The software I use for all my HDR work is Photomatix Pro by HDRsoft. If you’ve come here looking for my 15% off discount code for photomatix, you can find it here.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is gobsmacking when you first see it done well - but the lack of simple tutorials meant it took me a long time to really understand how it was done. This is my attempt to help other people in my situation by creating my own HDR tutorial.
The purpose of HDR photography is to show a higher range of detail than could be possible from a single image. When the human eye scans a scene, the pupil dilates and contracts, enabling us to quickly flit around the image and perceive detail in all but the brightest and dimmest conditions. When taking a photograph, the camera (or the operator, if it’s in manual mode) has to decide what length of exposure to use in order that the important parts of the picture retain detail.
When using raw mode on a DSLR, the image can be pushed about a stop of light* either way (brighter or darker) without significantly affecting the image quality - which, whilst better than you would get from a JPEG, is not enough under most conditions to allow detail throughout the scene.
* This terminology can be confusing. “A stop” is basically twice or half the amount of light hitting the sensor. So, if you had a properly exposed image, then an extra stop of light is twice as bright, and one stop less is half as bright. Stops aren’t to be confused with “clicks” on the little wheel you rotate - that can normally be adjusted in the camera’s functions to go 1/2 or 1/3 of a stop each time. You can adjust the amount of light hitting the sensor by either changing the aperture size or the exposure length - for HDR, you must only change the exposure length between shots, as changing the aperture size will affect the depth of field of the image and stop the images stacking up correctly.
A sample image
If that had been taken from a single exposure, I couldn’t have packed that much detail in (without a lot of filters and post processed jiggery pokery, at the very least).
Obtaining the image
You can take as many as you want - I normally use Auto Exposure Bracketing - a setting your DSLR probably has, which enables you to take three pictures in quick succession (I have it on multi-shot mode, so I can just hold down the button and it takes all three) at a set range of exposure times. The 450d (and 350d/400d) allows you to go up to two stops either way. This is a bit of a shortcut - the longer way to do things is to adjust the exposure time manually, and take as many pictures as is necessary to ensure you have one with no blown highlights, and one with no blown shadows - how far you go is up to you, and the effect you want to achieve - the only stipulation is that the pictures must be even steps apart (eg. 1 stop, 2 stops etc).
*NOTE - I’VE RECENTLY LEARNED THAT THIS ISN’T TRUE. THE IMAGES DON’T HAVE TO BE EVEN STEPS APART. SO YOU CAN WING IT A LITTLE 
Also, whilst you can make HDRs with JPEGS, I would suggest there’s little point. I got into the habit of always using raw a while ago - it makes for better HDRs, and gives you more control over your final images.
For the image above, I used auto exposure bracketing, and I didn’t have my tripod with me, so I set the aperture to f/11, and the iso to 200. Normally for a landscape shot - especially a HDR - I would go for iso 100, f/22 and a tripod - but sometimes you find yourself in front of a nice picture in the right light and just have to make do.
Also, I’ve found when I’m going out with other humans it’s much better to not take along a tripod and pile of kit unless they are camera geeks too. It’s a tragic sight to see an excited photographer setting up all his gear next to a babbling stream, as a wife and family look on, bored to tears by the whole thing. Save that for when you’re out on your own, and try chancing a hand-held or two!
Then I leant on a sign to give myself some extra stability, and fired off three images:
1) Normal image:
2) Two stops below :
3) Two stops above:
Here are the three original raw files from my Canon 450d that I used to create the above (you might want to right click + save as, or ctrl+click/save target as for macs). You could use them along with the free demo of photomatix to have a play around.
056.CR2 (normal image) - 21MB
057.CR2 (-2 stops) 17MB
058.CR2 (+2 stops) 22MB
autumn.zip - a zip file of all three - 57MB
Creating the HDR
Once you’ve got your raw files into your PC, you need to convert them into a HDR. I can only really discuss Photomatix, as it’s the only software I’ve used. But I can say that I like it - I bought at the beginning of 2008 think it’s great. I have arranged a discount code you can use to get 15% off.
Open up photomatix and drag your raw files onto it, or open them up via the menus. Choose “Generate an HDR image” from the dialog, then OK your image list, and you should get to an options menu that looks something like this:
If I have handheld the shots, I always choose align source images (trying first matching features, then horizontal/vertical shifts if I don’t like the result).
I always choose reduce noise & chromatic aberrations.
In this case, I chose to reduce background movements, because there were leaves and a breeze in the picture. This and the objects/people option can sometimes work very well, but don’t rely on them - it’s much better if you have no movement in your picture.
Once you click OK, it will start to chug away and create the initial HDR file. It will look AWFUL - something like this:
Don’t be put off. This is just a simple attempt to show you the contents of the file - it hasn’t been processed at all at this point, and contains more detail than your monitor can display. The next step is when you turn this HDR file into your final image.
Producing your final image
Once you’re at the stage of looking at your ugly HDR, you should see a TONE MAPPING button on the left. Give that a prod. Your computer will chug for a few moments, and then you’ll be presented with the image as processed by the default settings (or, if you’ve used the program before, your previous settings).
