PHOTOGRAPHY

 What does HDR mean in photography and how do you use it correctly?

  Photography, which was once only a passion, is now a full-time profession for many.

  To help professionals achieve the best effect, many new technologies have been introduced in this field. With modern cameras and advanced equipment, photographers can now perfectly capture every angle.

  One of the latest technologies, which has taken photography to new heights, is a high dynamic range or HDR photography.

  This tutorial will show you what HDR means in photography, how it can affect your photos, and how to use it to create natural-looking photos./

HDR in photography 

   What do we mean by HDR in photography?

  HDR in photography is an acronym for “High Dynamic Range”

  Dynamic range is basically just the difference between light areas and shadows that you can capture in a photo.

  If you take a photo using HDR technology meaning high dynamic range, everything in the photo will be clear even those areas with shadows will see their elements clearly in the photo.

  When you want to capture a scene that includes, for example, the bright sun in the sky and a lot of shadows in the ground, the camera will not be able to capture everything clearly in the image, as the sky will be very bright because of the sun, and the shadows will be black and its details cannot be seen.

  So, photographers have come up with a way to solve this problem: HDR photography. Its goal is simply to capture details in bright places and at the same time capture details in dark places or shadows.

  Dynamic range in our eyes!

  The dynamic range in our eyes is very high – which is why we can see detail in shadows and detail in highlights simultaneously.

  For example, take a moment and look at the room around you. Most likely, you will see your room well lit (whether due to a window or artificial light) and you will also see dark shadows where the light does not reach.

  However, our eyes can generally see the entire dynamic range within a room. That is, you can see the details in the shadows and at the same time, you can see the details in the lit places (highlights).

  But when shooting with the camera, it is different, if you are trying to see details in the shadow areas of your room, the camera will brighten the entire room, meaning everything becomes very bright and so you will see the details in the shadows.

  The opposite is true, when you go out, for example, if you want to capture details in clouds and bright sky, the camera will not be able to show details in the dark shadows on the ground.

  I'm sure you've had the experience of trying to take a picture of a friend standing in front of a beautiful sunset. You will get a picture that either your friend is cute and bright, the sky behind him is all white or very bright, or the sky looks cool and colorful and your friend is black.

   How does HDR work in photography?

  An HDR photo is actually 3 photos (or five, seven, or more) taken at different brightness levels or exposures and then combined in editing software to create one better photo.

  For example, you'll take a dark photo of a scene, a bright photo of the same scene, and a medium photo, and then combine them into an editing program like Lightroom or Photoshop to get one great photo that contains much more detail than is possible in a single photo with a single exposure.

  Some cameras come with HDR technology. You just have to activate the HDR mode and take a picture and the camera will do all the work for you to end up with one very good picture.

  HDR photography works best when you install the camera on a tripod so that there is no movement and in the end, you will get pictures that are not the same and cannot be combined into one picture.

   When should HDR be used in photography?

  There are several situations where HDR photography can come in handy when used well. Some of these situations include indoor photography, landscapes, nightscapes, and dramatic skies.

  Sunrise and sunset also make perfect HDR photos.

  A photo taken during the golden hour (the first hour after sunset and the last hour before sunset) does not look like what you see with your eyes. Depending on how you adjust the exposure settings, you can find the following:

•   The sky is bright and bright while the foreground is dark with very little detail.

•   The front is well exposed, but the sky looks dull.

•   The sky is perfect, but the foreground is completely black.

  Using HDR technology in photography will solve these problems for you.

  Another thing, don't use HDR when photographing a scene with moving things like a crowded city scene because you will get pictures that are not the same, and you will find a big problem in the merging stage.

   Camera settings for HDR photography

  Here is a shortlist of camera settings for taking photos to combine into an HDR photo:

• Set the camera to save the image in RAW format; There are many benefits to shooting RAW See my article on The difference between shooting in RAW and shooting in JPEG to find out why you should shoot in RAW.

• Use the lowest value of  ISO which is usually ISO100.

• Set Aperture and do not change it; If you change the aperture of the lens every time you take a picture, you will get different images in terms of depth of field, meaning, you may get a picture with a narrow depth of field, meaning the background in the image will be blurry, and another picture with a depth of field, i.e. the background is clear, so you cannot combine these images later.

• Adjust Shutter Speed ​​in each photo to get photos with different exposures; Set the shutter speed to a value to get an image of medium brightness. Take the first picture. Adjust it again to give you a bright photo where all the details of the black spots in the scene appear and then take the second photo. Reset it but this time to give you a slightly darker image so you can see the detail of the bright places then take the third image.

