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7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tutorial-high-dynamic-range-hdr 1/14
HDR Tutorial: How to create ‘High
Dynamic Range’ images using Photomatix
If you want to know how to take photos such as these, then read on.
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Contents
• What’s new?
• Aims of this tutorial
• What is HD?
• !ools "eeded
• #tep $% #ource Ima&es
• #tep '% (eneratin& a HD ima&e
• #tep )% !one Mappin&
• eal World *+amples
• Issues with HD
• *+tras
•
o (eneratin& a HDI from a sin&le AW file
o $ AW s ) AW’s
o -hotoshop s -hotomati+
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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o HD from -(s
o emoin& */I0
• 1onclusion
• 1redits and 2inks
What’s New?
I’e reor&anised this &uide to include more on -hotoshop’s HD feature and why I feel that
-hotomati+’s is 3etter. !he latest ersion of -hotomati+ will detect if your !I00’s hae the
same */I0 info and it will ask you to confirm which ima&es hae which e+posure settin&s.
!his means you don’t hae to remoe the */I0 from them anymore. A &reat feature.
!his &uide has also 3een featured in the "oem3er issue of -rofessional -hoto&rapher . I think
that’s an official stamp of approal from the photo&raphy industry that HD is indeed &reatfor photo&raphers world wide. It can produce nice 3alanced ima&es on harsh sunny days, or it
can create arty pictures of already stunnin& landscapes.
Aims o this tutorial
!he main aim of this tutorial is to help people use HD techni4ues to produce photos with a
hi&her dynamic ran&e than they normally &et in a standard out of the camera photo. I will
show you how to take a shot from the one on the left, to the one on the ri&ht.
What is HDR?
HD means 5Hi&h Dynamic an&e’. 6sin& software like -hotomati+ you can create ima&es
with a more detail in the hi&hli&hts and shadows than you can with a normal photo fromtodays di&ital cameras. Its similar to the old techni4ue of e+posure 3lendin&. !akin& one photo
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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for the sky and one for the &round, then mer&in& them 3oth toðer in -hotoshop. HD takes
it a step further 3y increase the amount of detail in the ima&e and allows you to create some
uni4ue photos. 7ou can use it carefully to create natural lookin& photos or you can use it
creatiely to create atmospheric and emotie photos. !he choice is yours as to how you
process the end result.
Tools Nee!e!
A AW editor such as Aperture, aw#hooter, or -hotoshop. #econdly, the HD pro&ram. I
use -hotomati+.
"te# $: "ource images
!here are two main ways to create the source ima&es needed for HD. 7ou can either use
A*8, auto e+posure 3racketin&, on your camera to take ) ima&es while you are out, or you
can use AW to take $ ima&e and then use a AW editor to produce ) shots 3ack at yourcomputer. I shall start with auto e+posure 3racketin&.
Auto %x#osure &rac'eting (A%&)
!he main adanta&e with A*8 is that you can &et 3etter source ima&es with less noise. 0or
e+ample, a sunset. 7ou would normally &et really dark shadows and enhancin& them later
from $ sin&le AW file would increase the noise. With A*8 you can take a completely
seperate ima&e for the shadows and one for the hi&hli&hts to presee the detail and keep the
noise to a minimum. !he disadant&e to this approach is that anythin& moin& in the ima&e
will 3ecome 3lurred and repeated as it moes across the ) ima&es. !o start with you will need
a camera that has the A*8 mode and a tripod. 7ou will also need a tripod so that the ) shots
you take can 3e perfectly ali&ned later. (o to the menu on your camera and set the A*8 mode
to 9' : ;' stops.
It should look like the ri&ht ima&e after the chan&es. 1ompose your shot, and set the camera
up as your normally would to take a picture. "ow after you take a picture you will see the
e+posure compensation leel drop down to 9'. !ake another picture and you will see it &oes
up to ;'. 7ou will notice the shutter speed or aperture chan&es too. !his allows you to &et the
three shots for the shadows, a 3alanced ima&e and for the hi&hli&hts. 7ou now hae the )
shots re4uired to produce a HD ima&e.
