/pool-hdr

As far as I'm concerned, with the possible exception of the second to last one these all look ridiculous. Yes, there are a few (very few) good looking HDR images out there, but you could spend all day looking at HDR pictures and find maybe a handful that looked appealing and even fewer that look real. The technique is young, overused and in my opinion will never produce the results that a skilled photoshopper can produce by carefully blending multiple exposures manually.

HDR is a blunt instrument that is being used as a solution to a problem that requires precision and finesse. It's an abomination and I eagerly await the day that this ridiculous fad is over and done with.
First...
http://www.flickr.com/groups/realhdr/

Second, I'm sorry you don't understand HDR, but you don't need to post like you're completely ignorant and unwilling to learn...or are you?

[AdamW]

iamaelephant, it's not hard to find all sorts of bad photos on Flickr. I can quickly find lots of crappy shots that were taken with Canon 30Ds, but that doesn't mean your camera is a scourge of modern photography. On the other hand, search these very forums for some of Prospero's work and you'll see some beautiful HDR photographs.