HDR

[quad b]

How would I go about doing an HDR shot?

 

[Rob]

Basically....

You switch the camera to spot/centre metering so that it's on the minimum spread, or use a light meter. Then, look at your scene and pick however many areas you wish to shoot (about six or seven perhaps).

Stick the camera in aperture priority mode and pick an aperture (probably a small one like f11 or f22) and make sure you keep the aperture constant, along with the white balance and ISO (all should be manual). Point the camera at each of the six or seven areas and record the recommended settings for shutter speed for each of them.

Put the camera on a tripod and take one shot at each of the six shutter speeds you recorded, whilst NOT altering the aperture and ISO or other settings including focus and zoom/focal length.

Import the images to photoshop and use layers with selective erasing to reveal the areas of each picture you want. I tend to start with two images and two layers, erasing part of one, then flattening and using the next image until you are done.

That's one way... there may be a better one!!

Rob

 

[Arch]

Robs technique is a good one..... using the zone system..... but to get a true HDR 32 bit image you need to use either PS CS2's 'Merge to HDR' command.... or a stand alone HDR programme like Photomatix....

we've discussed it a few times before here..... below is a link to one....

http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57598

 

[Rob]

Zone system pah... I call it the "Rob looking for the light and dark bits" method....

Good news that there's an auto function for it in CS2, I might set my camera up in three shot bracketing mode now and try it more often.

There's also the focus variant with the same technique as HDR... it's name escapes me, but essentially, you create an image which is a merge of say an f22 shot focussed at 10ft and at infinity to artificially increase the dof of the shot.

I suspect mixing the techniques would end up with a really "digital" looking image where your brain wouldn't approve. You know when you look and it's just *wrong*?? Like with tiny sensor compacts where the dof is crazy and you can't tell what's foreground and background.

Rob

 

[quad b]

I only have photoshop 6, so I'll have to give Rob's "looking for the light and dark bits" method a try. Do you guys have any examples of HDR that you have done that I could take a look at?