• Adjust the focus manually; When you set the focus to automatic, it will jump every time you take a picture, meaning the camera may focus on a tree, for example in the scene, and in the second picture the focus may jump to a mountain and so on. When manually adjusting the focus it will stay in place. All information about focus in photography you can find in this link.

  There you have the photos, you still just have to merge them in Lightroom or in Photoshop.

  The important thing, above I gave an example with only 3 photos you can take as many photos as you want that will ensure you get an amazing HDR photo.

  The number of photos you need to take depends largely on your scene, equipment, subject, light assessment skills, and editing style. What matters is capturing all the details from the darkest to the brightest spots in your photo, as well as everything in between.

   Take multiple photos using the camera's Exposure Bracketing feature

  When you take a series of photos that will later be combined into a final HDR image, you are actually manually taking what is referred to as a range of different exposures.

  You can simplify this by taking advantage of the camera's Exposure Bracketing feature. As the camera will do the task of capturing different exposures in the photos, you do nothing.

  The beauty of Exposure Bracketing is that you can configure settings with your camera, then capture a full range of exposures for an HDR photo with just a tap of the shutter button. This approach makes it remarkably easy to incorporate HDR into your landscape photography.

  Look for the button labeled AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing) or BKT on the back of the camera, or look for it in the (Menu). Most cameras offer three-photo AE bracketing, although some models allow five-shot and up to seven-shot bracketing.

  Use your camera's correction function and shoot in 2 EV steps if you are doing three arcs, or 1 EV step if you are doing five arcs. For example: -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 works great in most situations.

   Merge images into an editing program

  Lightroom and Photoshop

  Lightroom and Photoshop have a photo merging mode. Doing so allows you to combine different images into a single HDR image.

  This video tutorial shows you how to combine photos into a single HDR image using Photoshop:

  Photomatix/Photomatix Pro

  Photomatix is ​​the #1 popular HDR software. You can automatically re-import photos from Lightroom.

  It contains many options and presets. You can choose different ways to create HDR. Some of the tools you can use include Detail enhancer, Tone mapping, and more.

  Photomatix Pro comes with a plug-in for Lightroom called "Merge 32 bit". This feature creates a basic 32-bit HDR image that you can edit in Lightroom.

  This video tutorial shows you how to combine photos into a single HDR photo using Photomatic Pro:

  HDR photography mobile apps

  Many phone cameras have HDR functionality in the default camera app. But you can also try dedicated apps like True HDR and Pro HDR X.

   HDR mode on cameras

  As cameras have become more advanced, most manufacturers are now installing Auto HDR mode in their systems.

  With this mode, you will get an HDR photo with great detail, the only difference is that everything is done in the camera.

  The way Auto HDR works is very simple. The camera will take a series of photos with different exposures and then automatically combine them into an HDR photo. And get rid of the original string. All you get is the final HDR picture.

  And since the camera takes a quick batch of shots, you don't need a tripod as it reduces differences in alignment between shots - though it's best used if you have one on hand to ensure better accuracy.

  For complete control over creativity, professionals will still want to shoot a batch of RAW photos and manually combine them to get an HDR photo with every detail. But for those new to HDR, Auto HDR is a great way to get started.

   Common HDR problems in photography

  flatten the image

  An HDR image contains a huge amount of data that can be extracted, and dark areas can be brightened a lot to reveal the smallest details. But that doesn't mean you should do it.

  Flattening the image by reducing the contrast between the original bright and dark areas is often bad practice. It makes the image look less natural, hard to understand,, and not really attractive.

  black clouds

  Another common error with HDR in landscape photography is allowing clouds to turn black.

  Sure, black clouds are real in bad weather, but puffy clouds scattered across the blue sky are mostly white. You have to keep it that way in your HDR image.

  Auras

  Haloes around high contrast edges are the first indication that you've overprocessed your image by boosting contrast and sharpness too much. These halos are typical of many HDR images posted on the internet and are simply nonsense.

  If you encounter one of these problems, either reduce the number of images you combine or re-edit the final image in the editing software.

    Conclusion

  You should learn to use HDR because you will find it useful in situations where you only need greater detail. Just remember that you don't need to create unrealistic HDR photos. Instead, use our tips to help you get natural results.

  Above all, remember that these tips are nothing more than loose guidelines. Of course, it's good advice, but don't let our advice get in the way of your artistic motivation. Try and play a lot, and you'll start to feel it for yourself.