Shoot Great HDR Images! (Step-by-Step Guide)
Published by Admin /addictedtodesign/ March 20th, 2007 in HDR Photo, Tutorials.I am sure everybody is excited to try HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography. The best part is that you probably have the technology to accomplish it, but do you have the technique? There are many in-depth articles you can find online, but I would like to break it down for you into a few simple steps.
// What you need for HDR Photography:
- Digital Camera with Manual Mode or Auto Exposure Bracketing.
- Tripod for proper image alignment and sharpness.
- The Scene Must be Still. Differences will show as blurs.
// Step-by-Step HDR Shooting Guide:
- Mount your camera on a Tripod.
- Select either RAW (best quality), NEF, High Quality Jpeg or Tiff format.
- Set the Image quality to “Best”.
- Select the lowest ISO (typically ISO 100) to avoid digital noise.
- Set your camera to Manual Exposure Mode.
- Select a small Aperture if you need more Depth of Field. (f/8, f/16 or less recommended)
- If your camera has Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) set it to +/- 2 or more in 1/2 steps.
- Measure the brightest area of the scene by using a camera’s Spot Meter and set the exposure to slightly overexpose the 1st shot. If you don’t have a Spot Meter then simply point or zoom-in on the brightest area in AV Mode (Shutter Priority) and slightly overexpose the first shot.
- TAKE THE FIRST SHOT. (Image must be underexposed and dark)
- Divide the first exposure time by 4 (Example: 1/1000 : 4 = 1/250) and set your new exposure.
- TAKE THE SECOND SHOT. (Image should look more or less normal)
- Divide the second exposure time by 4 (Example: 1/250 : 4 = 1/60) and set your new exposure.
- TAKE THE THIRD SHOT. (Image must be overexposed and look very bright)
- This should be enough to cover the dynamic range of your scene.
// HDR Photography Tips:
- Start with slightly underexposed image and step up until your image is very bright.
- Use Self-Timer when shooting HDR with (AEB) to avoid the camera shake.
- Many cameras with Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) will shoot 3 or more images automatically when Self-Timer is enabled (it’s “THE” best option for shooting HDR images).
- Use Mirror-lockup to avoid shutter vibration (available mostly on Pro and Pro-sumer cameras).
- 1 EV stop is the equivalent of doubling or halving the exposure time.
- 2 EV stops are the equivalent of dividing or multiplying the exposure time by 4.
I hope you have enjoyed this HDR tutorial. Email us if you have any questions and leave your feedback.
Good luck with your HDRs! I’m officially “hooked” on HDR, check out my HDR Gallery here.
Hi, I’d like to get stated, with HDR-AEB photography,
I’m on limited budget, Whats a low cost camera that will do AEB. Thanks for your time. great pictures
David, I am currently using Canos EOS 30D and mostly Sigma 10-20mm lens. If you’re on a budget I would recommend Nikon D40 or Canon Digital Rebel. Good luck!
hi .. i get the idea of over expose to under expose set of images of the same object. what do you do with them at the end ? do you layer them on top of each other to make a new image ?
Derek, I use Photomatix to merge my 3 images together into an HDR photo. You can download a trial version of Photomatix on www.hdrsoft.com. They also have an excellent tutorial on how to use Photomatix software. I use my Velviator or Halo actions on HDR photos to enhance the color and sometimes play with curves to get the right color tone.