*sing a RAW %!itor
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!he other way to produce the ) shots needed is to take $ photo and ad<ust in a AW editor
such as Aperture, -hotoshop or aw#hooter. !he main adanta&e to this is that you can
produce a HD shot with moin& su3<ects such as people or cars. !he disadanta&e is that if
you use an ima&e with ery dark shadows and you’re tryin& to 3oost the e+posure, the result
will 3e 4uite noisey.
2oad your photo into the editor, then set the e+posure leel to 9' and sae the ima&e as a $=3it
!I00 without any metadata such as */I0 info. !his is the important part. If you sae it with
*/I0 info you will find that -hotomati+ relies on that info to produce the HD shot. !he
pro3lem with this is that the shutter speed and aperture alues will 3e the same across the )
ima&es and -hotomati+ won’t know which ima&e is 9', > and ;'. #et the e+posure leel to >,
sae that and then set it to ;' and sae that ima&e.
!his is how it looks in Aperture. 7ou will now hae the ) ima&es needed to produce a HD
ima&e.
"te# +: ,enerating a HDR image
pen the ) ima&es into -hotomati+. 0rom the HDI menu select (enerate HD. -hotomati+
will ask you if you want to use the ) opened ima&es or load in some. Make sure it has @6se
opened ima&es selected and click ok. "ow -hotomati+ will confirm the e+posures for each
ima&e. B out of $> times it will &et it ri&ht, 3ut <ust incase make sure that each ima&e has the
correct e+posure settin&s. In the case of this &uide they should 3e ;', >, 9'. 1lick ok, then
check that @use standard response cure is selected. If you are usin& ) ima&es taken at the
scene tick the @Ali&n 2D ima&es 3efore &eneratin& HD ima&e option <ust so that
-hotomati+ ali&ns the ima&es for you. 1lick ok and after a few minutes you will see your
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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HD ima&e. It won’t look e+actly ri&ht <ust yet. #ome areas will 3e sli&htly oer9e+posed and
it’ll look odd.
"te# -: Tone .a##ing
!his is the ma&ic part. 6sin& the !one Mappin& feature in -hotomati+ will conert your HD
ima&e into somethin& usa3le. (oto the HDI menu and select !one Mappin&. 7ou will see
how your photo looks more like a standard HD ima&e. !he sky will 3e nicely e+posed, as
will the &round. !he trick now is to ad<ust the settin&s to &et a nice 3alanced ima&e. 7ou could
3e creatie and &o for somethin& a little more fun if you feel like it. 0or the ima&e in this
&uide I wanted somethin& special and yet not too far from the real world. I’ll start with a
4uick run down of the arious options.
/uminosity
Ad<usts the 3ri&htness of the shadows. Moin& the slider to the ri&ht has the effect of 3oostin&
shadow details and 3ri&htenin& the ima&e. Moin& it to the left &ies a more natural look tothe tone mapped ima&e.
!he optimal alue depends on the ima&e and the effect you want to achiee.
"trength
1ontrols the stren&th of local contrast enhancements. A alue of $>>C &ies the ma+imum
increase in local contrast.
!he optimal alue depends on the ima&e and the effect you want to achiee.
Color "aturation
1ontrols the saturation of the (8 color channels. !he &reater the saturation, the more
intense the color. !he alue affects each color channel e4ually.
White Cli# 0 &lac' Cli#
0rom watchin& the way the histo&ram chan&es, the white clip ad<usts the hi&hli&ht contrast
and the 3lack clip ad<usts the shadow contrast.
.icro0smoothing:
8asically this settin& should 3e called @How arty do you want your shot? At > you can &et
the cool arty style HD ima&es with all the detail in eerythin& from walls to clouds you
didn’t know where there. Howeer, if you want a nice simple 3lended e+posure photo set it to
)>. BC of the ima&e should 3e perfectly e+posed as if you spent hours puttin& them toðer
in -hotoshop. !his is a &reat new addition to -hotomati+ as it allows people to use thesoftware as they see fit. If they want a nice photo that is perfectly e+posed then they can &et
that <ust as if they used "D (radient filters on their lens. Howeer, if like me they want
somethin& a 3it more uni4ue they can drop the micro9smoothin& down and &et somethin&
dramatic.