Sometimes, your image will look great straight away. Sometimes it’ll start off looking awful, and no amount of twiddling will save the day. More likely, you’ll have to mess around with the sliders and options until you’re happy with the result.
The settings I mainly fiddle with are pictured below (ie I don’t tend to play with tone compressor / colour settings / smoothing settings much - sometimes, but not as a rule):
Those are the default settings. I am, admittedly, a bit of a colour freak - so it’s quite often that I’ll start off by whacking strength, colour saturation, luminosity up to 100% - and then light smoothing to high. Without light smoothing on high, I find I don’t like the look of “haloing” you can get around contrast boundaries.
The “White point” slider chooses the point in the image at which highlights are allowed to blow out. If you slide it to the right, your image generally lightens (but you can lose detail - not always a bad thing) - and to the left, it darkens.
The “Black point” slider is the same, but for the shadows.
“Gamma” is a little like “Fill light” - it brightens or dims the whole scene.
I generally find I can make an image look nice (if it’s ever going to look nice) with a combination of these sliders and buttons. If my initial 100% stab looks awful (it often does) i try for a more subtle approach, twiddling things around until I like them.
For the image at the top of this tutorial, I used approximately:
Strength: 100%
Colour Saturation: 64
Luminosity: 10
Light smoothing: high
White point: 0.250%
Black point: 0.000%
Gamma: 1.01
And bingo - I liked the look of it, so I pressed “Process”, and then I had my final image:
Which I think came out rather well! Feel free to try and better it - sometimes a much subtler approach can work wonders.
Have fun playing around - if I can be of any assistance, do ask. Or, if you have any tips or suggestions for me, I’m all ears. I’m far from an expert on this stuff!
121 Responses
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Thats a jolly good article. I shall have to have another play with photomatix I think. You’ve got a spelling mistake in the para -
“The I leant on a sign to give myself some extra stability, and fired off three images:”
but other than that this is a gold star.
Thanks Shaun - fixed
Great tutorial. Just followed it with my Canon 350D with a rather boring, overcast shot of some trees in my back garden. But I literally gasped after clicking tone mapping.
Now I am hooked and can’t wait to hit the countryside next weekend.
Cheers George - glad it worked for you. It’s a larf.
Good stuff! After lookin’ at your HDR collection on Flickr I had to get some action for myself. Can’t believe I’ve never heard of it before…
I carry my tripod everywhere now, maybe my enthusiasm for HDR will fade but until then I’ve told the woman that this is just the way it’s going to be.
Ta very much!
You’ve got me hooked on HDR now…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronstorry/3093021443/sizes/l/
Taking some time to tweak but I’m loving it! Thanks
Yay - nice pic sah
This is a brilliant article, so easy to understand. I’m going to download photomatix immediately and have a play. i found the site after viewing Pixel Boy’s new uploads on Flickr he has an awesome HDR of Corfe Castle Station….have a look. thanks Dan
Ta - I’ll have a gander!
Took a photograph of a steam engine my (75) year old brother made and the look on his face when he saw it on his computer screen amazing.
Thank you for the tutorial.
Bill Martin
Edinburgh
Scotland
Splendid! Thanks Bill.
If anyone wants more reading, I found an excellent, incredibly in depth tutorial here:
http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm
Bookmarked that, thnx.
My camera only shoots 3 brackets in 0.3 or 0.7 steps in auto mode.
Have you tried 5? Better results?
(At your age you’re nowt but a nipper, I’ve children older than you!)
Howdy Simon - aye, I often do 6 or 9, depending on the conditions. On my camera, if I set the adjustment wheel to move in steps of 1/2 a stop of light, and I have it on -2,0,+2, I take a set of 3, then move it on 12 clicks, then take another set of 3, and I have 6 pics at even spacing. Do the same again for nine.
You do get better results with more pictures if the scene demands it, but I keep meaning to experiment with not using all of them. Sometimes I find the reuslting HDR is too dark and the only way to lighten it sufficiently is to pump up the gamma a lot, which leads to really crappy looking pictures. I’m wondering that if I only use say 3 of these pictures (a very dim one, a middle one and a very bright one) that perhaps the result will be more even.
I have played a lot with Photomatix (as software preference)
Its a great tool, however i somehow struggle not to get “glowing backgrounds”
Is there a better way of blending the different things together?
It’s not a problem I’m particularly aware of… although it may just be that I can’t visualise quite what you mean. I tend to decide that if after a few minutes twiddling all the sliders, an image still hasn’t looked good, that it’s just not suitable, and either make an image from a single (non-HDR’d) raw, or throw it away
Thanx Dan
- Would love to send you a pic so that you can see what i mean
- Is there a way that one can get some standard settings being used? I am busy building my collection so its easier when you have a similar setup, just to load the settings (example: bright outdoor, indoor lamp etc)
I’ve sent you an email, Gert.
heya dan, great article really sparked an interest so i tried out your three images in photomatix but they come up very pink and i have played with the settings and cant get rid of the pink! any sugestions?
