HDR Tutorial using PhotomatixI use Photomatix to generate my HDR shots.
Get the latest Photomatix version hereThis is a discussion based off this turtorial I posted over on dpreview.comThe photos attached to this post at the bottom show the -2EV, normal, +2EV and final HDR composition.
Taking the photos:1. Ideally you want at least 3 photos to import into Photomatix. You want an underexposed shot, normal exposure shot, and over exposure shot.
2. First, determine if your camera will perform AEB (Auto-Exposure-Bracketing). This is where your camera will auto-capture 3 frames (photos) in rapid succession at user-set EV (exposure value) settings. If you camera doesn’t allow AEB, then you will have to manually adjust EV for each shot and you’ll need to be as quick as possible between each of the 3 shots.
3. Start with setting your EV bracket to -2EV and +2EV, this will take 3 shots, one at -2EV (dark), one at 0EV (normal), and one at +2EV (bright and over-exposed). Now, experiment with the EV brackets…sometimes -1.5 and +1.5 yields the best results.
4. Shoot in your highest quality mode as possible (preferably RAW) and low ISO i.e. 100 if at all possible. Also, it's VERY important to set your camera to Aperture Priority. I typically take most landscape/cityscape shots at the f/11 or f/14 range. If you set your camera on auto or any other setting that could vary your aperture then the final HDR will not come out right (if aperture changes between shots, then your DOF and in-focus areas of each frame will shift).
5. Mount your camera on a tripod if at all possible. Compose the camera to the scene you want to capture. Use high-speed drive if you have it available. Set the camera to “timer” so you can focus and press the shutter release button w/o actually taking the first frame so you don’t shake the camera. When the timer expires, you camera should fire off 3 rapid captures use AEB. Again, if you don't have AEB, the use self-timer for each shot.
My Recommended HDR work-flow, RAW Shooters Only:Prerequisits, post photo file capture:
- Photomatix, preferably the latest version.
- Adobe Photoshop and a RAW editor that will bridge with Photoshop such as LightRoom or ACR (Adobe Camera Raw).
- Noiseware Pro or Noise Ninja Pro
1. Open each RAW in ACR or LightRoom and perfrom only spot removal, cloning of areas you don't want, and apply these spot removals/cloning parts to all frames. Be sure your RAW editor only applies in-camera settings, we don't want any EV, contrast, sharpness etc. applied. Later down the road, you can experiment with adjusting some of the curves to some of the frames which can result in a more favorable histogram in the final HDR.
2. Open each RAW in Photoshop and ONLY apply your prefered noise removal, I use the default settings of Noiseware Pro. Then save each file as a 16bit tiff file (don't save layers, else you'll end up with huge 400/800mb files).
3. Launch Photomatix and click the "Generate HDR" button and select the 3-5 tiff images all at once (be sure they are the correct set of images). Click OK and an “Options” box appears, be sure to check “Align source images” and “Attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts” and click OK. Once the converting and auto-aligning is complete and the HDR preview is generated, go to "Tone Mapping".
4. Now you default to “Details Enhancer tab (I never use Tone Compressor). You are ready to start adjusting your HDR images with the Details Enhancer settings. The default settings are decent, but you want to thoroughly go through every setting and max out the settings to see their effects. For example, Light Smoothing radio buttons…the further left you select the more “sur-realistic” it gets and the further right, the more normal the image looks.
5. The rest is up to you and how you feel the preview looks. I generally hover around 90% strength on HDR (top slider bar), 40% color saturation, mid-range on the light smoothing radio buttons, around 25% from the left on the slider for white, 5-10% from the left on the slider for black, and about 15% from the left on the slider for gamma (<= these values are always subjective as aforementioned states).
6. Fiddle with these and other settings to likening and then click “Process”.
7. When the processing is complete, go to File and Save As 16bit tiff.
8. Now, open the 16bit hdr composite into Photoshop and do any further editing to you liking. The more verse you are in Photoshop the more you can accomplish with your Photomatix generated 16bit HDR tiff. For example, you can layer-mask your HDR frame with your normal (0 EV) original noise-reduced 16bit tiff frame and paint back in some normal aka non-hdr stuff or maybe some subjects that are ghosted too much. I learned much of this technique by a fellow Austinite Trey Ratcliff through his website
Stuckincustoms.com. When you are all done, then save the composite in your prefered format.
Tips: I've shot wonderful subjects and foregrounds with a plain, nearly zero contrast clear sky or monotone cloudy sky and I usually get very poor grainy, almost like it's raining results. So try to shoot high "contrasty" cloudy sky for best results.
Never shoot where any of the subject has a large foot-print of black space..black space produces horrible noise in my experience.
Please register to comment or post your HDR experiences and photos!
Basic HDR work-flow, RAW and JPEG Shooters:Prerequisits, post photo file capture:
- Photomatix, preferably the latest version.
- Adobe Photoshop optional, but recommended.
1. Launch Photomatix and click the "Generate HDR" button and select the 3 RAW images all at once (be sure they are the correct set of images). Click OK and an “Options” box appears, be sure to check “Align source images” and “Attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts” and click OK. Once the converting and auto-aligning is complete and the HDR preview is generated, go to "Tone Mapping".
2. Now you default to “Details Enhancer tab (I never use Tone Compressor). You are ready to start adjusting your HDR images with the Details Enhancer settings. The default settings are decent, but you want to thoroughly go through every setting and max out the settings to see their effects. For example, Light Smoothing radio buttons…the further left you select the more “sur-realistic” it gets and the further right, the more normal the image looks.
4. The rest is up to you and how you feel the preview looks. I generally hover around 90% strength on HDR (top slider bar), 40% color saturation, mid-range on the light smoothing radio buttons, around 25% from the left on the slider for white, 5-10% from the left on the slider for black, and about 15% from the left on the slider for gamma (<= these values are always subjective as aforementioned states).
5. Fiddle with these and other settings to likening and then click “Process”.
6. When the processing is complete, go to File and Save As 16bit TIFF (if you don’t have any 16bit photo editor such as Photoshop, then complete the process by Save As jpeg.
7. Open the 16bit TIFF in your favorite photo editing software and perform some noise removal and any further adjustments you need and save as your desired output such as 8bit jpeg.
Tips: I've shot wonderful subjects and foregrounds with a plain, nearly zero contrast clear sky or monotone cloudy sky and I usually get very poor grainy, almost like it's raining results. So try to shoot high "contrasty" cloudy sky for best results.
Never shoot where any of the subject has a large foot-print of black space..black space produces horrible noise in my experience.
Please register to comment or post your HDR experiences and photos!
-Roy
