HDR Photograpy F.A.Q.

This HDR Photography F.A.Q. was originally posted on my blog as a post. With the large amount of traffic and attention it is receiving, I have decided to turn it into a page so that it is easier for people to find and easier for me to keep up-to-date. If you have any questions regarding HDR photography, please leave them as a comment on this page and I will be sure to incorporate it and the answer into this page.

9 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

HDR PHOTOGRAPHY THEORY

What exactly is HDR photography and why does it exist?

HDR photography is a product of digital cameras, most specifically the CCD sensors that are the heart of these cameras. The human eye can see around 14 exposure values (EV). A normal CCD can see around 8EV’s but this can vary depending on the hardware used inside of any given camera model. Any single exposure with a digital camera has to sacrifice the EV difference one way or another which is decided either by internal algorithms in auto modes or by the photographer choosing the camera settings in manual modes. This single image is considered to be a low dynamic range (LDR) image. In order to expand the dynamic range of an image, multiple exposures are taken of the same scene at different exposure levels in order to capture the detail in the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. These exposures are then merged into a single image and then a tone mapping technique is applied to that combined image to reduce the overall contrast so that the image can be displayed on devices with lower dynamic range capabilities (i.e. computer monitors, TV’s, etc). One of the best explanations of HDR theory that I have read is by John Paul Caponigro in his XDR, Part IV post.

9 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

HOW TO SHOOT EXPOSURES FOR HDR

How do I use my <insert your camera make / model here> camera to shoot exposures for HDR images?

Most DSLR’s have a feature called exposure bracketing. What the camera will do when using this feature is shoot a specific number of images at different exposure levels to produce a set of images that capture the detail throughout a wide range. For example, most of the Canon DSLR cameras can bracket shoot three images up to a 2EV spread. This will result in three images; one at the exposure level that I set it to take to capture the mid-tones in the scene, one at -2EV from my settings to capture the details in the bright tones of the scene, and one at +2EV to capture the details in the dark tones of the scene. I believe Nikon DSLR’s can capture more than 3 images in their bracketing mode. Read your camera user manual to learn how to use exposure bracketing with your camera!

If your camera does not have this feature then you can still shoot exposures for HDR merge. You just have to do it manually. For this you set the camera’s shutter speed and aperture to shoot your mid-tone shot. Then adjust your shutter speed up and down to get the other exposures that you need for the HDR set. DO NOT change your aperture setting to get the different exposures. Also, make sure that you set your camera to manual focus when doing this so that every exposure is taken with the same focus settings. Same can be said for focal length (i.e. do not zoom in or out between shots).

9 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

My camera will only shoot 3 images in exposure bracketing mode but you talk about shooting 9 or more images for your HDR merges using exposure bracketing. Did you hack your Canon 5D firmware or is there a secret trick to doing this?

There is a very easy trick to use to get more than 3 images from a Canon DSLR using exposure bracketing mode. It isn’t secret and it doesn’t require a firmware hack. I actually picked the trick up from Jason over at Canon Blogger from his post on capturing HDR images. I use a little less theory in my approach though mainly because when I am shooting I am usually moving fast to get the whole set of images to be as close to identical as possible (clouds move, waves move, other things move, etc). What I do is I set up the camera to use exposure bracketing mode with a 1EV spread and set the shutter drive mode to continuous shot. Then I look at the exposure bar on the upper LCD (there are three tick marks indicating the EV for each of the three shots it will take) and adjust my shutter speed so that the top mark is on -2 (all the rest are to the left so you cannot see them). I then take the three shots with one shutter button press to get the -4EV, -3EV, and -2EV exposures. Then I adjust the shutter speed up so that the center tick mark on the exposure bar is centered and shoot the -1EV, 0EV, and +1EV exposures. Then another shutter speed adjustment so the bottom mark is on +2 and I shoot the +2EV, +3EV, and +4EV exposures. This isn’t an exact science and there are times when I don’t quite get exposures right on those EV settings… but it is fast, effective, and works perfectly fine to grab 9 images at 1EV spread in a hurry!

5 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

Can’t I just take one image in RAW mode and use Adobe Camera RAW to generate my three or more bracketed images for HDR merge?