Aha! I had that before, but only in picasa, never in photomatix.
With me, it was happening because picasa wasn’t up to date enough to render 450d raw files. It could be that maybe you have an older version of photomatix that hasn’t got the right codec (if that’s the right word!) to cope with them. You could try downloading the demo of the latest version, or seeing if you can upgrade it for free.
Failing that, try emailing HDRsoft - support@hdrsoft.com - they are nice folks.
Hey Dan, You have some really good HDR images here. I am actually on the lookout for a new DSLR and I wanted to know If the Auto Exposure Bracketing shots were limited to the fps of the 450D as you can only do three and the 450D does 3 fps shooting? If this is the case does it mean a 40D will it be able to do 6 images in a row? Or am i waaay of track?
Thanks Adam
I’m not actually much of a camera expert, so you can probably get better answers elsewhere. Take a look at:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
that guy has the most insanely in depth camera reviews. Should hopefully tell you everything you want to know.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t know there was any correlation between FPS and the number of AEB shots. I do know the 450d can only do 3 though, as could the 400/350. I know some cameras can do more, but am unsure if any canons can.
What I tend to do if I want more is take a 3-shot AEB, then roll the clickwheel 12 clicks (i have it set on 1/2 stop per click), which means the next 3 will fit in right alongside, so I can get 6, 9, 12 or whatever by repeating that. Quicker than doing them individually, but it would be nice to have more automatically.
Thanks Dan for a really useful tutorial, you explain it very well. Now just need to get out there and take some shots
Thanks Toots
I really need to do the same - I’ve not been taking anywhere near enough pictures this year!
Hi Dan … Thank you for a detailed tutorial … just what I was looking for. I’ve just come across HDR images and I’m going to purchase photomatix.
Thanks Michael, I hope you have fun with it.
Hey Dan,
First off, excellent tutorial.
I’ve been itching for my new 450d to arrive so I could get my teeth stuck into HDR’s.
Your guide was perfect and I’ve spent hours putting pics together.
Many thanks and keep up the good work.
Iain
Thanks Iain! I’m waiting for spring to properly arrive so I can go out without freezing / being blown away.
Hi.
I have photoshop cs, i typed hdr in serch, but seems cs dont have hdr options, cs2 has.
Any comment?
thnks Linards.
Hi Linards
I’ve never used the photoshop stuff (in fact, I don’t even have it - I use GIMP, a freeware thing, for editing). But I do hear people mentioning CS2 a lot with regard to HDR, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you are right.
If you don’t want to shell out for photomatix, there’s a free thing: http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/ that might be worth a go
Thanks Dan.
And I haven’t used any other soft actually.
No worries - the free demo of photomatix is worth a look too - would be enough to see if you like it anyway. I used the demo for a while until I got hooked
Hi Dan Great introduction to HDR, which I’m now enjoying playing around with. With reference to your 21st January post about taking more than the standard three shots by setting the adjustment wheel to 1/2 stop per turn and after taking the first three making 12 turns then taking three more shots. How do you set the wheel to this setting? Thanks John
Hi John
On my 450d, it’s:
Press Menu
Scroll across to Custom Functions (last but one menu)
Option 1: “C. Fn I : Exposure - exposure level increments” - and there you can change it between 1/3 and 1/2 stop.
You can of course just skip this step and make more turns of the wheel - it’s just a way to save a bit of time between shots as those bloody clouds move so fast!
Hi, Great tutorial! Thanks for taking the trouble.
Pls can you tell me how I can adjust my CR2 RAWs my Phoytoshop CS3 does not accept them.
Kind regards
Uwe
Hi Uwe
I may not be the best person to advise you on this, as I don’t use photoshop. I’ve had a quick google around for you and found this thread:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/40d/discuss/72157605668577991/
Hopefully something in there will help you
Hi Dan - OK, so I’ve changed the EL increment to 1/2 from 1/3, then set the camera to take 3 shots at f16 (for reasonable DOF), then rotated the wheel 12 clicks which changes the f stop to 4.5. So, if I then take 3 more shots surely all I’m doing is taking the same shot with differential exposures but changing the DOF? So if you want to take 9 shots you’re going to run out of f stops surely? I’m certain I’m missing something vital here and missing the point but I just can’t get my head around it - rational thinking was never my strong point! And it was all going so well. Help! Regards John
Aha - i think I may need to rewrite that part to make it clearer
This doesn’t work on AV mode. Only do it on manual mode. You never want to change the aperture when taking HDR shots (unless you deliberately do so to achieve an effect). Pop it on manual first, so your clicks of the wheel change the exposure time instead. That’s the only thing I vary.
HTH - ask away if you need anything else, I’ll help if I can. I may take a little while to answer, as my first son was born yesterday and I have a lot of running around to do!
