Good HDR tutorial for GIMP?

vivalavieboheme · Dec 5, 2011

I've seen a lot of cool HDR photography and have always wanted to try it but never knew how. I have the GIMP, which is where I do all my post-processing. Can anyone recommend a good tutorial for HDR with GIMP? If it makes any difference, I have a Panasonic Lumix point and shoot, and can adjust my exposure between -2 and 2, which isn't much of a range, but I should be "adopting" my dad's Canon EOS Rebel over winter break from college, because he rarely uses the thing. Thanks!

Bynx · Dec 5, 2011

If you want to shoot HDR of a static scene you can just do it manually. Its really simple. You decide what fstop is your 0EV. Then click backwards 3 clicks for every fstop. So if you need 9 shots to cover the dynamic range you would click back 12 clicks that will give you 4 fstops overexposed. Then just click 3 times to the right and press the shutter, 3 and press the shutter, etc until you have clicked 24 times to give you a final fstop of +4 past 0EV. You will end up with 9 shots. It might sound complicated or a pain in the butt but its so simple and the clicking only takes seconds. And your result is absolutely perfect. You might not need all the exposures and you might need more. It depends mainly on how bright the brightest objects are. Direct sunlight and spotlights at night usually need a lot more exposures so you can get some detail in those really white areas. So take this into account when you decide what fstop will be your 0EV.

vivalavieboheme · Dec 5, 2011

That would work for the DSLR I will eventually have, but my point and shoot does not let me control fstop at all.

Bynx · Dec 5, 2011

If you cant control fstop at all then you cant do HDR images. You are just tone mapping a single file. Not the same thing. Some simple point and shoots have fstop control and it doesnt have to be a dslr. I started out doing HDR shooting with a point and shoot Fuji.