HDR Tutorial

[Worm324]

Originally Posted by mpenner

Thanks for the excellent tutorial. I have a question about quantity of images required for HDR. I know the minimum is 3, and more is better (but are more truly necessary?). All Canons, except for the 1 series only bracket 3. Nikons are able to bracket 2 to 9 frames. As I'm trying to decide between the 40D and D300, it would help to know if/how you are able to bracket more than three frames with your Canon.

Manual will work, but I prefer to use bracketing for the speed. You want to get the exposures fired off as fast as possible IMO. So in that regard I would say Nikon has an advantage.

If I need to take more than 3 exposures i will set the bracket up 1 stop apart usually. Then I use the Exposure comp in Av mode and push the exposure all the way to the left. I then fire and immediately push the exp comp to the right and fire away. I try and go as fast as possible. I can't tell you how many shots have been messed up by people walking into frame, or a car coming around the bend ect..

If the conditions are calm and not windy, then time is not and issue, but it's still your time changing the settings which can get boring if your taking a tone of diff pics. Like a car show or something.

Usually 3 exposures will work 75% of the time in my experience, But harsh lighting on water for example usually requires 6 or so for the best result.

Hope that helps

Best,
Jay

[mpenner]

I'm still a bit confused by the 40D specs re: auto bracketing. The specs say:

Autoexposure bracketing: Possible in P, Tv, Av, M, and A-DEP exposure modes; +/- up to two stops, in 1/2 or 1/3-stop increments.

I read this to mean that it will do up to 6 stops each way -(1/3 x 2) & +(1/3 x 2) - what, if anything, am I missing about it?

Thanks for your help.

Mel

[jfrancho]

No, two stops each way, in third or half stop increments. You have the option to set you shutter and aperture to half or third stop increments for each click. Two clicks = one stop if you are set to 1/2 stops. 3 clicks = one stop for 1/3 stop increments.

In 1/3 mode (default) that's six clicks off zero EC, or 2 stops above, and two stops below.

[mpenner]

Originally Posted by jfrancho

No, two stops each way, in third or half stop increments. You have the option to set you shutter and aperture to half or third stop increments for each click. Two clicks = one stop if you are set to 1/2 stops. 3 clicks = one stop for 1/3 stop increments.

In 1/3 mode (default) that's six clicks off zero EC, or 2 stops above, and two stops below.

So does that mean in 1/3 mode you can make a total of 5 bracketed exposures?

[jfrancho]

No, you get three exposures. If you go to Canon's website, and click on support, fill out the dropdowns for the 40D, you can see a user manual. p. 94 will have everything you want to know.

[mpenner]

Originally Posted by jfrancho

No, you get three exposures. If you go to Canon's website, and click on support, fill out the dropdowns for the 40D, you can see a user manual. p. 94 will have everything you want to know.

Thanks much.

Mel

[Mithras]

I did a quick google of "free pdf programs" and found a site called "pdf 995" at this url:

pdf 995: create PDF documents easily for free

I did a quick test and it seemed to work quite well, although I don't know that I really have a need for such a program.

I for one would love to see any tutorials offered in a pdf format for ease of use and collection for future referencing.

[jfrancho]

I for one would love to see any tutorials offered in a pdf format for ease of use and collection for future referencing.

I'm not a pdf guy, but I know many love it. Conversion to pdf is a tiny bit time consuming, but worth the hassle if there are those that will benefit. There are a few tutorials available for DL here: http://photocamel.com/forum/local_links.php, including this one!

[UBSeng]

Woohoo! I found your tutorial! It's fantastic. Thank you so much for making it easy to understand and of course for making it to begin with

How long does it take you to work on one image?

[jfrancho]

Don't know about Jay's effort, but 10-30 minutes per image is about it. The thirty minute jobs are usually me trying a few different versions to see what I like the best.

[UBSeng]

Originally Posted by jfrancho

Don't know about Jay's effort, but 10-30 minutes per image is about it. The thirty minute jobs are usually me trying a few different versions to see what I like the best.

Thanks That's about as long as it took me to read this. The outcome is well worth the effort!

[Worm324]

Thanks for the comments and I'm glad you like it!! John is pretty dead on with his times, but if the image is special I might spend an hour on it. Perhaps even more, but that is rare. Those images are certainly multiple types of processing and layer comps to try and find the effect I'm looking for.

Sometimes I end up scraping the HDR all together and starting over. You would be surprised at what a difference the in initial photomatix process has on the final outcome. Especially if your going for a specific effect. Don't be afraid to do multiple HDR's and layer blend them in PS as well. That might seem extreme, but sometimes the results are outstanding IMO John has done some of this I'm sure, so he can back me up. The time required can be intense though.

Best,
Jay

[BenAkiba]

WOW I've been searching a deep hdr tutorial for a long long time ... this totally blow me off
tnx for sharing

[Song4themoon]

Wow, this is cool. How much does this program cost and where did you buy it? Any money saving tips? In my mind I am seeing some really cool engagement pics taken outside, processed like that

[Rense]

SF4TM,
The program is made by HDRSoft, see this contest for more info