I was a guest on this weeks Camera Dojo podcast with Kerry Garrison talking about all things HDR.
We chatted about the various techniques and tools, and I shared my techniques for HDR portraits. I just listened to myself this afternoon. It felt different being on the guest end, but it was relaxing. This won’t be in the PPS podcast feed, but If you’re interested head over the Camera Dojo and give a listen. While your at it you can drop by iTunes and subscribe to their show… Gavin
By Gavin Seim: Updated 01/02/10)
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is amazing. For many it’s unknown territory however and is often treated as a toy instead of a serious tool. People don’t understand how to deal with it so they mimic the easy to make but horrid looking HDR that has become the stigma. HDR and especially HDR portraits can be challenging, but It’s not rocket science. It just takes some time to get the hang of. Here’s a few tips that you can use for both HDR still life and portraits.
1. Getting the Concept: HDR is all about getting various exposures at different lightness levels and then combining them in a way that looks good. It’s not about showing all the light in a scene. It’s about gaining control over all the light in a scene. Like a bucket of light from the entire scene that you can use however you want. Now that’s cool.
2. Break out the tripod: While most HDR rendering software can attempt to line up images, you really want clear consistent frames because stability is key. If there’s no other option, you may have to hand hold and hope for the best. It can work, but a tripod is king and is always the safest route.
3. Use a cable release: This is a good rule with HDR portraits and stills alike. You want your images to be lined up as close as possible, so invest in the tools to keep your camera steady. A release allows you to avoid touching the camera. Good for sequences and long exposures. Besides that, it looks cool to stand there majestically and press the release button.
4. Auto Bracket: Most DSLR’s have an auto bracket function that allows you to have -2, 0 and +2 exposure compensation in one quick burst. AB allows you to expose things fast without handling the gear as much. In some cases you may want to manually get a wider exposure range, but I find that 3 images are usually all I need. Auto bracketing is not only convenient, it’s especially valuable with HDR portraits or moving subjects because you need to capture your sequence as fast as possible without having to manually change settings.
Continue reading ‘7 Tips for HDR Photography that Doesn’t Stink.’
Look To The Wind. HDR by Gavin Seim. Canon 30D
~ Check out Gavin’s HDR workshops. More details here.
by Gavin Seim: In 2007 I wrote an article about using true HDR techniques with people. Yep, portraits, fashion and wedding images can be utterly amazing using High Dynamic Range. HDR is not just reserved for nature and still life. We’ve been using it at Seim Studios for some time now and it blows clients away. Heres some of my secret sauce to get you started with HDR portraits and a few of my own images.
Link Resources>>
What’s HDR All About?
First lets cover basics. If you’re already an HDR master you can skip this part. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It’s better seen than described, so other than the images I’ve included in this article, you can see more on my website.
HDR is the combining of light and dark tones of multiple images taken at varied exposure levels and then blended using software like Photomatix, Photoshop, or another HDR program. Photomatix is the most popular among HDR fans and we have a deal worked out with them. You can save 15% with promo code PPS15. Basically this software blending allows the photographer to selectively choose how much light he wants in various parts of the image. You’ll have a light to dark range that’s much higher than that of a normal exposure, thus giving you much more control over the final image.
You can also check my two PPS episodes from 2007, talking about HDR and HDR portraits. HDR Podcast Part1 & HDR Podcast Part2. There’s also PPS #57, an HDR episode with Trey Ratcliff that’s full of insight.
Continue reading ‘HDR Portrait & Wedding Photography Techniques (2nd Edition)’
HDR Soft, the maker of the popular Photomatix Pro has just released version 3. For HDR junkies Photomatix is a great tool, giving much more function over Photoshops built in tools for merging images to HDR.
Version 3 is even a free update for version 2 owners, and from what we can tell so far, it’s a nice update. Improved interface and some cool new features shape up to be another solid offering from HDR Soft.
~ Check out Gavin’s 3 day HDR workshop coming Fall 2009. More details here.
So you’ve probably heard about HDR photography, and you may be wondering what you can do with it and why it’s so cool.
By Gavin Seim: This is not a short article but it will explain a lot about HDR photography and why its so amazing. Today we’re going to talk about the editing techniques I used to create “Look To The Wind” the bride on the beach image that you probably have heard mentioned on Pro Photo Show, and maybe seen on the net. Also below are some additional links for things relevant to HDR.
Link Resources>>
- Read the HDR Portraits main tutorial.
- Photomatix HDR software (Save 15%, code PPS15)
- HDR archives on Pro Photo Show
- Lightroom Enfuse (LR Plugin)
- Hydra (Mac only HDR software. Less extensive that Photomatix)
- Gavin’s HDR portrait gallery.
- HDR section on the forums (get some feedback)
HDR is a method of taking multiple images and combining them in a high dynamic range file. Lets say you take three images of the exact same scene, at various exposure levels. Standard images are only around 8 bits each, basically meaning that their ability to correctly expose dark scenes while keeping bright scenes from getting overexposed is limited.
So to make an HDR you might take one image that’s underexposed, one image over, and one with correct exposure. Then using software you can combine the shadow and highlight details from all the images into a single image is called an HDR, It’s the combined bits of these images, and is usually a 32 bit image when converted. What does 32bit mean to you? It means it can contain far more light. Even though the actual resolution of the image is not increased the details inside it are much higher. The HDR Photography technique is most often done with nature or still life images, but I have been doing extensive experimenting with this technique in portraits as well with good results, as we’ll see today.
So lets look at an example. In this image I took three shots of the bride on the beach using continuous shooting mode with auto exposure bracketing. This along with a model holding as still as possible, and a fairly wide angle scene made “Look To The Wind” Possible possible (click for a larger version) You can read more about HDR portrait techniques in my HDR portrait article.
There a a few ways to take the three images and make an HDR from them. First take your images in unedited raw form. You could do it with jpegs, but raw will give you the best results. Don’t correct the raw files before converting to HDR. There is a very basic tool in Photoshop for converting the images called Merge To HDR (File/Automate/Merge To HDR) This allows you to select you images, and it will combine them into and 32 bit image. You then can use tools to adjust the levels, and curves of the image mix to try and get a good result.
Continue reading ‘How To Make An HDR Portrait. Behind The Scenes:’
Well the original Jpeg is getting a bit long in the tooth and by the looks of things an adoption of a new improved format may be taking it’s place over the next few years.
Among other things, the Microsoft HD Photo format is capable of higher dynamic ranges, & better compression, and has been opened up for royalty free use by Microsoft. The JPEG Committee has decided it’s a go, and to move ahead with HD Photo as a new standard under the name Jpeg XR.
Now you may be asking yourself why on earth didn’t this JPEG Committee give it a fresh name instead of taking jpeg and adding some letters. Well we’d guess it’s cuz their the “JPEG Committee” Ya a new fresh name for a new flashy format would have been better marketing, but thats what happens when you name your group after a file format before considering the ramifications of the fact that it will eventually go out of style. At this rate we figure 100 years from now we’ll Continue reading ‘Microsoft’s HD Photo to be adopted as JPEG XR Format’