Sure, you could do that… as long as you don’t mind the majority of your resulting HDR images looking like crap. I know I will catch a lot of flak for that statement but I will make up for it a little bit by saying that I have seen some great results from single RAW HDR images. However, the majority of those were post processed in Photoshop to a large degree to make them much better than they were coming out of the tone mapping process. The fact of the matter is that using a single image to create multiple exposures in Camera RAW does not result in a true high dynamic range image. This argument goes back and forth and I really don’t care to get involved with it too much since mathematics and physics do not lie and that is what I use to make up my mind. Any image generated from a single image is NOT HDR. It is a fake HDR since there is no true high dynamic range! But I will say that the end result is what matters… if a single RAW HDR looks great then it worked! I am just stating that the vast majority of them that I have seen cannot even come close to comparing with a true HDR image.

All of that being said, I will respond back with a question… Why would you want to only use a single image to make a HDR-like image when it is so easy to take multiple exposures even with the most basic camera and the result is exponentially better?

9 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

I have very steady hands so do I really need to use a tripod when shooting the multiple images?

My answer to this question is simple… Heck yes you need to shoot with a tripod!! It doesn’t matter how steady you are, it isn’t steady enough! Remember that the core of creating a HDR image is that multiple exposures are merged into a single image. Thus, the exposures that you are merging need to be as close as possible to each other in terms of being lined up composition wise. While the merge algorithms in Photoshop and other HDR processing applications are pretty darn good you are still going to get excessive ghosting and chromatic aberrations in the resulting image if the images do not line up properly. This is because the algorithms use multiple ways of aligning the source images from edge tracing to tonal comparison. Any variation in the images will cause the algorithms to figure out what exactly should be matched and even with technology as good as it is, there is still a lot of error contained in the final result. That error is seen in the form of chromatic aberrations, ghosting, and digital noise.

Now I have to admit that this does make me a little bit of a hypocrite since I have shot a lot of my HDR exposure sets without a tripod. This is usually because I forgot to bring my tripod along with me or I didn’t have it with me when I came upon the perfect HDR shooting moment. There are some things you can do without a tripod to help reduce the negative effects shooting without it will have. First, try to find a surface to set your camera on or brace it up against when shooting the exposures. If there is nothing around then use your body position to support your camera just as if you were shooting a rifle… keep your elbows in tight and feet apart when standing or sit cross legged with your elbows braced in the crook formed below each knee. Also be sure to use continuous mode, only attempt this for 3 shots using exposure bracketing mode in the camera, and hold your breath while you take the exposures. I’m not joking… hold your breath at the end of your breathing out cycle to steady your body further while taking the shots.

Update on 1-6-2010: I finally got a really good tripod about 4 months ago (Giottos carbon fiber with a FOBA tripod head) and now I pretty much take it everywhere with me. It has drastically improved the quality of my HDR images since errors in the merge process are minimal. I still strongly recommend getting a good solid tripod and using it if you are shooting exposures that you plan to merge into an HDR image.

3 Exposures / 2EV Spread / HDR PhotoStudio

SOFTWARE FOR PROCESSING HDR IMAGES

You talk about using Adobe Photoshop to merge your exposures into the HDR image and then <insert some software application name here> to tone map and process the image. Why don’t you just use the merge feature in that application instead of Photoshop?

This is another one of those long winded debates that people have on other forums that I try not to get involved with too much. Originally I did it this way because that is the way Ben Willmore taught it at his HDR seminars which is where I first learned about HDR imagery. In recent months I have been reviewing a lot of HDR software applications and have used their merge features when working with each application. To this date I still find that Adobe Photoshop has better merge algorithms than any of the other software applications I have used. Some applications like Photomatix Pro have options for reducing noise and ghosting effects. Dynamic Photo HDR (DP-HDR) has some awesome features for manually lining up your exposures. But in the end I have always found Photoshop to be the fastest and most effective application at merging the exposures to HDR images and the resulting image has less aberrations, ghosting, and noise than the other applications produce. I do encourage people that I teach to try out all the different software applications and determine which one they like using the most. The last thing in the world I want to hear someone say is “I use Photoshop to merge HDR’s because Terry said to”. That would make my inner-cult leader happy but it would sadden my inner-photographer.

