For the last year or longer, I have been dabbling in HDRI High Dynamic Range Imaging (or so I thought). I have been reading articles, bought all the proper software (Photoshop CS3 Extended and Photomatrix which were both good choices). I have been autobracketing my photos (I started with 3 photos, 1 EV (stop) apart and then moved up to 5 photos 1 EV apart.) I use a tripod, lock my mirror, and use a remote to trigger my camera. I shot all my photos in RAW, which starts you out with a higher dynamic range. So far so good.
However, yesterday, I got the long awaited book that I preordered (before production) “The HDRI Handbook” by Christian Bloch, hot off the press (it can be ordered through Amazon.com).
I couldn’t put the book down. I have been reading it in all my spare time. It has a lot of technical aspects in the beginning, but without that portion, you miss out on a lot of incredible information.
Now here is where some true HDRI photographers are going to be snickering. I am going to list some of my mistakes so that others don’t take the same dumb path I took on their way to HDRI.
Mistake #1. When I autobracketed my shots, I used Aperture mode (OK go ahead and laugh HDRIers). So for all 5 shots, the depth of field changed. This is crucial, you must be in Tv (shutter) mode to bracket your shots. If your camera doesn’t have an autobracket system, you have to do it all manually.
Mistake #2. I should have had 2 EV (stops) between shots instead of one.
Mistake #3. I should have locked the focus or switched to manual focus.
Mistake #4 On a couple of occasions I took 1 RAW image and processed it 5 ways and then ran it thru Photomatrix. Hmmmm. This is similar to dumping a pint of water into a gallon container and calling it a gallon. You don’t end up with a HDRI.
Mistake #5 OK, I switch back and forth between Photomatrix and CS3 extended to see which gives the best image (that is ok, because it varies between programs and images). My big mistake….. I tone mapped the HRDI right away instead of saving the original in a 32 bit format. I also should have edited it in CS3 Extended in the 32 bit format. So, I now have a 8 bit image (I actually did save some as 16 bit image), that shows up great on the Internet. Except for the fact, that my HDRI’s didn’t look as good as others. (See here for an example)
So all of this I have learned up to page 126 of the book (less than half way thru). I will keep you posted as I restart my journey into HDRI. And to all of you that have been doing it right, my hats off to you. I am just getting into the “how to”part of the book and have a long way to go.
Many people might say, who cares, I am not going to be doing HDRI. Think again. The pixel race is over and the camera manufacturers got smart. The race for HDR is on, and just around the corner.
chanel, 8 months ago
Thanks for that Derid, that was really helpful :)
mlgkats, 8 months ago
no need to be embarrassed we all makes mistakes at one time or another
Dave Sandersfeld, 8 months ago
Thanks for explaining this new world of photography and sharing what you learned so other avoid the same mistakes. This is NOBLE and nuturing!!! Myself, ijust want to master my camera; before moving up to computer photo processing too! But your generation is leap years ahead of me! I am amazed by what you can do to create new realities and I just capture what i see – getting better at that over time?
sasha, 8 months ago
You’ve got me wondering about HDRI – sounds technical!
Julie Langford
,
8 months ago
LOL Deri – now firstly, your not the only one who has been here. I have attempted quite a few HDR shots, and used photoshop CS2 to try the HDR merge process. Like you, I used 1 stop, but I did use manual, TV mode. Photoshop almost every time, could not recognise any dynamic content in my shots, and the two [Yes, only two LOL] occasions that it did, the original image looked much nicer than the merged result.
So, I was lucky enough to have a little advice on how to bracket properly and about Photomatrix from The master of HDR in my opinion – Robert Mullner
You may have already seen his work, but if not, I highly recommend a visit to his portfolio, its awesome.
I then went out to try and get my first successful HDR shot. I used TV mode, tripod and took three shots at 2 stops apart in high quality jpeg mode. I then used Photomatrix to merge them to HDR, but as for tone mapping, I havent got around to learning that yet. I just saved the HDR file then converted it to 8 bit Jpeg.
The image I managed to get can be seen
Here
Deri Dority, 8 months ago
Julie, your image turned out great. You can see a full dynamic range in it. In Photomatrix, the step after the merge is tone-mapping, that converts it to a 8 bit image. With Photomatrix, it is nice as you just click the buttons. Although as I am learning, there is alot more tweaking that can be done. The real HDR image doesn’t look very nice (dark) unless you use a special viewer or use Photomatrix’s box viewer to see the detail in the highlights and in the dark areas.
Deri Dority, 8 months ago
Looking at Robert Mullners work, he knows his stuff!! He is one of the true HDRIers at RedBubble (there are quite a few if you look at the HDR group).
Lucindawind, 8 months ago
Im so interesting at doing this myself but it looks so hard . .. I dont even have regular SLR shots down yet lol … keep on gonig derid .. you will get there !!
Lu x
Mark German, 8 months ago
earthairfire is another one (Tim) that has this down pat.
PhotogeniquE IPA, 8 months ago
very very useful! thanks
Alan Rodmell, 8 months ago
Hahaha yeah I realised that I have done most of those mistakes. Great to finally be corrected. Maybe now some of the shots will come out right! Cheers mate
Alan Rodmell, 8 months ago
All of them it seems except the changing of the DOF during shots. My camera has Auto Bracketing so it makes sure it maintains the same F-stop for the shots no matter which mode I shoot in. Glad I know the other tips though
Joyce Dickens,..., 8 months ago
Well, that explains a lot! I am glad I didn’t upload any of mine…Just been playing around for awhile now and nothing to write home about! Now I se why, Thanks derid!
Aphoto4You IPA, 8 months ago
WOW I JUST FOUND THIS…i havent tried any yet….all i am doing right now listening and looking…..but will be experiencing HDR landscape in 2008 big time…..i think i will order that book….Thanks for this TREASURE INFO
KarDanCreations, 6 months ago
Thanks for posting your experiences and this info., I am just hearing about this type of imaging, but I wonder if I can use Corel Paint Shop Pro-X instead of Photoshop CS3, they seem to be very similar from what demos I’ve seen. I will have to look at Photomatrix.
Dyle Warren, 3 months ago
Interesting, now I’m the one confused. I thought it was, “photomatix” not “photomatrix.”
www.hdrsoft.com/:www.hdrsoft.com/
Guess I need to do some research if I decide to dabble around with it…sounds like fun.