High dynamic range (HDR) photography is a process used to widen the boundaries of traditional digital photography. With traditional photography, the tonal range of a given photograph is limited by the light available and the physical characteristics of the lens and camera. In other words, if the foreground in a given scene was bright and the background was dark (see figure below), you would need to choose which element you want to be rendered in the final photo, since the limitations of the camera will not let you capture dark and light areas simultaneously. By making a composite image of several high resolution photographs, we are able to utilize the tonal ranges from all five photos into just one. This tutorial is geared towards people that are comfortable with the manual mode on their camera. You can learn more about manual mode here.
There are two parts to HDR photography: capturing the series of shots, and processing the separate shots into a single HDR. This figure explains the concept behind capturing the shots.
As you can see, the combination of the five images makes for an impressive photograph even before bringing it into your editor for additional processing.
In order to get results like this, you need to know how to shoot five (or more) shots with different exposures quickly, without changing composition. This is where bracketing comes in.
Bracketing
Read your camera manual for instructions on how to engage bracketing mode on your camera. On the Nikon D300, the bracketing is set by holding down the function button (near the lens barrel) and simultaneously rotating the index finger wheel near the shutter release button. I have my camera set for five shots that cover two stops over and under the meter setting. On a bright day, I am able to shoot at ISO200 without a tripod. You do not want to increase your ISO any higher than 400, noise becomes a serious issue with HDR images, so carry a tripod if its cloudy or a dark location.
Just a few tips:
- Shoot everything as HDR from now on. I bracket everything except shots of people. Even if the dynamic range of the scene is within normal limits, sometimes you can get a different tone if you process it as an HDR.
- Be efficient and consistent. If you start bracketing, bracket all the way through the day. The last thing you want to do is spend your time fishing for single shots in a sea of bracketed images. Plus, the photos will be easy to identify when it comes time for HDR processing if they are all in groups of five.
- You will have to deal with at least five times more data than you are used to, and it can get away from you very quickly. The next part of the tutorial will cover handling a lot of new data, but being smart while shooting is key. In order to keep things easy for myself, I do not delete photos while shooting. No matter how ghastly the shot is, it remains on the card until I get home. I can then deal with it in my regular work flow. Not only will you stay more organized, you will be more careful about composition since you have limited card space.
By the end of your HDR shoot you should have a ton of images. The next step is to organize them. The we process and edit them. The next tutorial will cover these steps in detail, and by the end you will be shooting in a whole new way.