Hi Dan - that makes more sense! Wow, I’m amazed that you found time to answer yesterday evening and this morning! I’ll give it a shot. Congratulations on your son. Will you be going for full-on HDR shots of his first few days, or just regular? Regards John
Thanks for the excellent tutorial. I have been very sceptical of HDR up to now, but I can now see that, done with care, it can produce truly amazing results. I’ve tried it with a couple of pictures from last year, just blending three exposures from one RAW file (I will of course be bracketing when I go out shooting next week!!) but even doing that has created very pleasing, and quite natural looking, results!!
Thanks also for explaining how the software works and what the individual controls are used for-it really is a definitive tutorial!
John - I’m actually trying to learn how to use graduated filters properly at the moment, as I was a bit sick of *all* my best shots being HDR - trying to branch out a bit!
With people, too, I find the best shots are just those taken in available light with a nice short focal length - I’ve got a 30mm sigma 1.4 that’s great for that, which I’ve been pestering poor Arthur with a lot
Thanks for the kind words Mark - it’s great fun when you get into it - another string to your bow!
Hi, I am feeling quite exhausted with all these options and testing the HDR programme I just bought yesterday. I am quite fascinated with the dynamic colour range. BUT I am loosing in all my shots the clearity and Focus of the single shot. What am I doing wrong in the line-up?? Please can you advise.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kind regards
Uwe
Hi Uwe
My first thoughts would be:
1) Make sure you are only varying the exposure length, not the aperture size. Practically, this means either using 3 shots on AEB, or using manual mode and varying the exposure length.
2) Use a tripod if you have one
3) Make sure you’re not refocussing between shots somehow
Hi Dan,
I am using a tripod, AEB and aperture priority. I am varying the exposure time. I am not changing the focus during the three shots I am taking. The HDRs are blurring with soft edges. Nothing like the sharp images you produced even of hand held shots.
There must be a big difference between our technics in the process. It feels like you are using a different programme??
I can send you my images in reduced size?
Thanks for your support.
Kind regards
Uwe
Check your email Uwe - I’ve dropped you a line.
Your HDR’s look great. I’ve just recently started with Digital photography and playing around with HDR. The problem I have is that my RAW pics turn magenta when I generate them into a HDR. If I take JPEGS, I don’t have that problem. Any ideas?
Hi El
I had that problem before - it’s when your PC hasn’t got the right codec (I think codec is the word!) to deal with that particular raw format. With my problem it was looking at things in Picasa - the next version update sorted it out.
What bit of software are you using? I’d suggest doing a bit of googling for your camera make and mode, raw and pink, and see what you get
Hi Dan, thanks for your quick response. I’m using a Mac, and the only software that I currently have is the one that came with my Canon EOS 40D “Digital Photo Professional”. I’ll google a bit for more info and if I get stuck I’ll pepper you with more questions! Thanks for your advice! It’s really kind of you to respond!
To add to the previous comment, I’m using the Photomatix Trial Version of course.
I found a few answers on http://www.flickr.com - there were loads of Canon EOS 40D users using an earlier version of Photomatix which caused the same magenta hues. The problem can be solved by downloading the version Photomatix 3.0.3. Not version 3 but version 3.0.3.
yay - so all is well now?
Hi Dan, I downloaded the latest trial version of Photomatix and it worked like a charm! Thanks for guiding me in the right direction!
Thank you, a clear concise tutorial and very helpful, if only to further encourage an HDR novice. Only a week since I downloaded Photomatrix, there has been some limited success but much disappointment. I upgraded to a secondhand Olympus E-3 late last year so can’t blame the equipment. I have tried converting my raw files to 16bit TIFF prior to loading the images into Photomatrix, this helps with the strange colour shifts which some RAW files have produced. Post processing in Photoshop, I have Elements 7, which if you have the full version is worth buying for it’s superior stitching facility. You may still get the odd white line between masks but pressing ctrl+shift+alt+E (stamp visible) kicks them into touch effortlessly
Hi Adrian
Thanks - have you tried the “raw conversion settings” bit at the bottom of the “Generate HDR - Options” dialog you get when starting the HDR process in photomatix? I’m wondering if changing your white balance or color primaries might help.
Personally, I tend to process with the default white balance settings, and then if necessary tweak the white balance of the resulting JPG (or tiff).
May be no help at all, but there you go!
Cheers,
Dan
Afternoon Dan, no as I have found that when outdoors I set white balance to cloudy (5300K from memory) it seems to give the best saturation on my camera, and also saves me worrying about the technology of auto this that and the other. I always capture in RAW so most sins and omissions can be rectified.
My passion is for panoramas, and it seems the workflow Photomatix then stitching and cropping is the way to go, though I may try it visa versa. Colour is not really a problem, it just seems unpredictable in Photomatix. It can be rectified ,even in Elements. I tend to use levels pick a grey point on a duplicate layer then blend in overlay mode adjusting the opacity to suit my mood is the quick and easy way. One more point that may save frustration to people like me of little experience, is that you need to have plenty of RAM I suspect 4GBytes is probably the minimum, thanks it’s all a help, all the best A.
