Dealing with dynamic range

gramps

gramps

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When I am shooting an area with a difficult dynamic range, perhaps due to variable lighting conditions ... maybe dull inside/bright windows/yellowish lighting, my first thought is to bracket and try HDR.

Why HDR?
Probably because it's easier to do with a semi-automated process like Photomatix - however the resultant images can vary in quality.

I often end up with an image like the one below ... still not completely dealt with the dynamic range and lost a lot of the true character and colour of the environment ...


RJB_6357_zps4e444095.jpg




So how do you deal with such situations, (assume no extra lighting available)?

Importantly - how does your process work in practice?
 
Whenever I create an HDR image from Photomatix I always then process it Lightroom to add a bit of contrast. I'm rarely satisfied with using just Photomatix without a bit of fiddling afterwards.
 
I always 'fiddle' afterwards but it seems to me that in many instances this doesn't provide the selective adjustments necessary, e.g. with the image above, adjusting contrast aids in some good areas but hinders in some bad such as the electric lights and the shadows.
 
Why HDR (Tonemapping)? Why not just take 2 exposures... one for inside, one for out, and merge them in Photoshop? It will look much better.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Why HDR (Tonemapping)? Why not just take 2 exposures... one for inside, one for out, and merge them in Photoshop? It will look much better.
Click to expand...

I've never done a merge (other than merge to HDR) - I've looked around for some tutorials (youtube etc) but there seems such a wide variation ... is there a good tutorial?
 
gramps said:
I've never done a merge (other than merge to HDR) - I've looked around for some tutorials (youtube etc) but there seems such a wide variation ... is there a good tutorial?
Click to expand...


Have a look at this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q29h5t8_FO0


That's not a million miles away from what I'd do... but if you use a tripod some of the stuff at the start may be unnecessary.

If it's a simple scene, you can often just load them both up and just go straight to erase from one to the other.

Much better than silly HDR stuff... which looks amateurish IMO.
 
Last edited:
Thank you, I'll give that a twirl :)
 
Can't get my head around these layers - whatever I try to do it defeats me!

Won't let me see both images in the Layers panel.
Then when I fluke it, it won't let me align them ...


Works when I open them as Smart Objects ... is that the way???

Still a poor image but a 1st attempt at using the blend/merge option


RJB_6356asSmartObject-1_zps13a842b0.jpg
 
Last edited:
In the image you posted your lucky that you have time on your side as the contents of the frame will not change. In this instance this would be my work flow -

1) i take up to 9 images, -4 stops, 0, +4 stops.
2) use Lightroom to crop as needed and sync to all images.
3) export from LR to PS and use merge to HDR pro but make the image a 32bit image not 16 bit, i do this because much much more info is stored in 32bits.
4) save the image as tiff and import to LR and play as needed, you will have + - 4 stops of dynamic rage to play with.

With that sort of range to will produce an image that doesnt have that HDR tack.
 
Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to respond :thumbs:
I actually do like HDR, but it can so easily go wrong so I welcome any advice on improving it.
I really haven't got to grips with 'layers' though so it's something I will have to persevere with as well. :)
 
Last image looks great gramps, looks like something from one of those high brow property agents websites
 
Too kind Gary :)
It's definitely an improvement, still areas of concern though so it gives me something to wok on - it's John Wesley's Chapel in Bristol.
 
gramps said:
Can't get my head around these layers - whatever I try to do it defeats me!

Won't let me see both images in the Layers panel.
Click to expand...

Open both shots, resize the window panes so the you can see both shots on your desktop workspace, click to activate one of the shots, on the top menu -go to select>select all , then go to edit>copy, then click the other shot to activate it and got to edit>paste and then you will have both shots stacked as layers in the layers panel.

Once you get your head around how to copy and paste quicker you will not need to keep the other windows open (once you have selected all and copied) because if you are working with multiple frames it can get a bit busy on the desktop.

Once you have your layers stacked you can then select all the layers and then go to edit>auto align etc like the video clip showed.

It is up to you then on how to edit/blend each layer.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Last image looks great gramps, looks like something from one of those high brow property agents websites
Click to expand...


Agreed.... so much nicer than the HDR mess in the first shot.
 
Thanks for the help and encouragement all :thumbs:
 
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