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Stuck In Customs » HDR Tutorial - Featuring HDR 2.0

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Saved by 29 people (13 private), first by anonymouse user on 2007-11-07


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I hope this tutorial describing my evolving HDR techniques proves useful to you! I receive a lot of emails from people who stumble across my photography asking how I do this. Rather than sending a super-long response, I made this little tutorial because I was feeling particularly open-source one day. I keep this blog and try to post one interesting picture per day. About 75% of my work is HDR, so if you hang out on StuckInCustoms.com, I’ll do my best to keep fresh images for you to see every day!

Highlighted by paulhoff

What is HDR?

HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a software technique of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed.

Highlighted by oroaetus

HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a software technique of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed

Highlighted by whertha

As opposed to the camera shutter and aperture, the human eye actually scans the scene at a very high rate of speed, constantly adjusting the pupil diameter to adjust the light and color levels.

Highlighted by wintermute314

If you buy Photomatix, be sure to use the discount coupon code “StuckInCustoms“, you’ll be set up.

Highlighted by wintermute314

I have selected the most common choices that I make.

Highlighted by luisico

I have selected the most common choices that I make. That “Ghosting” area never seems to work so well for me, so I don’t check it. I have a better method for ghosting that I will show you later.

Highlighted by wintermute314

crank up the White Point and Black Point bars to give it some punch and contrast

Highlighted by luisico

slide the Luminosity bar over to the right as far as I can before it looks too flat. The further right the Lum bar is, the less halo effect you get as well

Highlighted by luisico

I like to crank up the White Point and Black Point bars to give it some punch and contrast. I also like to slide the Luminosity bar over to the right as far as I can before it looks too flat. The further right the Lum bar is, the less halo effect you get as well. If you don’t know what the “Halo” effect is, you will soon enough - especially with daytime shots. Another way to combat that is with the next few steps I go through below.

Highlighted by wintermute314