HDR for night photography

[yiplong]

What are some tips for taking good HDR photos at night in a city? I normally use AEB -2,0,+2, shooting in raw, this setting would capture a wide enough range to work with. Since night scene is inherently dark, should I just do -1,0,+3 instead?

 

[skieur]

What are some tips for taking good HDR photos at night in a city? I normally use AEB -2,0,+2, shooting in raw, this setting would capture a wide enough range to work with. Since night scene is inherently dark, should I just do -1,0,+3 instead?

The newer Sonys will do it in camera.

skieur

 

[rpm]

hmmmmm curious skieur what are your basing your reply on? apart form the fact that the new Sony offerings can achieve the desired outcome.
edit: im asking cause your reply seems very random unless you know something about the OP that the rest of us dont.

btw to the OP, you are nailing the idea and id venture in trying both settings and see what the results give. even consider 1/3 stops all the way through...def in the right direction tho.

 

[David Dvir]

Ha, I agree with RPM, skeur.. that does seem like a weird response. I don't think a solution for this HDR shot is to go out and grab a new sony hehe. Unless he's already got one.

Another thing I would try is to find out if you've got long exposure noise reduction in your camera settings. I found this on mine and it made a big difference since when converting to HDR a lot of the noisy pixels seemed to stand out even more. Very good start with the -1, 0, +3 though. Have you though about taking 5 shots instead of 3? Sometimes I'll take 5 and then from there, choose which to use, or use all of them. Perhaps -1, 0, +1, +2, +3? I've done this before when bracketing and the trick is simply adjust everything so that it's ready for -2 -1 0 1 2 and move it up a stop

 

[skieur]

hmmmmm curious skieur what are your basing your reply on? apart form the fact that the new Sony offerings can achieve the desired outcome.
edit: im asking cause your reply seems very random unless you know something about the OP that the rest of us dont.

btw to the OP, you are nailing the idea and id venture in trying both settings and see what the results give. even consider 1/3 stops all the way through...def in the right direction tho.

Easy. If you are really keen on HDR type nightshots, then the fastest approach is to buy a camera that will do them in-camera. No postprocessing etc. necessary.

skieur

 

[rpm]

no offence but that is probably the worst advice you could give anyone unless they happen to be invested in the Sony DLSR system...

yiplong: what camera are you using?

any camera that can bracket can do HDR, in software HDR isn't true HDR (not sure how the Sony 'in camera' feature works). edit: in fact if you are patient enough and quick enough, any DSLR can present you with stunning HDR works. its all about tweaking those settings...