A while ago it was mentioned that some people would benefit from some help on processing using the likes of photoshop, gimp etc.
To start the ball roling I have decided to tip out my basic knowledge of HDR processing for people to add too. I hope this will be useful for some people and maybe push themselves to try this techneque. I also hope that some of the more experienced people on the site can add to this and answer any questions it might frow up.
Introduction
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a processing technique that allows you to increase the dynamic range of an image. Or so Wikipedia tells us. However in “normal” speak HDR is the merging of multiple images to increase the contrast range you achieve. Blacks are darker, whites are lighter and the overall spectrum of light and dark is increased using this technique. This process can be used to give a significantly altered image or be used to slightly change areas of an image. So let’s get started with the basics!
Step 1 – Taking the Shot(s)
As with all images the first step is to capture a photo or set of photos. To start into the world of HDR imaging I would suggest the simple starting point. Compose the shot you want. Ideally the subject will have a large spectrum of light and dark such as a forest with dark areas and light coming in from the canopy, an alley way light by a single street lamp, a landscape with a cloudy sky, hills and tree cast in shade etc.
As you will be taking multiple shots of the same composition you will need a tripod or a sturdy surface to put your camera on. Another useful bit of kit will be a trigger cable or remote trigger. This allows you to take multiple shots without worry of camera shake.
Now at this stage you need to use what is known as bracket exposure or exposure compensation. All cameras are different so if you don’t know how to do this look in your manual. Exposure compensation allows you to manually raise the exposure level up or down. This will let you shot multiple shots at different exposure levels. It also has the handy ability to allow you to set three brackets exposures at a time at different levels. If you start from an exposure bracket of 0 you can get a bracketed exposure that is up or down from 0 at a set level. For example is you want to take three shots using a bracketed exposure of 1 you will get one that is 0 (normal exposure) one that is -1 (darker exposure) and one that is +1 (lighter exposure). This will give you three shots at three different exposure levels. These shots will be the basis of your final processed image.
If you don’t want to use bracketed exposures you can manually dial in as many different exposure setting and take one shot at a time. However you need to be gentle with you camera as to not disturb it and if you are shooting something that is moving like a cloudy sky then you will need to be fast or the images will not be exactly the same (this might give you some interesting cloud pattern though!). The benefit of this however is that you could take more than 3 shots. Go crazy and take 9 shots of a scene moving your exposure up 1/3 each time and then down 1/3 each time. This will give you a lot of shots to play with in post production.
Step 2 – Software
Once you have a set of images you will need to use some HDR Software. Now I have limited experience myself with this as I have only ever used Photoshop and Photomatix Pro. I am sure there are lots of free software out there to be got for free. Suggest a google search as lots come up that way.
However I can strongly recommend Photomatix and Photoshop. Photomatix Pro can be downloaded as a free trial and is not that expensive to buy. The trial version gives you the opportunity to experiment and see if you like the results.
If you like the trial version there are two licence options essential or pro both of which are reasonably priced especially the essential package.
So go out and get some free or trial software if you don’t already have some and lets start making some images!
Step 3 – Processing
Now this is the fun part. Depending on what software you have you can start to produce some interesting images using the bracketed exposure shots you took. Most software will allow you to upload multiple images to be processed. Once you have selected the shots upload them to the software package of choice. You will need to follow the manual or instructions of you specific software but I will detail Photoshop later on.
Once the images are uploaded you will have the ability to select from a number of pre-set setting in the software all of which give different results. Scroll through them and see which you like. There might be a setting that is perfect for you so simple choose that one and you will have you final image. However I would recommend playing around with the settings of your software and understand what each one does. Some are self explanatory and some are not. I recommend playing around with them and understand what they do to allow you to control the end image better.
As a guide I generally use Photoshop. These are the steps I take.
Photoshop (Version CS5)
Photoshop is simple. Follow these steps:
1. Open Photoshop
2. File – Automate – Merge to HDR Pro
3. New dialogue box will appear. Hit the browse button and select the images you what to merge. Once done hit the OK button. You also have a tick box to align the image. Suggest keeping this ticked.
4. Photoshop will work its magic for a little while and final bring up a new screen with a preview of the image and various settings. On the right hand side is a number of sliders and at the very top a drop down box for the various pre-sets.
5. Start by going through all the pre-sets and see if there is something you like. I usually select the image I find most appealing and then have a play with the various setting and tweek the pre-sets till I am happy.
A little secret hint that I am happy to impart is that I usually find that one setting does not cover both sky and foreground. I usually find that I will produce two different HDR effects and merge the two. Ask me if you want to know more on this but essentially I take the two final HDR shots (one for sky and one for foreground) and layer them and delete the foreground of the sky one so the best of the two images are shown and then merge to one image.
The sliders on Photoshop are relatively simple but some give significant changes to the end image. Details as follows:
Edge Glow (Radius and Strength) – These setting dictate how much edge glow is on the image. The bigger the radius and strength the more dramatic the results
Gamma – I never really know what this does if I am honest. I just play around and see what effect I get.
Exposure – Increase or decrease the exposure of the image. Similar to brightness etc
Detail – Central setting is generally normal, lower gives a softer blured effect and high brings out crisper detail.
Shadow and Highlights – Moving these setting will increase or decrease the light level of the shadows and highlights in the shot.
Vibrancy and Saturation – I generally leave these as they can be altered as an adjustment layer to the final image. These are used to increase the colour in the shot or decrease it for more muted tones of even black and white.
