AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Before you start
Equipment needed: Any interchangeable lens camera (ILC), a tripod and HDR software
Objective: Find out more about high dynamic range (HDR) photography and learn how to take your own HDR shots.
Time required: 15 minutes to read Sometimes when you take a photo, the highlight (bright) or shadow (dark) regions come out lacking in details. Why is this so? Simply put, the camera's imaging sensor wasn't able to capture the entire tonal range of the scene. A camera's sensor can either accommodate for only the highlight or the shadow areas, but not both. Hence, some photographers employ a technique called high-dynamic range, or HDR, to work around this limitation.
HDR photos are a great way to express your shots if you want to show all the details in a picture. Some compacts and Sony dSLRs have an onboard HDR function, but they have limited control over the merging process.
In this lesson, we'll teach you how to take HDR images with an ILC and provide tips to get you started.
Bracket your shots
\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Technology Curve\cnet asia/bracket2.jpg)
Your ILC should have an option to let you bracket your shots. Bracketing means taking the same picture with different exposure values. You'll need to do this because HDR photos are actually a combination of shots of the same scene at different exposures, merged to show all the details.
The bracketing function will let you take three, five or seven photos. Out of these photos that you snap, one of them will be correctly exposed while the others will be over- or underexposed. If you are not sure where the bracketing function on your camera is, check the user manual.
\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Technology Curve\cnet asia/comparison101600x450.jpg)
When taking the photo, it is always advisable to use a tripod to fix the camera in position. This is because in order for an HDR photo to be perfect, all the photos should have the same field of view and shot from the same position. Any misalignment of the shots can affect the final picture and make it look blurry.
For best results, choose a scene that has a high contrast. This way, the bracketed shots will capture all the details in highlight and shadow areas, and the combined image will depict all of these in one photo.
Processing HDR images
\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Technology Curve\cnet asia/unprocessed600x450.jpg)
An unprocessed image with correct exposure.
When you are done shooting, transfer the pictures to your computer. Next, you'll need a software with an HDR merging function. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop Elements 8 have this option. Alternatively, you can use free third-party applications such as Picturenaut to blend the pictures together.\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Technology Curve\cnet asia/processing600x450.jpg)
Typically, the software will ask you to select the photos you want to merge to HDR. Choose the three, five or seven photos which you've taken of the same scene.\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Technology Curve\cnet asia/processed600x450.jpg)
A processed HDR shot.
Once selected, most programs will show you a preview of how the processed HDR photo will look. It should also let you tweak the parameters such as contrast and saturation. Here, you can decide if you want your HDR shot to look natural or surreal by adjusting these options. It is up to your personal preference, so experiment with different settings until you are satisfied with the result.
RAW or JPEG?
You may wonder if you should shoot in RAW or JPEG format. For HDR photos, it's ok to shoot in just JPEG. But if you are really particular about details, you can capture in RAW. But remember, you will have to process the RAW images to either JPEG or TIFF first before putting them through the HDR merging software.
Some photographers will use one RAW photo for their HDR shots. When they process the RAW picture, they make three copies of it, with one underexposed, one overexposed and the other correctly exposed. This is akin to bracketing, but done on the computer. There is a caveat though, and that is that you will be limited to how much information there is in the single RAW picture. For best HDR effects, it's still better to take multiple shots and merge them.
Mini assignment
This assignment requires you to use the bracketing technique taught above and make your own HDR shots. If you don't have Adobe Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Elements, you can use free software such as Picturenaut to merge your shots. Some programs such as Photomatix have a "lite" version which has all the functions of the full version, save that it places a watermark on the processed photo.
If you want your pictures to be evaluated, resize the images (as shown below) and rename them as such: _.jpg, such as johndoe_hdr.jpg.
Send the pictures to us and we will give you feedback on your shots and how to improve on them.
Resizing pictures
If you are using Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, open the photo in the program and go to Image > Resize and set the width to 1,000 pixels. Use the Save As option and save the picture in JPEG format with the compression set at 6 to minimize file size for sending over the Web.
Alternatively, you can use Windows Paint and go to Image > Attributes and resize the image as mentioned above. Again, use the Save As option and save it as a JPEG image.
