High Dynamic Range

[Oy]

Digital cameras cannot capture the full brightness range that our eyes can see.

There's a new "Merge to HDR" facility in Photoshop CS2 that lets you merge several exposures into one High Dynamic Range (HDR) image. Typically you take 3 shots. One at the exposure that your camera recomends, one 2 stops under and one 2 stops over - the program then merges these into one image. This is supposed you to capture the full range of color values that your eyes can see.

Has anyone tried it? What do you think about it in principle?

[Steve]

I hadn't seen that, sounds like it could be fun to play with.

Astronomy software has always taken lots of shots and stacked them into one etc.

Whether it is of any use will depend on the results people get with it I suppose. If you try it obviously do show us your results.

Steve

[Oy]

Next time I'm out with my tripod I'll try it on something suitable. It'll be interesting to see how the finished image compares to the middle image.

Watch this space :-)

[Speedyuk]

I thought this is why fuji made the new SR CCD, it was meant to be able to work with a higher range.

Has your fuji got the SR sensor, if so have you noticed a difference.

My camera does something simular, you can take light readings from 7 different points and it will give you the best average for the selected points.

I have heard of what you say about overlaying images, but have never tried it. Will have to have a play with bracketing and joining the layers.

I look forward to seeing the results.

Mark

[Daveo]

I was about to start my own topic about HDR, but as this one is already here, I might as well revive it!

I have been thinking of trying this and there are various tutorials out there on how to achieve the effects. At the moment I am trying the ones that don't require shooting in RAW (as I can't!). Just wondering if anyone has tried it out. If your unsure of the effects it creates type HDR pictures into a search engine and enjoy. I must admit I was very impressed.

[Steve]

Dave,

I just looked at Photoshop to see what it said about HDR.. but it seems to talk of needing Photoshop Extended.. it is amazing such expensive software then asks for yet more money for things like this..

This is one page I noticed on that: http://www.adobe.com/products/photos...ended/upgrade/

I've not tried HDR personally.. but it does look neat and we could create areas here on it/for it in a flash...

Steve

[Daveo]

Yeah its a bit like Marmite I think, some people think the results look very fake and not very good whilst others love the effect. I have been trying it out in a free sample of Photomatix that seems to have the ability to do it. There are many tutorials out there and I need to try a few to see how it goes.

[Andy]

Dave,

I used an HDR program for this photo. It was a while ago but I think I took the original in raw and then converted to 3 jpgs of under, over and normal exposures and then used an HDR program to blend the three. The effect is a bit artificial but it was the only way to show the band who were in shadow and the Brighton Pavilion that was in bright sunshine. Some cameras now have built in dynamic range extenders which lighten the shadow areas but retain the highlight details. The Sony Alphas use DRO and I think Nikon call their's D Lighting. I think the trick is to use it just enough to solve a problem but not so much that it is obvious that it's been used.

Andy

[John]

Steve,

I just looked at Photoshop to see what it said about HDR.. but it seems to talk of needing Photoshop Extended.. it is amazing such expensive software then asks for yet more money for things like this..

This is one page I noticed on that: http://www.adobe.com/products/photos...ended/upgrade/

Standard Photoshop CS3 can create 32 bit HDR images (File->Automate->Merge to HDR) but if you want a full range of 32 bit editing tools to modify the images aftwerwards, you need the extended version. The tools in standard CS3 are 16 bit.

JPEG is 8 bit and RAW 12 to 14 bit, so for most purposes 16 bit editing is fine.

John

[madhatterandy]

If you have a 'Bracketing' function on your camera it is perfect for taking HDR photos. From testing this out +2 and -2 of normal exposure seems to work best for the tri-set. I don't have a copy of Photoshop CS3 or above with only a copy of Photoshop Elements 5. There is a very popular application available known as Photomatix which is what I have been using to create my HDR images. It is amazing what detail combining three different exposures adds to a photo.

[Steve]

Andy,

Thanks for that info. I will try and remember to give it a go soon now!

Steve

[Andy]

Andy,

That method works well if you are using a tripod and the conditions are not windy. Another method which I briefly mentioned above is to take one photo in raw and then produce jpgs at different exposure settings and blend those.

Andy

[haggishunter]

Hi people, i thought i would grace this glorious website once again since i have moved up in the photography ladder. I saved and bought myself a brand new Canon EOS 450D. Its a big step from my original Sony wsc-80 Cybershot i tell you.

Anyways back to the reason im posting here. HDR is the main reason i made myself save quicker than i had planned to do. I just couldnt wait to make proper HDR's at a near pro level. I have experimented for quite some time now. Taking HDR panoramics was the hardest but once you grasp the basics of HDR then its childs play from then on.

I mostly always use +2-2 bracketing and shoot in RAW as Andy said before. Even when i do it hand held at day time its usually workable. But for crisp deatail a tripod is essential. You need to first join them using software like Photomatix, PhotoShop and or even EasyHDR then save the file as a HDR file(so it can be edited later). Then choose to edit the image using tone mapping or detail enhancemant, whatever you think looks best at the time. And if you save it after tone mapping and you fancy using detail enhancer to see what that would of been like just load up the HDR file and do it. Also sometimes its best to save the finished image after tone mapping and detail enhancer as a TIFF file so you can do final adjustments using photo editing software and keep the detail in the image. And when you finish the final edit using software like PhotoShop save the TIFF and save as a JPG also.

I hope that helps any of you. And if you havnt tried it yet then you need to ASAP! Trust me you will be hooked. I am lol. Check my new pics if you want a look at my latest.

Good to be back.

[Crunchie]

As one of the contribitors to this forum says if you try it you will be hooked. Im using both Photomatix Pro 3 and Dynamic Photo HDR. The images can be loaded into CS3 as raw images and alterations carried out if you think its required and then opened in either of the specialist HDR programs for tone mapping. Both are free to download as a trial.