Update 4-21-2009: I spent most of today putting the various HDR applications up against each other in a head-2-head challenge to see which one would merge a 3-image set and a 9-image set better. The results are very interesting! Take a look at the post HERE. Even with those results though I will be sticking to Photoshop for the merges… at least for now.

9 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

There are a lot of HDR processing applications on the market; which one should I use?

This is the point where history begins to repeat itself right about the time of the Salem Witch trials. No matter what I say here I am sure there will be at least a small mob forming outside of my house before too long with some torches, pitch forks, and a hefty length of rope ready to carry me down to the river. Before anyone starts wondering whether or not I float, I should immediately make the statement that I am not making any scientific or artistic claim in this area; simply my own personal observations. That and I am wearing arm floaties just in case!!

HDRSoft’s Photomatix Pro: Photomatix is probably one of the most used and talked about HDR applications on the market. It is the first HDR processing application that I used and I still use it a lot today. Ben Willmore talked about this application in his seminars and Matt Kloskowski talked about it in his Kelby Training video training series on HDR photography. I have used this software to make HDR images that look very cartoony and overdone as well as HDR images that are more realistic in nature. A well known HDR Photographer, Trey Ratcliff from Stuck In Customs, uses Photomatix Pro for his images. HDRSoft offers a free trial for Photomatix that you can get HERE. If you decide to buy it then it costs $99 USD but you can use the discount code tkrphoto15 to get a discount. There is a MAC and PC version of Photomatix.

Unified Color’s HDR PhotoStudio: HDR PhotoStudio uses a unqiue method of handling color that many, myself included, believe is the future for how color will be handled on computers. The color gamut they invented models the human eye instead of slaving the gamut to an outdated device like a CRT. This is the best application out of all the ones I have used for creating the most realistic HDR images. I wrote a review on HDR PhotoStudio that you can read HERE. You can get a 30-day free trial of HDR PhotoStudio HERE. If you decide to buy it the application currently costs $129 USD and you can use the discount code TKRPHOTO for a reduced cost. Currently there is only a PC version of this application but Unified Color has announced that it is hard in work on a MAC version.

Update 1-6-2010: I am currently beta testing the Mac OSX version of HDR PhotoStudio and it is looking really good! Once they get this version released to the public OSX users will have another great tool to add to their HDR processing toolbox!

Areia’s HDR MAX: HDR MAX has a very cool way of handling the exposures you are merging to create the HDR. You can actually add or remove exposures on the fly which is something you cannot do with most of the other applications. When I tested out this application (early 2009) it was fraught with horrible performance and crashes. I wrote a review on it HERE. You can get a MAC or PC version of the free trial of HDR MAX HERE. If you decide to buy it the application currently costs $129 USD.

Media Chance’s Dynamic Photo HDR: DP-HDR is the latest application that I have been testing out and will be writing a review on it soon. I have found many of it’s features to be useful and overall a decent application to use. One of the really cool features of this application is that you can selectively apply lighting and other HDR tone mapping settings using a paint brush similar to the brush tool in Photoshop. You can get the MAC or PC version of the free trial HERE. If you decide to buy it the application currently costs $55 USD.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 or CS4: Adobe Photoshop has tools for merging and tone mapping HDR images. I use it to merge the photos. Never use it to tone map them. Seriously… don’t even bother.

The following are other HDR processing applications that I have not used but wanted to mention to give a broader picture of what is out there…

Artizen HDR: I’ve heard a few people talk about this software application and they had favorable things to say about it. You can find out more information about it HERE. It is currently $45.95 CDN and you can download a free trial of the application HERE.

FDRTools: Another one that I have heard a few people talk about but have ever used myself. They have a free version and a pay version. From the looks of the website it is a pretty simple application. You can download the free version or buy the advanced version for $55.79 USD HERE. I want to hold any of my own comments until the time that I actually try the application out but the features list for the advanced version look way too thin to justify the cost!

Which HDR processing application do you use the most?