I have yet to try HDR, but I grabbed a single RAW image of a sunset a couple of weeks ago in circs that would probably have merited from it. I’ve heard that there are ways of achieving a similar result by processing a single image, but I can’t find a tutorial for this technique. Any thoughts?
Howdy
If you have a raw image, you can make a HDR, it’s just not as high a dynamic range as it would be with more images. With raws, you have about a stop of light’s leeway either way I think, so if you push it through photomatix you can pull out more dynamic range than you have in a normally processed jpeg, but the effect isn’t as strong as with more images.
Equally, you could use your raw processing software to create two or three versions of it at different exposure levels, then blend them together in photoshop.
If you do want to try photomatix, it works just the same for single images as it does for multiple ones, so the tutorial should stand. I think that some of the single shot HDRs you see benefit from a lot of post processing, though - and there’s always the caveat that some HDRs just don’t look that good anyway, so depending on the shot, your mileage may vary.
Tata
Dan
Morning Dan, in Photomatix the easiest way is to go to automate choose single image and load up your file. Some work OK some don’t, about par for the course no matter how many source images one uses! Also for Chris’s benefit you can play with Photomatix for ever and for free. You just have watermarks on the final image, not a problem whilst coming to terms with the job, all the best A.
I really enjoyed your tutorial, but I am having difficulty with my HDR Tone Mapping. I tried using your autumn tree scene - downloaded the three photos, merged them to HDR, and then hit “Tone Map”, but when I get going, I can’t seem to replicate the fantastic image you ended up with. The way the white clouds stand out in the upper left-hand corner, yet the sky remains dark blue… the nice lining of brighter blue sky around the trees, and then the trees themselves are fully lit, yet not over-exposed or over-saturated. What am I doing wrong?! haha Just frustrating.
Bottom line, I just can’t seem to achieve that superbly smooth glow that HDR images are so well-known for. There’s always some kind of noise in my photos - whether I’ve taken them with my DSLR or if I grab them off of tutorials like this one. ANY HELP!?
To add to my last post, did you accomplish the Autumn scene shot that is your end product on this page simply by using Photomatix and the tone tab? There are three other tabs (color, Micro, and S/H)… did you do anything with those? Or, did you process the image and then work on it more in Photoshop and use other techniques? Thanks!
I’ll go through it step by step to make sure:
1) Download zip
Choose Align source Images / horizontal / vertical shifts / reduce noise / reduce choromatic aberrations / press OK
2) Unzip raws
3) Drag raws to a folder
4) Open photomatix (in my case, photomatix pro 3.1)
5) drag raws to photomatix
6) “Generate an HDR image” is selected / click OK
7) Click OK on confirmation dialog
9) Twiddle thumbs
10) Click “Tone Mapping” button
11) Choose “default” settings from preset menu at bottom
12) Twiddle the sliders so that I have this:
Strength: 100%
Colour Saturation: 64
Luminosity: 10
Light smoothing: high
White point: 0.250%
Black point: 0.000%
Gamma: 1.01
Light smoothing: very high
Everything else was left as default - but I’ll list them here just in case:
Microcontrast 0
temperature 0
saturation highlights 0
saturation shadows 0
micro smoothing 2
high smooth 0
shad smooth 0
shad clip 0
360 image unchecked
13) Click Process
14) Twiddle thumbs
15) File > save as > stuck it on the desktop as a jpeg / uploaded to site:
here it is
For the image in the tutorial, I probably brought it into lightroom and tweaked the contrast and perhaps the exposure a little, but it was ages ago so I can’t remember. Is the image I just linked to comparable to the ones you get?
Here’s one tweaked in lightroom
All I did there was increase the contrast and exposure a little. It’s not hugely different but probably more similar to the original image above.
Afternoon Dan, Many thanks for your time spent encouraging numpties like me. Just processed half a dozen HDR’s and they have all come out as I expected they should, not perfect by any means but far superior to my previous efforts. I’m still getting a few blown highlights (a problem with the small Olympus sensor). I shall go out tomorrow and expose for the highlights, bash off three exposures and then incorporate with the normal -2,-1, 0,+1,+2. There appears to be no limit to the number of images that can be used, I’ll just be awash with tea while the programme clunks away. Thanks again, all the best Adrian
Howdy Adrian. Ta - ace news that you’re all happy. Dunno if I mentioned it anywhere in this thread, but I’ve found that exposing for the highlights and then upping the exposure a bit is quite a good method, as you get some leeway with the raws. And remember I’m just a numpty too, I just happen to have a website
Aye but there are numpties and complete muppets, I score highly in the latter category. Just to give myself further grief I now have Flexify 2. I have a weakness for stitching panoramas as I dislike the look of standard formats. 360/180 stitches should really cause some heartache. however the more techniques one acquires, the more one can do with ones hobby, strike that, obsession would be more appropriate, Ta.
