Fun with HDR

October 21, 2009

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Those are the pictures that have been popping up all over the internet, which look expensive and amazing. Follow the link to see how to get it done yourself. (FYI its really easy)

HDR is basically a process that takes different exposures of the same picture and merges them together. An HDR photo is recognized by its color range and textures, where due to the over and under exposed of the base photos, the end result will yield both the darkest and brightest colors possible (depending on contrast).

1. The first thing you need is a digital camera that allows you to control the exposure level. On some of the newer models it is the meter that reads something like: [5, -4. -3, -2. -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

2. Next choose something you want to take a picture of. For your first HDR photo I suggest choosing a still target to eliminate ghosting, and using a tripod.

3. Now take three consecutive photos, one at -5 exp, one at 0 exp, and the last at 5 exp.

4. If you have photoshop CS4, good news, you already have HDR software, go to file > Automate > Merge to HDR… But, if you don’t, there is an alternative, which I actually prefer: Photomatix Pro.

5. After installing the software, first Click “Generate HDR Image.” Then add each of your photos, which were taken at different exposures into the new window.

6. Next you will be given a bunch of options as to how the pictures should blend and to reduce noise and ghost artifacts, there is no winning combination for every image to produce the best results, so I suggest playing with the options here till you find something that suits your taste.

7. Ok. Now you have an unprocessed HDR image, but its not finished yet. Now you can apply Tone Mapping. Play around with the levels until again you find the end result that best suits your taste. If you don’t have the time there are presets, like “Grunge” that are easily applied and which can be easily tweaked.

8. Don’t forge to save your file. And enjoy. There is an ever growing population of HDR photographers on the internets, and in places such as flickr.com

Here is an example of an HDR Image, and the source files used. Note that I have posted two different end results to show the range that can be achieved through Tone Mapping.