/ight smoothing:
"eer set this 3elow > as you will &et horri3le results.
.icrocontrast
1ontrols the accentuation of local details. !he default alue EHi&hF is the optimal alue in
most cases. Howeer, this control may 3e useful in the case of a noisy ima&e or when the
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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accentuation of local details is not desira3le Ee.&. seams of a stitched pano in a uniform area
may 3ecome isi3le when local details are too much enhancedF.
Real Worl! %xam#les
Natural Feel
#ettin&s usedG
2uminosity ;, #tren&th 'C, 1olour #aturation =C, White 1lip >.''>, 8lack 1lip >.>
Natural Feel 2
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2uminosity 9', #tren&th >C, 1olour #aturation =C, White 1lip '.')>, 8lack 1lip >.JB>
Being Creative
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2uminosity ;, #tren&th C, 1olour #aturation =C, White 1lip J.)>, 8lack 1lip $.$J>
As you can see, when you increase the stren&th, luminosity and clippin& you increase the
isi3le detail in the ima&e. 7ou can see more detail in the 3uildin& and the clouds.
1ssues
#hootin& on hi&h I# will increase the noise in the ima&e. 0or e+ample, usin& I#$>> can
produce a noise ima&e like I#J>>. #o if you use I#J>> it will 3e ery noisy. Don’t een
think a3out I#>> or $=>> unless you are desperate and hae a &reat noise reduction
techni4ue. I find that "oiseware doesn’t do a thin& a&ainst the noise in a HD shot, 3ut "oise
"in<a can. Howeer usin& "oise "in<a will soften the ima&e.
Halo effects around 3uildin&s and people can occur too. I’e read that this can 3e due to
lowerin& the luminosity 3elow >.
%xtras
,enerating a HDR1 rom a single RAW ile
6sin& the latest ersion of -hotomati+, '.).$, you can load a sin&le AW file and &enerate a
HD ima&e. #imply &oto 0ile 9K pen and then select the AW file. -hotomati+ will load the
ima&e and &enerate a HD from it. 7ou will still need to tone map the ima&e after. I tried it
3ut I didn’t really like the results. !he ima&e was too noisy and had some corruption in certain
areas. !he 3est method is still to take ) 3racketed ima&es on site.
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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$ RAW 2s - RAW’s
!here is a lot of talk on the We3 a3out true HD ima&es. 2ots of people ar&ue that a HDI
from $ AW file isn’t a true HDI. I personally 3eliee that the end result is all that matters.
If you sell a print in a &allery is the 3uyer really &oin& to care if its a true HD ima&e or a
@HD ima&e? Are they really that 3othered a3out how many 3its of colour there are or <ust
how much data there really is in the ima&e? -ro3a3ly not. !hey may ask how you created it
out of a passin& interest 3ut are they really truely &oin& to care? I dou3t they will. !hey’ll take
it home and han& it up and look at the end result. !hey will en<oy the end result. Its all a3out
the end print in my opinion, not a3out how nerdy the process was. ut of interest I decided to
produce a HD ima&e from $ AW and ) AW’s to compare the end result.
HDR rom $ RAW ile
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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HDR rom - RAW iles
As you can see from the photos they are fairly close. !here is more detail and 3etter colour in
the ima&e produced from ) AW photos. !he ri&ht hand side wall isn’t 3urnt out like on the $
AW ima&e, and neither is the 3lue wall to a lesser e+tent. !here is also more detail in the skyand the whites aren’t as &rey. !hin&s like this can corrected to a certain e+tent in -hotoshop so
I wouldn’t worry too much. I did find that reducin& the @1olour #aturation for this ima&e in
the @!one Mappin& settin&s did produce a nicer shot. !here was more detail in the 3lue
sections and the wall on the far ri&ht wasn’t 3urnt out as much. 0or the most part the ima&es
are similar and it does show that a $ AW HD ima&e can produce a strikin& result. It may
not 3e a true HD shot and its not a 2ow Dynamic an&e ima&e 3ut what it can 3e is a
stunnin& photo with a little effort.
