HDR With a Nikon D3100

nerdkill · Jul 21, 2011

Hello everyone this is my first post. I am new to photography and am finding out I purchased the wrong camera. When I first decided I wanted to take up photography as a hobby it was after looking at some HDR photos. Well, because i'm a dumbo I confused DSLR with HDR and didn't realize I needed to make sure I had bracketing which the D3100 does not. I've been messing around with Photomatix Pro and taking pictures and adjusting exposure manually while using a tripod. It is super frustrating having to manually change my exposure levels and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I'm just out of my return period on my camera and I'm just so bummed right now. Again I'm brand new to photography so any suggestions on where I should start (even beyond HDR) will be greatly appreciated.

480sparky · Jul 21, 2011

Taking shots manually isn't the end of the world. FWIW, my D7000 has auto-bracketing, but I rarely use it since it's limited to +/-2 EVs and can only do 3 shots. So I end up shooting manually anyway.

Besides, if I was the King of the World, anything 'Auto' would not be available to noobs.

nerdkill · Jul 21, 2011

Hmm, maybe this will be a blessing in disguise. I have been noticing i've been getting lazy with auto modes. So from what I've read I want to be in arpature priority and should take 3 pictures from -2 to + 2 and then process it, would you recommend full manual? And would you recommend those settings if I'm in a pinch and need to take a quick shot? Thanks i'm starting to feel a lot better about my camera.

nerdkill · Jul 21, 2011

jiso28 said:
very good.

????

ShutterSpeed · Jul 21, 2011

nerdkill said:
jiso28 said:

very good.

Click to expand...

????

i would recommend full manual. Its a piece of cake once you get it down...and you have greater control.

DriftingSand · Jul 21, 2011

If you have Adobe Photoshop CS5 any picture can be an HDR photo.

480sparky · Jul 21, 2011

nerdkill said:
Hmm, maybe this will be a blessing in disguise. I have been noticing i've been getting lazy with auto modes. So from what I've read I want to be in arpature priority and should take 3 pictures from -2 to + 2 and then process it, would you recommend full manual? And would you recommend those settings if I'm in a pinch and need to take a quick shot? Thanks i'm starting to feel a lot better about my camera.

To quote myself:

Figure out what the 'proper' exposure is for the brightest part of the scene, as well as the darkest, and take a series of shots to cover that entire range.

For instance, if you're using ISO 100 and you want to use f/11, what will the shutter need to be for the brightest part of the scene? Let's say it's 1/250. OK.... now find out the same thing for the darkest part. Let's say 1/4. So you would take 7 shots. 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/250. Now you've technically captured the entire dynamic range of the shot. But just for S&G, take a 1/2 and 1/500 for good measure, just to CYA.

That should be all you need to create a good HDR of the scene.

Judobreaker · Jul 21, 2011

DriftingSand said:
If you have Adobe Photoshop CS5 any picture can be an HDR photo.

There is a 'slight' difference between actual HDR photos and over-processed photos...

nerdkill · Jul 21, 2011

480sparky said:
nerdkill said:

Hmm, maybe this will be a blessing in disguise. I have been noticing i've been getting lazy with auto modes. So from what I've read I want to be in arpature priority and should take 3 pictures from -2 to + 2 and then process it, would you recommend full manual? And would you recommend those settings if I'm in a pinch and need to take a quick shot? Thanks i'm starting to feel a lot better about my camera.

Click to expand...

To quote myself:

Figure out what the 'proper' exposure is for the brightest part of the scene, as well as the darkest, and take a series of shots to cover that entire range.

For instance, if you're using ISO 100 and you want to use f/11, what will the shutter need to be for the brightest part of the scene? Let's say it's 1/250. OK.... now find out the same thing for the darkest part. Let's say 1/4. So you would take 7 shots. 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/250. Now you've technically captured the entire dynamic range of the shot. But just for S&G, take a 1/2 and 1/500 for good measure, just to CYA.

That should be all you need to create a good HDR of the scene.

Oh man, I just about had a panic attack. So much to learn. So, when I'm in Aperture priority and I adjust exposure from -2 to 0 to +2, is the camera pretty much doing what you're telling me to do manually? Is adjusting exposure really just adjusting shutter speed? Sorry for being such a noob. I really have done a lot of googling, but I'm still so confunsed.

KmH · Jul 21, 2011

Three exposures is the minimum needed to make an HDR.

The scene you are shooting will usually require more exposures. You can get a better final image by using the smallest possible EV steps. 2 EV steps are very often to large to wind up with a quality HDR. The EV steps may need to be offset from the middle of the exposure range with more EV steps on the under or over exposed side of the middle of the exposure range.

Making a good HDR is a quite complex and involved process. Not only is HDR merging software used but Photoshop and other special editing applications are also often used to produce the final image.

480sparky · Jul 21, 2011

nerdkill said:
Oh man, I just about had a panic attack. So much to learn. So, when I'm in Aperture priority and I adjust exposure from -2 to 0 to +2, is the camera pretty much doing what you're telling me to do manually? Is adjusting exposure really just adjusting shutter speed? Sorry for being such a noob. I really have done a lot of googling, but I'm still so confunsed.

Manual isn't some cryptic, mysterious method that means you have to go through the same sort of training Navy Seals do. There's no spending two years with a bunch of monks in the mountains of Tibet. All you're doing is taking over total control of what the camera does.

Shooting in manual simply means you're forcing yourself to think instead of letting the camera do it for you. You tell the camera what to do, not the other way around.

Let me put it this way: Do you know how to drive to the grocery store? I'll bet you do. And I'm sure you don't consciously think, "Well, I do down my street, make a left on Elm, go to Main, turn right, then go past Court Street and make a left at the gas station............". It's second nature, isn't it? Once you realize how easy it is to shoot in manual, it will become that simple of a second nature.

nerdkill · Jul 21, 2011

Yeah, i definitely want to get into manual mode. What I'm trying to figure out is what is my camera actually doing when I adjust the exposure. Is it just changing the shutter speed? Thanks for the feedback.

480sparky · Jul 21, 2011

nerdkill said:
Yeah, i definitely want to get into manual mode. What I'm trying to figure out is what is my camera actually doing when I adjust the exposure. Is it just changing the shutter speed? Thanks for the feedback.

Goggle "Exposure Triangle".

BrainDump · Jun 11, 2013

Exposure consists in general to 3 things. Shutter speed which is how long you are exposing your sensor to light. Aperture or F-stop which is how much light you are exposing your sensor to over that time. The larger the the f-stop number the smaller the aperture, the less light exposed over the time. Lastly the ISO which is how sensitive your sensor is to light. higher ISO will allow you to shoot in lower light but will cause more noise in your images. When you are shooting in aperture priority you are in general locking your cameras and aperture and allowing your camera to automatically set the shutter speed to one that will give you a correct exposure. When you bracket in aperture priority your camera is automatically finding which shutter speed gives you a "correct" exposure and then also shooting steps above and below that, i.e. faster and slower shutter speeds while keeping the same aperture. hope that helps.

BlackPoet · Mar 20, 2014

Just get out there with your camera and mess with it, after reading enough to know what aspects cause what results of course. I had to get out there, and I still have to get out there more, but now I know in most scenarios why a shot is coming out the way it comes out and what I need to change to capture things better. I am still terrible at it, trust me. But it'll make more sense I think when you're actually utilizing the things you've read. Don't worry, you're not going to break your camera........unless you physically abuse the thing.