Personally, I use Photomatix Pro the most. Once HDR PhotoStudio has an OSX version this might change… but I do 99% of my photography work on my MacBook Pro so any software that I use for my photography work MUST run on OSX. And I do not mean just a lousy port to OSX… I mean run natively with great optomization and no crashes on OSX. Also DP-HDR has got me very curious from the little I have used it so once I really put it through the paces and write my review on it I may have to include it into my toolbox as well. Note that is an important statement… people argue all the time about what application is better… who cares when you can have all of them in your toolbox and use whichever one works best for each of your projects instead of only having one and applying it to all your projects. Photographers spend thousands of dollars on different lens so they can choose which lens they want to use based on their current project… what is the big deal about buying $300 worth of applications to have the same ability?

12 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

After you are done in your HDR processing application, do you call it done or do you do more post processing? (Added On 4/21/09)

I always take the image out of the HDR processing application back into Photoshop CS3 to do some final post processing. Sometimes it is just doing a crop, sharpening, and save and other times it is hours of adjustment layer masking and tweaking. For example, the images at the top of this post (Lifeguard Stand, Fountain, and Beach Pier) just had a slight darkening to the borders added, logo added, re-size, and sharpening done. The Chapel image above and the crazy abandoned restaurant below spent a few more hours in Photoshop CS3 having adjustment layers and spot tweaking done to them before the logo, re-size, and sharpen was done. Remember, use all the tools available to you!

Update 1-6-2010: I am currently using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 and Adobe Photoshop CS4 to do the post processing on my HDR images.

HDR TRAINING, SEMINARS, AND TUTORIALS

Who is the best person to learn HDR photography from?

That all depends on you. Search around at all the instructors that are offering seminars and training on the topic and check out their HDR work. When you find one of them that has a lot of images that you like and you like their style of teaching, sign up for their seminars. I originally learned about HDR photography from Ben Willmore at a Photoshop World conference. He is an amazing artist, a darn good instructor, and a really cool guy. His latest book on HDR photography is available for on Amazon. He also has a DVD set on HDR photography that you can purchase for $69.00 HERE. I am also putting together a video training DVD on HDR photography but I do not have an available date for it yet as it is a slow moving process.

Don’t you teach a seminar on HDR photography?

I do teach a workshop on HDR photography which is hosted by ExposurePAS. It is listed on their website with all the details. We start in the field covering everything you need to know to take good exposures for merging into an HDR image as well as how to take those exposures using your specific camera. After that we go into a classroom environment and go through the whole post processing evolution using various software applications.

Update 1-6-2010: The next HDR Photography Workshop that I am teaching is on February 20th, 2010 in Melbourne, Florida. You can get all the details and sign up for the workshop here: http://exposurepas.com/classes/hdr-photography-workshop/

9 Exposures / 1EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

I prefer to stick to online training. Do you recommend any online training courses on HDR?

Matt Kloskowski (of Photoshop User TV fame) did a great HDR training video series on Kelby Training called Real World HDR. It is a 19 video series and he goes over how to take the exposures, how to merge them, tools for tone mapping them, and various other things. He talks a little about Photomatix as well as single image HDR using Camera RAW. It is well worth at least a month long subscription to Kelby Training but once you start watching all the other training videos on there you will probably keep your membership beyond a single month!

Ben Willmore has an online training class for $79.00 USD. I haven’t gone through this class so I cannot say much about it. But based on what I have seen of Ben’s seminars I can tell you that this is probably a darn good course. Check out the details HERE.

I spent all my money on <list expensive things here>. What about any free tutorials?

Trey Ratcliff from Stuck In Customs has a pretty good HDR tutorial online for free. He has a good sense of humor and the tutorial sheds a lot of light on the process he uses for his images. You can find that tutorial HERE.

Update 1-6-2010: I am in the process of writing up an in-depth tutorial on HDR showing the techniques I have found to work best. It will be available soon here: http://www.tkrphoto.com/hdr/hdr-tutorial/

3 Exposures / 2EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

OTHER HDR RELATED QUESTIONS

Does HDR photography work with taking photos of people? (Added 4/21/09)

Sure if you can get them to hold still and you don’t want them to be your friend anymore. Nah, I’m just kidding. Wait, no I’m not! When it comes to HDR and people the HDR process really amplifies the blemishes and scruffiness of a persons skin. It might work out depending on how you process the image but in the few times I have tried actual portraits with it the results were less than spectacular. For example, look at the image below. I’ve been told that I am a pretty good looking guy… but I recent found out that the military is using this photo to get terrorists to spill the beans… the record so far is one guy held out for 36 seconds after seeing this image and he went mentally insane shortly there after. True story. Anyway, you can see how bad the HDR processing is for skin. Now if the people are off in the distance and it isn’t a close up portrait like this then it will probably work out OK.