Afternoon again, probably a case of ‘grandmothers and eggs’ but you can get quite fine control over the end result in photoshop by adjusting, levels, contrast, saturation, using adjustment layers, then duplicate the background drag to the top of the layers menu, select overlay as the blend mode and adjust the opacity. Should one desire extreemly whacky effects try some of the other blend modes it’s all non destructive so anything goes, all the best Adrian.
heh - I had a phase of that too. My weapon of choice is Arcsoft Panorama Maker, as it works with Raws (it was the only one I could find that did at the time, but lots may now).
Have you seen these things?? Quite hackneyed now, but pretty cool if you’ve not seen them before. You can do them quite easily in GIMP or photoshop by applying a polar coordinates transformation to a 360 panorama. I only had one go at it which wasn’t hugely successful, but shows it’s easy to actually DO, if not to do WELL
I stopped then, because it was just at the point where I was starting to think I needed to get better at old fashioned photography.
Regarding your second post, I haven’t actually got photoshop - I’ve played with it in the past, but I quite like what you can do with GIMP, and enjoy it’s freeness. I’m currently trying to get things as right as I can in-camera with a combination of:
- Careful metering
- Graduated neutral density filters
- Shooting when the light’s right
which is a TIRESOME BITCH OF A JOB, but when it works the final result has an authenticity you can’t quite match with HDR / post processing fiddling.
Morning Dan, you my friend are going to end with medium format and 120 film! I know what you mean though, years ago I had an Oympus OM 1 and always aspired to a range finder. It’s taken me a couple of years in the digital world to disregard the frames shot which is not a good thing. Having said that the two professional photographers I knew used to shoot miles of film, plus polaroids to aid composition. How are the gradient filters working out? OK I guess if the transition from light to dark is horizontal and regular. I’ll give it consideration, next time I’m at the shop I’ll see what second hand filters they have, anything to increase satisfaction or provoke language inappropriate to this site. All the best A
I’ve not had enough of a chance to get really good with them yet - I initially got them a couple of years ago, before I discovered HDR, and was a bit too impatient, and when I discovered HDR, I put them in a box and didn’t take them out. This time I’m liking them more, but haven’t had chance to go out when the light’s right - largely because it was a couple of weeks until my wife’s due date, and then the baby appeared, so time is a little short right now as you can imagine
Only ones I really got that were approaching decency were these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arsebat/3404642772/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arsebat/3404631850/in/photostream/
but they were taken in harsh daylight without much time to devote to composition, so they’re not good enough to put on this site (All my not-completely-toss shots go on flickr, only those I’m really happy with go on here!)
HI regarding your planet, yes I have seen the Flickr sets. Few inspire me, it,s very difficult to visualise the composition prior to processing never mind shooting. I’m hoping to reduce the centre distortion by taking a couple of exposures towards the Nadir (How low can I get?). I like your composition and it’s an interesting excercise however they turn out. Congratulations on your son and heir, mine was 18 at the weekend. From his demeanour 18 going on 4 but don’t let me introduce negativity. I just joined Flickr and will post under Captaincalm, Adrian
Now, that’s how tutorials should be written! After seeing some HDR images, I decided that I wanted to know more about it and, luckily, I found your tutorial. So many times, the person writing a tutorial seems to want to simply impress everyone with their knowledge while actually teaching a technique is secondary. But your tutorial is just what a beginner needs. It doesn’t intimidate the reader and it makes the whole process seem fun. Thank you very much for posting this fine tutorial. I really appreciate it. Now, I’m going to see what HDR can do when combined with large format photography. You see, I’m a dinosaur! I’m still a large format analog shooter but I see no real reason why I can’t give this technique a try. In fact, as I’m sure you know, HDR was originally done with film and prints were made in darkrooms but digital really released it’s potential. But I’ll try it with my wife’s little digital camera first.
Thanks Again!
Tom Johnston
Heh - thanks Tom, that means a lot. I get a bit annoyed with sites where people try to make themselves seem like God’s gift - I figured just spooling out the contents of my brain without self aggrandisement was a good plan. Good luck with your efforts sah
Thanks, Dan. You did an excellent job of “spooling out the contents of (your) brain”!
You should teach tutorials on How To Teach Tutorials.
I have a question that maybe you can help me with: I see that it’s recomended that you work with RAW files. That makes sense. However, if I try this with scanned large format film, I don’t think that’s an option. Also, my wife’s little digital camera only saves in JPEG. Any suggestions?
Tom
Howdy
It’ll still work fine - it just works a bit better with raws, is all. Reason being that raws themselves have a bit of a higher dynamic range than jpegs, so you get a bit more data for the HDR algorithm to play with.
Just give it a shot and see
Dan
Gotcha! Thanks again.
I just played around with a couple of the tutorials that simulate or fake HDR in link for 19 HDR tutorials that you posted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t follow some of the instructions. The ones I tried assume (for good reason, I suppose) that the reader is proficient in PS. I use CS3 all the time but only for the most basic things…. levels, sharpening, saturation, etc. I wish everyone wrote tutorials like you do, Dan. I’ll get it, though.
Best,
Tom
http://www.flickr.com/photos/practwad/3499377011/
Has this worked? If so thanks very much
Yep - that reminds me of the track that goes down to thors cave from Wetton - is it near there?
