August 2008 Newsletter

Hello Raw Shooters

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What is HDR and how can I make an HDR image with only one Raw file? 

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and it is very useful when you want to capture the details from both highlight and shadow of your image without clipping either side of the histogram. The easiest way to tell if a shot requires HDR is to use the histogram to expand the Dynamic Range outside of the camera’s range.
HDR is available in Photoshop CS2 and CS3, but you will need at least three Raw shots with three different exposures (usually –1, 0, +1 at least) to create an HDR image. In landscape photography it’s fairly simple to create three different exposures, but for all of you wedding photographers it is next to impossible to take three shots without any moving subjects!

First let’s take a look at some examples of HDR images. (All images in this newsletter are provided by my friend Jim Watson from imagevine.com and all rights are reserved to imagevine.com.  Jim is a talented photographer with a very interesting point of view)

The first image is a night shot and an excellent example of the improvements possible with an HDR photo.

Photomatix is another software for creating HDR images and has many controls and allows for more fine tweaking than Photoshop. You can download a trial version of this software from their website.  If you want to purchase it you can find some coupons for saving up to 15%  Here (Hey - every little saving helps!)

Now let’s look at more of Jim’s photos and read his comments to learn how he did them:

Peter Iredale Shipwreck

This shot was taken looking toward the sun; notice the shadow in the front. Typically a backlit photo will either blow out the sky or loose the detail in the subject.  But in order to make out the shape of the ship I had to shoot from the front, so this is a classic case for using HDR. There is a slight halo around the ship that could have been removed by increasing the light smoothing; however I liked the effect so I left it in.
 
METHOD FOR MULTIPLE SHOTS:
I took 5 shots at 1 EV apart, with the camera set to Bracket and continuous mode.  By using a tripod, I was able to trip the shutter and take all 5 shots quickly which minimized cloud movement.  Photomatix works best with shots 2 EVs apart; however my D300 will only bracket at 1 EV so I took 5 shots, and used shots 1, 3 & 5. 

Sunset at Birch Bay

METHOD SINGLE SHOT
This single photo was hand held, and run through Photomatix with minimal adjustments. I believe it may have something to do with it being a 14 bit file; the shots from the 12 bit RAW cameras don't work as well. I think the extra 2 bits is holding more of the dynamic range, even though I've read a few articles that say 12 bit to 14 bit makes no difference.
 

Charleston Docks

METHOD SINGLE SHOT MULTIPLE PROCESS
This is a single hand held photo. I processed the shot three times in camera RAW, normal, overexposed by 2 or 3 stops, underexposed by 2 or 3 stops, then brought it into Photomatix. You can see how the colors pop in this photo!  I actually had to tone down the green water in PhotoShop as it was too bright.
 

Thanks a lot Jim!

With 14 bit RAW format available in many new cameras, we can capture a greater Dynamic Range.  With a little experimenting and the right software, it becomes possible to achieve even more detail in highlight through shadow areas.   

Thanks for the question Craig - I hope this article gets you started on creating your own HDR images! 

That's all for this month.  As always, we appreciate your feedback.  Please send comments, questions and suggestions to:Feedback     

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