» Week Six: HDR photography
» Week Seven: Fast-moving subjects
» Week Eight: Portrait photography
» Week Nine: Video recording
» Week Ten: Accessories & maintenance
View the original article here
AppId is over the quota
Before you start
Equipment needed: Any interchangeable lens camera (ILC), a tripod and HDR software
Objective: Find out more about high dynamic range (HDR) photography and learn how to take your own HDR shots.
Time required: 15 minutes to read Sometimes when you take a photo, the highlight (bright) or shadow (dark) regions come out lacking in details. Why is this so? Simply put, the camera's imaging sensor wasn't able to capture the entire tonal range of the scene. A camera's sensor can either accommodate for only the highlight or the shadow areas, but not both. Hence, some photographers employ a technique called high-dynamic range, or HDR, to work around this limitation.
HDR photos are a great way to express your shots if you want to show all the details in a picture. Some compacts and Sony dSLRs have an onboard HDR function, but they have limited control over the merging process.
In this lesson, we'll teach you how to take HDR images with an ILC and provide tips to get you started.
Bracket your shots
Your ILC should have an option to let you bracket your shots. Bracketing means taking the same picture with different exposure values. You'll need to do this because HDR photos are actually a combination of shots of the same scene at different exposures, merged to show all the details.
The bracketing function will let you take three, five or seven photos. Out of these photos that you snap, one of them will be correctly exposed while the others will be over- or underexposed. If you are not sure where the bracketing function on your camera is, check the user manual.
When taking the photo, it is always advisable to use a tripod to fix the camera in position. This is because in order for an HDR photo to be perfect, all the photos should have the same field of view and shot from the same position. Any misalignment of the shots can affect the final picture and make it look blurry.
For best results, choose a scene that has a high contrast. This way, the bracketed shots will capture all the details in highlight and shadow areas, and the combined image will depict all of these in one photo.
Processing HDR images
An unprocessed image with correct exposure.
When you are done shooting, transfer the pictures to your computer. Next, you'll need a software with an HDR merging function. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop Elements 8 have this option. Alternatively, you can use free third-party applications such as Picturenaut to blend the pictures together.
Typically, the software will ask you to select the photos you want to merge to HDR. Choose the three, five or seven photos which you've taken of the same scene.
A processed HDR shot.
Once selected, most programs will show you a preview of how the processed HDR photo will look. It should also let you tweak the parameters such as contrast and saturation. Here, you can decide if you want your HDR shot to look natural or surreal by adjusting these options. It is up to your personal preference, so experiment with different settings until you are satisfied with the result.
RAW or JPEG?
You may wonder if you should shoot in RAW or JPEG format. For HDR photos, it's ok to shoot in just JPEG. But if you are really particular about details, you can capture in RAW. But remember, you will have to process the RAW images to either JPEG or TIFF first before putting them through the HDR merging software.
Some photographers will use one RAW photo for their HDR shots. When they process the RAW picture, they make three copies of it, with one underexposed, one overexposed and the other correctly exposed. This is akin to bracketing, but done on the computer. There is a caveat though, and that is that you will be limited to how much information there is in the single RAW picture. For best HDR effects, it's still better to take multiple shots and merge them.
Mini assignment
This assignment requires you to use the bracketing technique taught above and make your own HDR shots. If you don't have Adobe Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Elements, you can use free software such as Picturenaut to merge your shots. Some programs such as Photomatix have a "lite" version which has all the functions of the full version, save that it places a watermark on the processed photo.
If you want your pictures to be evaluated, resize the images (as shown below) and rename them as such: _.jpg, such as johndoe_hdr.jpg.
Send the pictures to us and we will give you feedback on your shots and how to improve on them.
Resizing pictures
If you are using Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, open the photo in the program and go to Image > Resize and set the width to 1,000 pixels. Use the Save As option and save the picture in JPEG format with the compression set at 6 to minimize file size for sending over the Web.
Alternatively, you can use Windows Paint and go to Image > Attributes and resize the image as mentioned above. Again, use the Save As option and save it as a JPEG image.
» Week Six: HDR photography
» Week Seven: Fast-moving subjects
» Week Eight: Portrait photography
» Week Nine: Video recording
» Week Ten: Accessories & maintenance
View the original article here