Christ a miracle has happened I’ll be building a web site before I know it, Regarding the picture-no its just outside Tideswell loads of green lanes round home. trouble is one is spoilt living here. So spoilt that I’m setting off round the UK later in the year to snap the wild and not so wild, should keep me out of mischief for a couple of years
Oooh - tideswell - lovely area. I love how steep those valleys are around there. Often it seems you’re just on a big flattish plain, and then you plunge down into Millers Dale or something and it’s all quite exciting. Loughborough’s not got the most exciting landscape in the world
I have a very special need for this software of something like it. My company does high end landscape lighting and in the past the only film that would work was 64ASA SLR tripod, etc. etc. Now I have a Nikon D80 and am trying to take nightime shots. Before I buy the Photomatixx is there a trial version I can test to see if it will work?
Yep, just pop to their site and click download.
Hi there
I’ve been playing around a little with Photomatix.
Mostly landscape in my test picts.
Very often the clouds darkens dramatically. Could be nice as an effect but it I want the tone mapped image to get “the same” dynamic range as my eye.
This has been well presented and you’re to be complimented.
I’ve tested this and a few other HDR programs as well as the simulations in Adobe and Corel. I’ve yet to find anything that is as well developed as the Mediachance software. It’s more intuitive and user friendly.Has both Full HDR(multiple exposures) as well as the option of working with a single file, and additional options you will not find elsewhere, regardless of price. The latest version now includes a reasonably full Editor interface as a last optional step which includes full functionality for .8bf effects/filters.
Definitely worth a trial and currently at $55. to purchase. Mediachance also has a Photoshop compatible plug-in that simulates HDR and does an incredible job with a single file.
Both are great.
Hi Dan, and thanx for a brilliant tutorial about HDR. I have a Sony 100 DSLR and it only allows me to shoot of AEB in 3 steps of 0.3 or 0.7 of a stop. This is obviously only suitable for low contrast scenes. You mentioned in a previous answer to someone who had a similar problem (21st January 2009) and suggested moving the adjustment wheel 12 clicks, i.e, 6 stops at half a stop per click. By “adjustment wheel” do you mean exposure comp or shutter speed. I assume you mean the latter.
Also if I load my 3 RAW bracketed pics into Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 - my main editor- it will apply a certain amount of corrections to the Raw image which will surely interfere with the tone mapping when I open them in Photomatic Pro that I have a trial version of. So do I need to switch all those automatic tonal controls off in my Adobe Raw editor before I load the images into Photomatic Pro as, say, TIFF’s or RAW files? What about sharpening ? Does that have to take place in post processing?
Sorry, there are several questions in one there.
Regards.
Mick (Norfolk)
Hi Mick
Thanks
Yes, I meant the shutter speed. Basically, you just need to move it on such that the next three pictures will carry on evenly from the previous lot. Let’s say zero is your “correctly” exposed scene, you might take:
-4 -2 0
and then
+2 +4 +6
and then they’d stack up nicely as six evenly distributed images (although I did realise after not having done so originally, that they don’t have to be evenly spaced - it makes sense to make them so though).
I’m not actually certain, but I think that any changes you make to a raw file won’t actually change the raw file, or if they do they’ll just change some meta information in the file. I suspect with Lightroom at least, that it stores a pile of information about the image, which is applied to it when you view it, so no information is ever lost from the raw. In short, you could bugger about with the raw file as much as you wanted, but then when you drag it into photomatix, it’s like you’ve done nothing to it (this is just my understanding, and not necessarily accurate - but makes sense to me).
If you were to export them from the raw processor, be it Lightroom or Photoshop or whatever, as something else - a TIFF or a JPG - that WOULD make a difference, as the changes you made would actually result in the image data changing and presumably information loss. I always drag raws straight into photomatix - unless I’m deliberately doing something weird, which I don’t often (apart from the dresses).
Regarding sharpening - and in fact all other tweaks - I tend to try and get an image that looks nice out of Photomatix - and then muck about with it after. So I’d mess with contrast, sharpening, and probably even saturation etc afterwards too.
Hope this helps!
Dan
Hullo Dan.
Many thanks for the prompt response to my enquiry.
Thanks for the info about the bracketing of exposures for photomatix and RAW files etc. I will drag the RAW’s into photomatix from now on as it does make sense when one thinks about it.
It would be nice if Sony started making camera that bracketed AEB exposures by plus and minus 2 stops but there you are they don’t - at least the A100 doesn’t.
I am in awe of your gorgeous pictures, and enjoy the nature subjects especially as that is my favourite theme.
Once again thanks for you help and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
PS - I threw my dresses away years ago as they no longer fit me.
Mick (from the Norfolk flatlands)
Thanks Mick
I also recommend graduated neutral density filters, if you ever fancy playing with them. I first got some a couple of years back, just before discovering HDR, and didn’t have the patience for them, but now I prefer them to HDR for landscape work, as you don’t get the same unreality problem.