Photosho# 2s Photomatix
With -hotoshop you can create a HD ima&e from ) AW files ery easily. #imply open
them in -#, &oto 0ile 9K Automate 9K Mer&e to HD. It’ll ask you where the source ima&es
are and then &enerate the HD. It will then display the ima&e on screen so you can ad<ust the
histo&ram to make sure the ima&e isn’t oerly dark or too 3lown out. nce you hae done that
&oto Ima&e 9K Mode 9K $= or 3it and it will 3rin& up another dialo& 3o+. 0rom the drop
down select @2ocal Adaption. 6sin& this you can tweak the leels in the ima&e. 7ou hae to
3e careful as it can cause the ima&e to look horri3le. !he end result will 3e a well 3alanced
ima&e that you can further edit in -hotoshop. !he results are 4uite natural lookin& and don’t
feature any of the e+treme looks that a lot of HD ima&es do. 0or more information read this
e+cellent &uide on -hotoshop’s HD feature.
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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7ou can achiee a similar result usin& -hotomati+. 1onert the AW files to $=3it !I00’s and
&enerate a HD ima&e usin& this &uide. nce in the !one Mappin& interface set the stren&th
to $, Micro9smoothin& to )>, luminosity to >, li&ht smoothin& to > and micro9contrast to >.
!he ima&e will then 3e similar to -hotoshops. I found that -hotomati+’s result was 3ri&hter in
the shadows, 3ut this was 3efore playin& with the @2ocal Adaption feature in -hotoshop. !he 3enefit of -hotomati+ oer -hotoshop is that you hae far more control oer the end ima&e.
7ou hae control oer the luminosity, micro9contrast, li&ht smoothin&, micro9smoothin&, etc.
#o you hae the a3ility to tweak the ima&e further than you can in -hotoshop. How far is up
to you.
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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As you can see they are irtually the same. Howeer, usin& the features in -hotomati+ you
can create stunnin& pieces of art like the followin&G
HDR rom 3P,s
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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I’e ran a test usin& my dancer ima&e and it seems that you can &et <ust as &ood a result usin&
) -(s instead of ) !I00s. Its pro3a3ly 3etter to use !I00’s as they will store more detail, 3ut
if you want can use -(s well enou&h. !here is a definite difference in usin& -(s and !I00s.
I prefer the !I00 look. -(s seem more saturated and noisier.
Remo2ing %415
!his is now redundant as the latest ersion of -hotomati+, '.).$, will now detect if the */I0
info is the same and will ask you for confirmation on the arious e+posures of each shot.
Howeer if you need to you can use these tips to remoe the */I0. If you’re hain& trou3le
remoin& the */I0 from a !I00 I’e found a couple of thin&s you can use. 7ou can copy the
!I00 into a new document as sae it. 6seful when you don’t want the lossiness of sae for
we3 Le& -#Ds or !I00s and you can create an action to do it as a 3atch function. !here is
also a pro&ram called, IrfanView that can supposedly edit */I0.
0or Aperture users, when you e+port ersions click on the e+port preset drop down, then edit
presets. If you select the full siNe !I00 or -( preset then click ; it will duplicate that. !hen
make sure that @include metadata is unticked and click ok.
Conclusion
#o that <ust a3out wraps up my HD &uide. I hope you found it interestin& and a startin& point
for your own HD ima&es. #ome people see HD as <ust another fad 3ut I really 3eliee that
it could hae plenty of real world applications. I’m already e+hi3itin& a couple of my shots in
2ierpool. It definitely has its uses, 3ut as with eerythin& too much of a &ood thin& can 3e
3ad for you. 0eel free to check out my other HD photos.
Cre!its an! /in's
!hanks to stollerdos for directin& me to this &reat tutorial on HD that e+plained the sin&le
AW file trick.
• 2uminous 2andscape -hotoshop HD !utorial
• Hi&h Dynamic an&e Workshop
• How to create professional HD ima&es usin& -hotoshop
• HD from $ -(
• !he Definitie (uide to ealistic Hi&h Dynamic an&e Ima&es
• How to 1reate Hi&h Dynamic an&e Ima&es
• Modern HD photo&raphy, a how9to or #aturday mornin& rela+ation
7/23/2019 (Tutorial) High Dynamic Range - HDR
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• "ature#capes% !he HD 2andscapes !utorial
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