HDR Soft Essentials - 3.2 - Macintosh Operations Instructions download pdf (Page 4)

2Photomatix Essentials 3.2 User Manual

1.1 Taking Photos for HDR

Taking photos for HDR is easy. All it takes is a dierent mindset than for traditional photography, which

emphasizes taking and editing a single photo, independent from any others.

Instead of taking a single exposure of a scene, for HDR you take at least 3 exposures: one optimized for midrange

tones (as normal), plus one optimized for highlights and one optimized for shadows. This strategy for capturing

more of a scene’s true dynamic range, with exposures above and below a standard exposure, is called “exposure

bracketing”.

The resulting “bracketed set” of photos contains, as a group, more complete and true exposure information than

any single image capture can possibly contain. The purpose of HDR software like Photomatix Essentials is to

artfully combine this bracketed set into a single image, to achieve more faithful realism, heightened realism, or

artistic eect.

But these artistic choices come later. The rst step is capturing good bracketed sets.

1.1.1 Setting Up Your Camera

HDR photography requires that you set up your camera a bit dierently than normal:

• Set your camera to Aperture priority (“A” setting) so that only the shutter speed varies between the

exposures.

• Select a low ISO, such as ISO 100 or lower.

• Turn o the ash. The ash may try to balance the exposure of all the images, when the goal is a range of

exposures.

• Mount the camera on a tripod whenever possible. Even though Photomatix Essentials oers automatic

alignment of hand-held photos, using a tripod is always better.

DSLR cameras and some compact digital cameras oer Automatic

Exposure Bracketing (AEB). This enables you to automatically take three

or more exposures in a row; one at the proper exposure, one or more

underexposed, and one or more overexposed. Follow these steps if your

camera oers an AEB mode:

• Select the Continuous shooting mode on the camera’s drive setting.

Consult your camera manual for model-specic instructions for using

this setting.

• Set the camera to Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)

• If possible, use the camera’s self-timer setting, a remote control or a

cable release to minimize camera shake.

• Set the exposure increment to +/- 2 EV for optimal exposure range. If

your camera does not oer +/- 2 EV exposure increments, select the

maximum possible. Consult your camera’s manual for model-specic

instructions for choosing this setting.

Canon Rebel T2i/550D LCD showing

AEB with +/- 2 EV increments selected

AEB settings on a Nikon D7000

(3 frames, at +/- 2 EV)

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HDR Soft Essentials - 3.2 - Macintosh Operations Instructions Page 4