Once you have the final setting and you are happy with the image hit the OK button and you are done. You have your first HDR image.
Step 4 – More post production
I find that once you have the final image that I usually do some more post production in photoshop. This is not essential but I find it helps the final image in some cases. It all depends on the final image and how you want it to look. Some little pointers and tips are as follows:
1. When editing in photoshop always duplicate the background layer. This allows you to start again if you want and you have not lost your original image.
2. Use adjustment layers instead of altering the duplicated layer were possible. This allows you to tweak things as you go rather than deleting and starting again all the time.
3. Adjustment layers are also good as you can add a mask layer so that you can adjust only selected areas. If you want to know more on this just ask.
Useful adjustment layers are as follows:
1. Brightness and Contrast – I use this to increase the contrast range and lighten the image. I find that adding a mask and lightening selected areas also helps bring out more detail.
2. Level – Like this adjustment. Allows you to increase or decrease the black and white elements of the image. Make darks darker or whites whiter and the grey slider allows for tweaking in-between.
3. Vibrance – Another useful setting. I use this to either increase the colour levels of the image or drop them down low for a more muted colour cast.
4. Photo Filter – This is one of my most used. This adjustment allows you to give a filter effect of different colours over the image and adjust its density. I find that I always use this in selected areas of a shot. Say if the trees do not have enough of a green colour you can add a slight green cast that helps a lot. Also warmth or cooling colours really change the feel of the image.
5. Black and White – Converting to black and white is useful if you have shot in colour but you can also use this adjustment layer colour cast. I find that adding a high contrast blue filter and lowering the opacity to 10 or 15% gives a really pleasing finish to a blue sky. A lot of my landscape shots have a high contrast blue and red layer both adjusted to 15%.
6. Hue/Saturation – Another cool adjustment. You can slide the hue slider to give a total colour hue of the shot. Turn deep blue skies purple, water green leaves red and anything in between.
Step 5 – Post You Image
I would love to see any of your shots if you are new to this technique. I do not claim to be an expert at this. Far from it but I know when I first started using this method it was a great fun experience but I had very little help. There are some people on this site that are amazing at this technique and I am sure they will add to this brief starters guide. Tag your shot HDR and share your work with the site. Finally if you ever want any pointers or advice simple ask and I will do my best.
Richard, this is so full of wonderful explanations. Thank you for taking the time to type this up. I will be on the lookout for my picture to try this out.
Thinking of my 1st foray into HDR over Easter, traveling with little processing capability but will hopefully bring back some images to play with. Thanks for this tip list.
Great guide Richard. I may have to put my tripod to use and try this out. I have wanted to try it for a while, just wasn't sure how to. So thanks to you I no longer have a great excuse not to try.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this.. I have only tried HDR once and that was with the built-in iphone mode.. will bookmark this for when I try with my "real" camera!
Thank you for taking the time to share. I have tried a couple in photomatix using the trial. Maybe it is time to commit, and also to improve my PS skills.
Oh I am so grateful for the time you have taken to write this informative information Richard. It has come at a perfect time too as I am going down to Bridgetown for Easter (there is beautiful landscape shot potential there) and I was going to give bracketing a whirl. Thank you so much. You will no doubt see if I am successful.
Hi Richard this will be very helpful for a lot of people. I started HDR recently with the help of Scott Kelby's book. One tip I would add to yours is - at the end of step 3 in photoshop save the HDR as a TIFF, close it then reopen as a camera raw to make any adjustments including conversion to B&W.
There are a few examples of HDR on my 365 including todays.
fab stuff thanks for sharing ~ I am currently working on improving my HDR and my last 2 shots have been bracketed and edited in photomatix and PS ~ I am now this minute popping into PS to see about / File – Automate – Merge to HDR Pro option :-)
Ok, quick go with your ps method ~ never knew I could do HDR in PS doh! ... followed steps file automate merge and played a little, added a blurr effect ... something I always do because I like the effect ~ more time and work methinks but i am getting there ~ thanks for all the info very useful!
@brav Wow great tutorial! I have gone on a few HDR binges over the last few years. The thing I battle most is haloing. I hate when I get too much of it in my photos and I notice it a lot in others.
Any tips on how to reduce it without washing out the photo or losing the detail?
Thanks for this! By coincidence I did my first HDR shot today, although ended up doing a lot of it manually as the automatic version did weird things with the saturation. I'm using Photoshop Elements 10 - does anyone know if there is a way to get it to merge the lightness but not the colour to avoid this oversaturation problem?
@brav - Excellent! Thanks for taking the time and effort to put this together. I have just started to dip my toe into the world of HDR so really enjoyed your tips.
I've started to dabble with Photomatix and it's a bit bewildering! Youtube has been a pretty good source of info and of course now this!
My camera and I are having a bit of disagreement about the exposure bracketing. For whatever reason and I'm guessing user error, it will only take 1 picture unless I use the remote. The battery went dead on my remote, that seems to happen rather a lot. I'm going to try to get this all together tomorrow if I can get a break in the rain.
I've just tried creating an HDR (and I tried the other day too) and both times the colours and shadows have gone totally crazy in the process. What am I doing wrong? I wanted to use HDR to bring out the trees in the windows as well as having a well lit interior but something else seems to be happening here.
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
There are a few examples of HDR on my 365 including todays.
Any tips on how to reduce it without washing out the photo or losing the detail?
I've started to dabble with Photomatix and it's a bit bewildering! Youtube has been a pretty good source of info and of course now this!
So thanks again ;-)