Creating HDR's
HDR (High Dynamic Range) images are created by using software such as photoshop or photomatix (my preferred choice) to combine a number of differently exposed images of the same scene into one image. The best results are usually obtained by combining at least 5 images and all the images apart from the exposure must be identical.
These 5 images would consist of 1 properly exposed, 2 overexposed and 2 underexposed so +2, +1, 0, -1, and -2. The best way of getting these is to use the Auto Bracketing feature on your camera whilst it is set up on a tripod or if you do not have this feature to manually bracket the shots by shooting 5 shots to properly expose one image (the 0 in the list above) and then to under expose and over expose as listed above too.
However there may be a time when it is not possible to get 5 identical images with different exposures due to shooting in windy conditions for example where tree branches are moving, or street scenes where there are people moving in and out of the frame or seascapes where the waves are constantly moving.
So a way around this is to shoot 1 RAW image of the scene you want a HDR image of and then to use Photoshop to generate the 5 differently exposed images/jpegs you will use to generate your HDR image from.
When you open the RAW image using adobe camera RAW you will see that one of the sliders is titled Exposure. By sliding this back/forward you can see the image darkening/lightening or underexposing/overexposing. So with the slider value set to 0 save your first image as YourImage.jpg. This is your perfectly exposed image. Now move the slider or enter the value -1 and save this as YourImageU1.jpg. Now move the slider to or set the value to -2 and save this as YourImageU2.jpg.
Now move the slider or enter the value +1 sand save this as YourImage01.jpg. And finally move the slider or enter the value +2 sand save this as YourImage02.jpg
Hey Presto - you now have 5 differently exposed images of an identical scene which you can use for HDR processing.
For an example of how HDR can help your images have a look at the images on the page here http://www.hdrsoft.com/ class="socialpages ">
These 5 images would consist of 1 properly exposed, 2 overexposed and 2 underexposed so +2, +1, 0, -1, and -2. The best way of getting these is to use the Auto Bracketing feature on your camera whilst it is set up on a tripod or if you do not have this feature to manually bracket the shots by shooting 5 shots to properly expose one image (the 0 in the list above) and then to under expose and over expose as listed above too.
However there may be a time when it is not possible to get 5 identical images with different exposures due to shooting in windy conditions for example where tree branches are moving, or street scenes where there are people moving in and out of the frame or seascapes where the waves are constantly moving.
So a way around this is to shoot 1 RAW image of the scene you want a HDR image of and then to use Photoshop to generate the 5 differently exposed images/jpegs you will use to generate your HDR image from.
When you open the RAW image using adobe camera RAW you will see that one of the sliders is titled Exposure. By sliding this back/forward you can see the image darkening/lightening or underexposing/overexposing. So with the slider value set to 0 save your first image as YourImage.jpg. This is your perfectly exposed image. Now move the slider or enter the value -1 and save this as YourImageU1.jpg. Now move the slider to or set the value to -2 and save this as YourImageU2.jpg.
Now move the slider or enter the value +1 sand save this as YourImage01.jpg. And finally move the slider or enter the value +2 sand save this as YourImage02.jpg
Hey Presto - you now have 5 differently exposed images of an identical scene which you can use for HDR processing.
For an example of how HDR can help your images have a look at the images on the page here http://www.hdrsoft.com/
