To understand what HDR is, just look at the photos taken in this technique. We see a contrasting image with good detail in both light and dark areas. For comparison, you can look at a photo of the same area without HDR technology.
When a person looks at an area, his vision adapts to the lighting and details become clearly visible. The gaze rebuilds to different lighting quite quickly, so we can easily admire landscapes with complex lighting. In addition, the dynamic range that a person sees is large enough, which cannot be said about cameras.
If the camera adjusts the exposure for the highlights, they become normally distinguishable with all the details, but the shadows become completely black and there is a loss of detail in these areas. If you adjust the exposure for dark areas, detail will disappear in the overexposed areas.
HDR technology is designed to remove this limitation.
How does it look in practice?
- The camera is mounted on a tripod. All pictures should be taken from one place without the slightest camera movement. To completely eliminate camera vibrations, you need to shoot with a cable or a timer. You need to take several frames.
- Photos are taken with different exposures. In this case, the diaphragm should not change.
- Then the received frames are combined on the computer. Various programs can be used, but one of the best is Photomatix Pro.
Practical lesson
Step 1: Exploring Camera Features
The manuals are pretty boring to read, but don't underestimate their importance. You need to learn all the functions of the camera in order to fully master all the tools and settings that the device offers. Particular attention should be paid to manual settings.
Step 2: Exploring Exposure Bracketing
Bracketing is the creation of several frames with different settings of a parameter. Bracketing makes it as easy as possible to get three or more frames with different exposures. You only need to press the shutter button once to capture a series of shots. If there is no bracketing function, you can take three shots manually by entering exposure compensation in turn.
Step 3. Aperture Priority Mode
Since the aperture value should be the same throughout the series of shots, this mode is best suited. You can also use fully manual mode, but this is not necessary.
Step 4. Metering mode
If you are not very familiar with the metering capabilities, then it is best to use evaluative (integral). The rest of the modes can also come in handy when shooting HDR, but they show their usefulness much less often. It all depends on the specific scene.
Step 5. White balance
White balance is most commonly used automatic, but don't always rely on automatic white balance. Sometimes it is worth setting the exact value of this parameter. It depends on the scene being filmed, weather, environment, etc.
Step 6. ISO
The ISO value should be set the same as in normal shooting, that is, as low as possible, so that the noise does not spoil the picture. But there is one nuance here. HDR photos are especially sensitive to noise, so this parameter should be given special attention. In case of a lack of light when shooting stationary subjects, it is better to reduce the ISO as much as possible and increase the shutter speed.
Step 7. Tripod
A tripod is undoubtedly a must for HDR shooting. It allows not only to rigidly fix the camera in one place, but also to place it in sometimes not the most convenient places for shooting. The main choice is the type of tripod. In general, they do not differ much from each other in terms of the general principle of operation, but there are differences in mounting, size, presence of levels, etc.
Step 8. Remote shutter release
Even on a tripod, the camera can shake when you press the shutter button, so it's best to use a timer or cable release.
Step 9. Lens
Most often HDR is used when shooting cityscapes or natural landscapes. Therefore, a wide angle lens is the best choice.
But HDR can be used in any style of photography, so the rest of the lens types shouldn't be discounted.
Step 10. Manual focus
Autofocus can fail, no matter how modern it is. He can trivially focus the camera on a close object. This can cause the rest of the frame to become blurry. If your goal is to create a landscape shot with maximum detail, then it is worth switching to manual focus mode and setting the value to infinity. Thus, everything that appears in the field of view of the camera will be sharp.
Step 11 Leveling
A blocked horizon is the most unpleasant error that can be easily corrected programmatically, but why unnecessary actions. After all, it is better to do everything right at once. Some tripods have built-in levels, but if you don't have one, you can buy a separate bubble level that attaches to the hot shoe. You can somehow adapt the usual building level.