Very Scary HDR Image / 3 Exposures / 2EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

Update 1-6-2010: Since answering this question I’ve been playing with HDR photography and people. It is important to say that HDR does horrible things to skin. This is OK if you want that kind of look on a person (i.e. the dead zombie starting to rot look). But if you want good skin for a glamor photography image but shot in HDR then you really need to mask the models real skin from one of the original photos back in. For example, the image below is one that I just worked on last week that is an HDR image but with the models skin from one of the original images masked in to replace the horrible skin that came from the tone mapping process. So the stairs and her clothing is all from the HDR process but her skin is not. So it is possible to have good HDR images of people but you’ve got to do some post-processing work on it after your tone mapping workflow is done.

3 Exposures / 2EV Spread / Photomatix Pro & Adobe Photoshop CS4

Who is your favorite HDR photographer?

I cannot say that I have one favorite artist that has produced HDR images. I will list a few just to give you some sites to browse through…

Ben Willmore: Some of his HDR images can be seen in this Photoshop Insider blog post.
Trey Ratcliff: I’ve mentioned him a few times already… the man from Stuck In Customs.
Roman Solowiej: A photographer from Poland that I found on Flickr. View his Flickr Photostream Here.

When I started to answer this question I hit a road block. There is just so many great photographers out there that have shot such awesome HDR’s… it is hard to really pick out just a few. So I will leave it at those three since they are the three that came right off the top of my head.

Are you a HDR Purist or Creationist?

I am a HDR DontCareist. Some images look great in the over processed creationist method and others look horrible. Some images look great in the more realistic purist method and others look horrible. It doesn’t matter to me; a good image is a good image. Anyone that argues that one method is better than the other is just stroking their own ego or really has nothing better to do with thier time than troll internet forums trying to pick fights. I’d much rather be out shooting images than sitting around debating something that is all about personal interrpretation (i.e. ART).

Note that this statement does not take into account shooting for a customer. If you are shooting for a real estate agent that is paying you for extremely realistic images of the properties they are selling then I sure hope you can process like a purist! Michael James (@HDRPhotography) from Digital Coast Image is a perfect example of someone shooting real estate that processes in the most realistic manner possible.

Any other words of wisdom in regards to HDR photography?

Why yes, as a matter of fact…

HDR photography is not the holy grail for making your photography great. If you do not know how to use your camera properly, do not understand composition, or things of that nature then your HDR photography is going to be just as bad as your LDR photography. Take some time and learn the basics and understand the art that you are practicing. That doesn’t mean don’t try new things or don’t think outside of the box… Do those things! What I am saying is that a crappy LDR image is still going to be a crappy HDR image. HDR is not the holy grail to great photography that so many people make it out to be.
Don’t just tone map your HDR image and then call it done. Take it back into Adobe Photoshop or some other image editing program and continue working on it. Most of the tone mapped images I have produced still needed some little tweaking in Photoshop to turn them from a pretty good image into an awesome image. Use ALL the tools available to you instead of just calling it done after using one.
Something I picked up from Joe McNally… “Pixels Are Free”. So get off your butt, grab your camera, and go shoot! You’re not going to take great images your first time out no matter how much stuff you read on the internet. Nothing can beat hands on experience. So get our there and capture some photons!

3 Exposures / 2EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

CONCLUSION

There really is no need for a conclusion… I just needed something to divide my final words from the post itself.

If I didn’t answer one of your qestions about HDR photography or you have something to add, please leave a comment with that information. If it is a question then I will make sure to update the post with the question and my answer. If it is something I left out then I will either leave it to your comment to add it or if it is important enough I will add it into the post.

… and if you still have an urge to throw me into the river let me know and I will gladly give you the address to my home in Siberia where you can find me.

3 Exposures / 2EV Spread / Photomatix Pro

HDR Photograpy F.A.Q.

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