My HDR Tutorial

This tutorial explains step-by-step how to create beautiful high dynamic range HDR-pictures using your digital camera, photomatix and photoshop.

I enjoy photography since I was in school but just recently discovered this as a hobby again. Coming from a tech background I enjoy doing the processing part of it as much as doing the pictures itself. In the past few years apparently all the technologies (HDR, stitching, etc.) grew from being toys to professional solutions.

The first useful tutorial I found on HDR was written by Trey Ratcliff who not only shoots on the best locations and has the best equipment, but also can prove that he knows his stuff by publishing many beautiful pictures on Flickr.

However, my workflow is slightly different, so i thought I give this tutorial a shot too.

Shooting

The biggest problem I have with high dynamic range (HDR)-pictures is that they are not sharp at 100%. If you take a high-res picture and downscale it on screen resolution it still looks great, but it’s not what I want. I shoot my pictures in either of the following ways, depending on the situation:

- ISO Auto: OFF
- Custom white balance (I use an Expodisc)
- A-Mode (M-Mode sometimes)
- After focussing lock (or switch auto-focus to manual)
- One RAW picture (call it pseudo-HDR if you like) or
- 9 RAWs (-4EV,-3EV,-2EV,-1EV,0EV,1EV,2EV,3EV,4EV)

In either case I convert RAW to JPG using Capture One which is my RAW converter of choise. If I only have one picture I create 5x JPGs for further processing (-2EV,-1EV,0EV,1EV,2EV).

If I shoot 9 pictures, I:
- use a tripod
- use interval shooting on a Nikon, so all 9 pictures are taken hands-free with no camera shake
- in rare situations I just use the bracket boost hand-held, but those pictures are usually not sharp enough. An example where it did work out nicely can be found here:

Basically if you only shoot one picture it will hopefully be sharp. If you shoot 9 with a tripod you have most flexibility and if you shoot the 9 hand-held you might be lucky, or not … Please note that your picture will have more noise if you only use one RAW-file.

Here is an example using one RAW file to create 5 JPGs:

Here’s the same picture using 9 RAW images:

Processing

I use a couple of tools when processing my pictures. Capture One, Photomatix, Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, LucisArt 3 ED/SE, Genuine Fractals, PhotoFrame 4.

Step 1: Capture One

I import my photos using Adobe Bridge and then process them in Capture One “to taste”. For HDR pictures I keep processing to a minimum. If I only have 1 RAW picture I create 4 more (5 total) variations using -2EV, -1EV, 0EV, 1EV and 2EV.

If I have enough RAW pictures I do nothing and process them directly in Photomatix.

Step 2: Photomatix

I was playing around with some other HDR tools too (e.g. Dynamic Photo HDR), but I like Photomatix most. I’m trying not to overdo HDR so that the pictures are still a little bit like the real world.

I select all pictures (9 RAWs or 5 JPGs) and drag and drop them to Photomatix. Generally speaking I prefer the look of my 5 pictures created by Capture One from one RAW-file over the pseudo-HDR look created by Photomatix if you only open one file.

Only for hand-held pictures I select to auto-align them by matching features, for everything else I de-select all tickmarks.

Once opened I move the sliders to taste. Usually I look at both extremes (all right, all left) and then move it until I like the preview. As mentioned I try not to overdo the effect.

Usually I only adjust the following values; the numbers in brackets are my starting points:

- Strength (95)
- Color Saturation (55) – a bit more than natural
- Luminosity (0)
- Light Smoothing (High)

On a regular basis I do not change any of the other parameters.

Last I click on processing and open the picture as a 8-bit TIFF in Photoshop.

Step 3: Photoshop

Camera Raw: Before opening the file in Photoshop I open it in Camera Raw to adjust white/black/gray-points and to straighten the picture.

Noise Ninja: Before doing anything else I run Noise Ninja (that’s why there was no need to reduce noise in Photomatix). I auto-profile the image and process. Usually I do this on a new layer (CTRL-J before running the plug-in). This is always my first step after opening the picture.

Masking: If you have moving objects in your picture you might want to remove the ghosts by opening the best (usually the 0EV) version of your picture, adding it to a separate layer and hide the ghosts. There are great tutorials on this. [link to be added]

LucisArt: I’m addicted. I think a little bit of LucisArt works wonders on all, not just HDR, pictures. However, I’m very conservative using it, so I only do very minor changes and usually mix it with the original image. Check this if you are interested in what LucisArt can do for even old and low-res pictures. Here is an example of a 5 year old picture with a point and shoot camera:

On non-HDR pictures I usually only use LucisArt 3 ED and I enhance the detail until Halo’s show up and then go back a little bit. On HDR pictures I use LucisArt 3 SE and use the Sculpture effect with minimum strength and a smooth detail of 11 as a starting point. Usually I mix it with the original image using a ratio of 30 (processed) : 70 (original).

Genuine Fractals: (optional) sometimes I upscale the picture, especially for Alamy I upscale to 5100 px on the longest side. This is always my last step in the workflow.

Photoframe: (optional) sometimes I add a frame. This is always the very last step, even after upscaling via Genuine Fractals.

Please note: This tutorial is work-in-progress, so I might update it on a regular basis if things change …

Jan 30, 2009 | Categories: Featured, Photography | Tags: Featured, genuine fractals, hdr, high dynamic range, how-to, lucis, lucisart, noise ninja, onone, photoframe, photomatix, photoshop, plug-in, processing, step by step, tutorial | Comments