HDR Advice

[mykez]

I'm trying to get my photos to this kind of quality

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/images/tutorials/hdr_intro1b.jpg

This is my attempt so far after a few goes

Not very good at all.

I'm a bit unsure about the settings on my Nikon D5000.

What filters should I use? My technique is to have the ISO at 100, Then mess with the settings to get a decent single shot, that isn't under or over exposed, once I get this setting, I switch to EV2, and let the camera take 3 shots, I use a tripod and remote. There are a lot of raw options on my Nikon, I just use the standard Raw file type feature.

I then mess with the 3 images in Photomatix to generate my HDR, is this about the right process?

Why aren't my images coming out amazingly crisp like the first one?

 

[Bynx]

You have to finish off with final tweaking in photoshop. You want to add back a bit of blacks in the blacks and whites in the whites to pinch it where Photomatix has made it flat. Finally Unsharp Mask as your last thing. The newest version of Photomatix has a final box that allows for Contrast, Color, and Sharpening. You might be able to use this box in place of Photoshop, but I have just dabbled with the box and prefer Photoshop.

 

[mykez]

Ok thank you.

Can I post my 3 exposures here and see if they look about right?

 

[zombiemann]

To a certain point if you can capture more than 3 exposures it helps. Once you get more familiar with things you'll start to be able to know when to shoot more and how to expose them. It's something that just comes with practice. Conversely I have take some where the extra frames didn't help, in fact they made the overall shot look worse when I ran everything through photomatix.

Your overall process is on the right track as far as it goes. Like Bynx said, photoshop or similar (like The Gimp) are going to be your best bet for post production tweaks.

As far as filters, I personally don't have any experience shooting HDR with any kind of filter. Well, I've shot some HDR with an IR filter but I don't think that is will help you here.

If you want to post the 3 exposures non stacked, I don't see a problem with that.

 

[mykez]

Thank you zombieman.

My problem is i'm not really sure how the non stacked exposures should look. IF they are dark/light enough,

Do i use longer exposures with the f/stop at a high number to not let so much light through? or doesn't it really matter?

I'm uploading my 3 non stacked photos now

 

[zombiemann]

The only thing I change when shooting HDR is the shutter speed. If you start changing F-stop you can throw off the depth of field and then the images won't look right when you stack them. Most DSLR cameras have an "automatic" bracketing feature, where you set your initial exposure and the camera takes your + and - exposures automatically. I know nothing about Nikon cameras, your owners manual/google would be your best bet for how to set your camera for that.

 

[mykez]

The only thing I change when shooting HDR is the shutter speed. If you start changing F-stop you can throw off the depth of field and then the images won't look right when you stack them. Most DSLR cameras have an "automatic" bracketing feature, where you set your initial exposure and the camera takes your + and - exposures automatically. I know nothing about Nikon cameras, your owners manual/google would be your best bet for how to set your camera for that.

The auto bracket is exactly what I have on my camera and that is what I am using.

 

[Bynx]

Whatever the number of shots you take, one thing each has in common is that there is some part that should be perfectly exposed. Say you are shooting from your living room with a wide angle lens. In the scene is the lamp (on), the shadow under the coffee table, the light up the wall from the lamp, and the light from a setting sun outside coming through the window. Well each of those elements will have their own exposure, the light, the shadow, the reflected light on the wall, and the window light and the rest of the room will average out to another shot.....so 5 shots all together. The shot you took for the lamp or the window light will be the most underexposed of all, and mostly will be really dark, but whats coming through the window or the lamp light will be properly exposed. Next will be the light reflecting off the wall, this will be a little less underexposed and that area should be exposed so that the texture of the wallpaper shows (if there is any), or the paint color should show in the highlight of the reflected light. Then we come to the rest of the room, which should be your average shot. At this point your light sources will be blown and your shadow under the table will be pretty dark. Then finally an overexposed shot for that shadow. It should show some detail of the floor or rug that is there in the shadows. The rest of the image will be slightly overexposed and the light sources will be totally blown. That covers your scene -- 5 shots, 5 exposures and 5 properly exposed sections that come together in Photomatix for an overall great image.
I find that I usually take more than 3 shots. I might only use 3 but with lighting conditions I might use 1 shot -3fstops below 0. and another shot could be +4 stops above 0. It all depends on what the range is from the brightest to the darkest in the scene.

 

[mykez]

I just noticed my f/stop was at 4.5 for these shots, I think it should of been more around the 8 or 10 side?

Here are the 3 shots that I used

 

[zombiemann]

That is a good place to start. As you get more comfortable you might branch out into manual exposure bracketing, but for now there is nothing wrong with using autobrackets. A few things to keep in mind, not every scene is appropriate for HDR, and HDR isn't cruise control for good photography. Be aware of your composition first, then worry about exposures.

 

[mykez]

Whatever the number of shots you take, one thing each has in common is that there is some part that should be perfectly exposed. Say you are shooting from your living room with a wide angle lens. In the scene is the lamp (on), the shadow under the coffee table, the light up the wall from the lamp, and the light from a setting sun outside coming through the window. Well each of those elements will have their own exposure, the light, the shadow, the reflected light on the wall, and the window light and the rest of the room will average out to another shot.....so 5 shots all together. The shot you took for the lamp or the window light will be the most underexposed of all, and mostly will be really dark, but whats coming through the window or the lamp light will be properly exposed. Next will be the light reflecting off the wall, this will be a little less underexposed and that area should be exposed so that the texture of the wallpaper shows (if there is any), or the paint color should show in the highlight of the reflected light. Then we come to the rest of the room, which should be your average shot. At this point your light sources will be blown and your shadow under the table will be pretty dark. Then finally an overexposed shot for that shadow. It should show some detail of the floor or rug that is there in the shadows. The rest of the image will be slightly overexposed and the light sources will be totally blown. That covers your scene -- 5 shots, 5 exposures and 5 properly exposed sections that come together in Photomatix for an overall great image.
I find that I usually take more than 3 shots. I might only use 3 but with lighting conditions I might use 1 shot -3fstops below 0. and another shot could be +4 stops above average. It all depends on what the range is from the brightest to the darkest in the scene.

Thanks. It is all making more sense now.

I guess that the more I practice the better I will get. I just need to learn a better understanding of it.

 

[mykez]

That is a good place to start. As you get more comfortable you might branch out into manual exposure bracketing, but for now there is nothing wrong with using autobrackets. A few things to keep in mind, not every scene is appropriate for HDR, and HDR isn't cruise control for good photography. Be aware of your composition first, then worry about exposures.

Some great advice thanks.

I really like the images that look cooked, but not too much that they look surreal. Pretty much the first photo is what I'm after. Also the guy who posted the train with 9 exposures, that is the look I really really want.

 

[Bynx]

Here is what I get from your 3 shots. A really long exposure could pick up details of the tires and undercarriage. The rest looks good and you have covered it well.

 

[mykez]

That's really good! Thank you.

At least I know it's just my post editing skills now lol

 

[Bynx]

If you are using a tripod then your fstop should be one that gives you the greatest depth of field, f8 to f14 would be fine. If the scene is kinda dark causing your longest exposure to be greater than 30 seconds then you should adjust your aperture and/or your ISO so the longest exposure does not exceed 30 seconds. Dark scenes and longer exposures are the main reason to use an fstop other than f8 to f14.