Enjoy,
Dan
My friend told me about HDR and I’d love to have a go. Can I do ot with an eos 400D
Yep - the 400d’s great for it. I started off on a 350d, which isn’t as good, and that was fine.
After seeing HDR for the first time, i was imedietly hooked and had to have a go.
I am still waiting for the right kind of image to be taken, but i have been practcing with images of very little interest.
But following your tutorial has made things a lot easier, as Photomatix pro has done.
Such a foolproof program.
Paul
hello dan, let me start by saying your an amazing-intersting being for helping out and giving the opportunities to help us photography entreprenous to have something to help towards our start of our photography passion.
I was wondering before i bought this promax can you have a basic dslr camera to be able to create hdr’s
Hi Sam
As long as your camera is capable of taking pictures at different exposure lengths with the same aperture size, yes, any camera should do. It’s just a case of having dim, normal and bright versions of the same image, and processing them with the program.
If any of that doesn’t make sense, just ask and I’ll try to clarify
Hi Dan, have looked at your site many times and feel as if I am now hooked. Would like your opinion on a technique I saw on another web site which said to take just one picture in raw and then to get the different exposures using the exposure slider in the raw converter on photoshop, saving each file to a folder so you can then pull them onto photoshop/photomatix. look foreward to hearing from you. Regards kev
Hi Kev
It’s not something I’ve ever done - when I made a HDR I’ve always done it from a number of differently exposed raw files taken with AEB, as it seems to me that’s the way to get the optimum amount of detail in your final image.
Whilst you can probably get a hdr-ish effect as you describe, you won’t be able to pull detail out of the image that isn’t there. It does have a place however - for images where you can’t, or for some reason didn’t - take multiple exposures.
As I’ve never actually tried it, my advice is kind of worthless - it might be worth checking out this flickr group, which is dedicated to HDRs from single raws:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/raw2hdr/
HTH
Dan
I liked your tutorial and will definetly bookmark it.
Hi there I am having the same problem as another of your readers Copied and pasted as below Are you able to offer any help
Hi, I am feeling quite exhausted with all these options and testing the HDR programme I just bought yesterday. I am quite fascinated with the dynamic colour range. BUT I am loosing in all my shots the clearity and Focus of the single shot. What am I doing wrong in the line-up?? Please can you advise.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kind regards
Uwe
?
Hi. That chap had noticed that some of his shots were out of focus BEFORE putting them through the HDR software. I have my focussing set to “one shot” if that’s any help. Once I told him that he went away to play again, and didn’t come back, so I’m not sure what his actual issue was
I’d get the three images (or however many there are) and really check them for problems carefully, whacking the brightness up and flicking through them quickly to see if they change. I can’t think of any way that Photomatix could change the focus.
My experience with simulating HDR by processing a single RAW image into 3 version (rare, medium, and well-done, so to speak) has brought limited success. I’ve done better using the Photomatix tonemapping plug-in for Photoshop on a single image.
Where can I buy Promax HDR
I do not want to down load
http://www.hdrsoft.com/order/cd.html
Hey Dan, 2nd time I’ve tried to post! Let’s hope WP play’s nice this time!
Just wanted to add my pennies worth of feedback - thanks for getting me inspired into HDR mate, I’ve learnt from the master!
My stuff is junior in comparison to yours: http://www.aaron-photography.com/portfolio/hdr-photography
Cheers, have a Merry Christmas!
HEllo
i was thinking buying a Sony WX1.
can i make HDR photo using that camera?
if yes,how can i
thanks
Hi Kosala
Yep - you can do it on any camera that lets you vary the exposure time. It helps if the camera can do exposure bracketing, which this URL seems to say it can:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/DSCWX1/DSCWX1A.HTM
the bit where it says “Bracketing (0.3, 07, or 1.0 EV steps)” indicates that it can do auto bracketing, which means you can take several pictures in quick succession with it automatically varying the exposure time for you.
Hi, thanks for a very informative article. I trialled Photmatix and was impressed so I now have the full setup. I used to live in Woodhouse Eaves and spent a lot of time around the Wolds villages as well. I am just waiting for some decent light as I now live in Manchester!! Thanks again.
Aha! Thanks Tony. I’m over in Wymeswold now - nice countryside but it takes a bit longer to get over into charnwood forest, which I miss a bit. Have fun with Photomatix
Like so many others, I did not really understand how to use HDR but your tutorial has made a big difference. Like someone else on this forum, I just tried it out in my garden and feel very encouraged to go out into the pretty parts of England neaer my home and take some more ‘photos. Thank you for all the trouble you have taken over this tutorial.
Hi Dan,
Down under is hot we are like human sausages well done. I’m just about to buy Aperture and not sure about using Photomatix or Hydra for Mac. Have to admit that Photomatic is everything you said it is. I’ve tested it as your sample on PC with same results.
Thanks to for your time and effort that you have done for so many. I;m new to this game and it seems to keep me young and fit by going out and taking photos.
regards to your family from down under.
Louis
Continuing the Discussion