High Dynamic Range HDR Digital Photography Jim Reynolds

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Digital Photography Jim Reynolds Feb 22, 2010

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About HDR Effects v Renders the scene as the photographer saw it v Captures large range of exposure values (Ev) v Captures highlight detail in underexposed images v Captures shadow detail in overexposed images v Controls noise in shadows v Final images have wonderful color & infinite detail

General HDR Process Steps 1. Take 3 – 7 exposures at different Ev 2. Load exposures into HDR Program (file conversion may be necessary) 3. Run HDR creation step (Generates 32 bit image) 4. Run Tone Mapping step (Reduces image to 16 bit) 5. Post process image for tones, saturation, etc

Camera Set Up • Camera on sturdy tripod with cable release • Set camera program to Aperture Priority • Turn off automatic settings such has White Balance, Autofocus, flash and ISO • Set ISO to low value to reduce noise • Use Manual focus • Continuous shooting mode • Raw 12 bit files

HDR Shooting Compose and shoot one image as normal Then shoot 1 image at – 2 Ev Then shoot 1 image at + 2 Ev Or if available, use camera’s Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) to shoot 3 rapid exposures (Canon) • On certain Nikon models, shoot 5 – 7 AEB exposures at 1 EV increments each • •

HDR Programs Compared Program Name Platforms Photomatix Pro Win / Apple Yes 2 Fast FDRTools Advanced Win / Apple Yes 3 Very Slow Dynamic Photo HDR Win No Yes 6 Fast Artizen HDR Win Yes 11 Very Fast Script Yes 4 Medium Photoshop CS 3 / CS 4 Win / Apple Batch Image Process Alignment Tone Map Operators Process Speed

HDR Programs Compared 2 Program Name Comments Photomatix Pro Consistent results, easy to use, fast processing, only 2 tone mapping programs FDRTools Advanced Good control of dynamic range, Best contrast and detail, Must convert files to Tiff or Jpg, slow processing Dynamic Photo HDR Easy to use, 6 tone mapping operators provide for great many effects including “grunge”, Windows only Artizen HDR Easy, fast & Good color & contrast. Tone mapping is complicated. Photoshop CS 3 / CS 4 Works fine with middle to low contrast scenes. High contrast scenes difficult. May create artifacts.

Capitola Pier – Normal Exposure

Underexposed / Overexposed

Photomatix / FDRTools

Which One is HDR?

Credits • Complete Guide to HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE Digital Photography by Ferrell Mc. Collough