HDR How-To Anyone?

[amykillianphotography]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the right place to post this or not but here goes.

I've been asked to take a picture of our new corporate office building. Nothing spectacular, just for a slideshow at our annual meeting. However, I'd like to *wow* them so they continue to ask me to do these things in the future. I saw some awesome "HDR" shots on here and I think that technique would be great for this shot. Trouble is, I don't even really know what an HDR shot is, other than it's multiple shots somehow merged together.

Anyone want to offer me a quick tutorial? Best time of day to shoot? Do you just shoot multiple shots at multiple exposures then merge in PS? And how do you merge them in PS?

Thanks all! :)

[PixelMagic]

http://www.vanilladays.com/hdr-guide/

[S.E.V.]

I find it hard for some of the shot on that site to be HDR, like the one of all the protesters and the one of the dancers. How in the world can you shoot off 3 different exposure shots with out the subject moving????? Impossible, unless the all stand still. Taking a single exposure image then from that images producing a - & + exposure image then merging them together is not and HDR image either. You loose detail in the shot when processed that way.

Things you need:
Camera and lens (duh!)
Tripod
Wired remote or wireless remote
Set the cameras AEb to -2,0,+2
Set your ISO to accommodate the subject you are shooting
You may need to use filter as well, depending on the scene you are shooting.
Then fire away.

You may want to very carefully set the AEB bracket to -1,0,+1 and fire off that range as well. You need to do it very carefully in order of not to move the camera from its set spot.

Software need I personally like photomatix, photoshop can be used but it is more complicated then photomatix.

Photomatix (http://www.hdrsoft.com/examples.html)
HDR with CS2 (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml)

Please do not get confused with taking a single exposure image and heavily tone mapping and editing it to look like an HDR image cause that is not what it is about. You must take 3-7 different exposure images with the camera in order for it to be a true HDR image. A lot of people get HDR imaging wrong for that reason. Also the scene you are shooting must have a high dyamic range. Not all things shot can be turned into an HDR image. Do some more research and you will find out for yourself. Hope this helps. Also look at the bottom of the page at the similar thread and browse through them.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Sevan

[Tdragone]

Sometimes -2,0,+2 exposure works, but depending on the subject it may not.

Pick an Aperture and stick with it. Then in M mode figure out what shutter speed you need to properly expose all areas that will be in your photo. The lightest, mid-range and darkest areas of the picture.

Put the camera on a tripod, and shoot all the shutter speeds you noted before, plus a few in between if you have large gaps.

Then either use PS or (recommended) photomatix to do the rest.

The secret to good HDR's is getting everything in the pic exposed correctly. Once you have that covered, the rest is just small tweaks in the s/w of your choice to fine tune.

[sf1]

Have a look here....good videos to watch from going through Photomatix and then bring the file into PS for final adjustments:
http://photocamel.com/forum/local_links.php?catid=27

[maxsoul]

If you know how to use command line then this (enfuse) freeware is easier I think! http://wiki.panotools.org/Enfuse

[Soliz387]

Here's a very good link i found for step by step processing. .hope the link works http://stuckincustoms.com/2006/06/06/548/

[amykillianphotography]

Wow! Thank you all for all of your help! :):) I'll try to post my results in the next week or two.