Tips for Using HDR ( Bharat, Brian)
November 2008To reduce noise convert images to TIFF first before using HDR software to reduce noise Keep camera ISO low as HDR conversion increases noise (100 = 400 in conversion) Shoot a bracketed series rather than using a single RAW file. Most bracketing is 3 shots - 1 over/under and 0 -but possible to do 5 (2 &1 over, and ) for more contrasty shots. Shoot Aperture Priority to avoid focus shifts. Fully manual is the way to go after taking a series of spot metering readings from bright to dark areas of the composition. Use a tripod and cable release for bracketed exposures - HDR programs have trouble aligning images! Single Shot HDR works (i.e. Convert a RAW image into 3 TIFF/jpg files at different exposures) but in contrasty shots there could be a lot of noise and extreme tones. Adjust the final tonemapped image for the "usual suspects" - levels, colour, noise, and sharpness in PhotoShop, PS Elements(any version), Lightroom, or Aperture. But for some shots, especially if you have a sky, you may notice banding or posterization - for this process use the closest RAW file for that area and then just blend it in on a layer." Resources:
Software: Pangeasoft.net Mediachance.com Hdrsoft.com Creaceed.com PhotoShop CS3 Links: Panotools.org Vanilladays.com Beginner's Guide to HDR | The 23x blog Thedigitalphotographyconnection.com Lightroomkillertips.com 1 Lightroomkillertips.com 2 Articles Digital Photo, "HDR made easy" pp52-63, Spring, 2008. Bauer Consumer Media, UK www.photoanswers.co.uk