HDR exposure question

D

Doog

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Dougie
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I've been wondering, is it really necessary to have bracketed exposures from camera or do you get the same results by saving three exposure altered images saved from the one NEF file?:thinking:
 
Yes and no is the honest answer, you can get a good result from a single image, but you'll get a better one from a 3 or 5 image bracket, usually you'll get a lot more noise in the single image, and some will argue it's not a proper HDR as the dynamic range isn't actually increased.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Yes and no is the honest answer, you can get a good result from a single image, but you'll get a better one from a 3 or 5 image bracket, usually you'll get a lot more noise in the single image, and some will argue it's not a proper HDR as the dynamic range isn't actually increased.
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But is that true of a RAW image which just has the exposure altered one stop either side?
 
I do a lot of hdr stuff, I get a better less noisy result from 3 exposures than a single. The dynamic range argument is open to interpetation but your going to get a wider range with 3 raw than one.
 
As said it is easily possible with just 1 raw, but you don't get the ability to push it as much as you would with 3 or 5 raws. If the shot was say 100iso and you dont need more than 1 stop either way to capture the highlights and shadows you shouldn't have any issues.

When I bracket I always do 2 stops either way as I have found 1 stop can be pretty much sorted with just some fill light adjustments and a bit of dodging and burning in Lightroom or Photoshop.
 
Thanks guys, I'm beginning to see what you mean. A single image will have the same noise overlaid on each other and so create more noticable noise. Therefore three single images would be better.
 
I think that a HDR from one image having more noise is more that if you have shadow area and lighten that, it will introduce noise. The more you lighten the shadow areas, the the more noise is introduced. If you have a few different brightened versions for the HDR, then the noise is multiplied. If you use the Exposure Compensation at the time of capture to make that same shadow area brighter in the camera, there will be less noise.

You can get very good images from multiple edit versions of one image to get a HDR, but multiple bracketed images should give you less noisy HDR. Things moving or not being in a position to take bracketed images may limit you to one image though, and I've had some good results doing that.
 
On the flipside, if there are objects moving within the scene (objects important to the scene moving in complex ways), you may well get a better "HDR" result from a single tonemapped RAW, as there may well be artefacts due to alignment issues from 3 separate captures.
 
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