Christian Bloch who runs HDRlabs.com and is a VFX Artist at EdenFX just posted a great overview video on Vimeo. It covers using a high res HDR image as backdrop for an entire green screen scene. “The Advantage is total flexibiliy of viewpoint and exposure, leaving more time for detail enhancements and animations.”

He also posted a video “Demonstrating using Gigapano sized photographic imagery for rapid prototyping shots of city flyovers.”

Both are excellent examples of using images in a video/compositing post production environment. Even if you don’t intend to learn video editing or compositing they are worth watching just to see how the photos were used in concert with 3D/2D compositing.

Christian is the author of The HDRI Handbook which I wish I had found back when it was first released! It would have saved me time figuring out a ton of geeky stuff I found out on my own through various sources online. It is not a beginner’s book by any means, but an amazing reference.  He’s announced he is working on a 2nd edition this year and I’ll definitely be getting that one as well when it releases.

If you’ve followed me over the last year on Twitter you know I entered the realm of HDR in 2006 in order to get better results shooting real estate.  Why HDR for real esate photography you say? Simply because real estate photography and shooting interior architecture has been and still is one of the most difficult exposure challenges to solve in the realm of photography.  Consider this…

In many cases a shot needing to be captured to showcase a property needs to capture the exposure range of the interior and the range of the exterior. My question to you would be… “Have you ever shot landscape photography?”.  The reason I ask is because if you have, then I’m sure you’ve experienced the vast exposure range of the bright highlights and the dark shadows in those landscape shots.  Well, the shadow region of that landscape shot in 9 out of 10 images will be brighter than the brighter parts of an image for an interior shot.  Which is why when you need to capture the dynamic range of an interior and exterior for one image, you’ll begin to appreciate why HDR is utilized in real estate photography.

Here is a link to a recent shoot I just completed for a builder.

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/comps/ws/index.html

That day was one of those incredibly hazy days with a ton of glare.  The kind of glare that makes you squint badly when you are outside even when not facing the sun.  It seems to spill everywhere and bounce off of anything and everything.  Well, that light was blazing in through windows into the rooms pictured.  Even when rooms with ample window coverage allow light into the room it doesn’t fully solve the contrast ratio issue.  HDR to the rescue.

Can flash be used? Yes. Always? No, not always.  Sometimes rooms are so tight or full of mirrors and using flash isn’t just a pain, but nearly impossible because of reflections and the inability to even get the flash units into a room let alone try and keep them out of frame.  There is definitely a place for flash and I do use it from time to time for specific uses ( especially this issue YouTube Video LINK ), but because many of my shoots are for rental companies I don’t always have much time to shoot units and a run and gun style works best.  Basically bracketing and moving from room to room quickly and then editing via HDR/Tonemapping in post.

Back to the topic I started…. if you think it is difficult to capture well exposed shots shooting landscapes and you’ve never attempted to shoot interior architecture / real estate, then you haven’t experienced PAIN yet!  LOL!  Seriously.  Until you’ve attempted (regularly) to shoot real estate in daylight hours (not sunrise/dusk, but bright daylight), then you haven’t yet found out why HDR is so important and useful for architectural / real estate photography.  Because that is when you will find out the dynamic range from highlights to shadows indoors with no window in frame can be wide enough by itself and difficult enough to capture by itself that when you add an entirely new brightness range of outdoors into the mix, the reality of what digital sensors can capture becomes clear.

Again, flash can and does present itself as a solution.  But with reflections, shadows created by flash units, etc… flash is not always easy or realistic.  That said, HDR isn’t always the best option either.  It just so happens that HDR is what saves my butt in 90% of my shoots.

I’ve actually been surprised at how many photographers have emailed me inquiring about learning what I am doing.  I don’t know if it is because of the economy that photographers are looking to add real estate to the mix or if they just haven’t used HDR in their workflow before.  My challenge is that I remain so busy shooting and editing with my client base that I haven’t seen the need or the time to consider tutoring others or creating training. But I have noticed the interest level nonetheless.

The challenge is that I can’t teach what I do on a phone call or through an email and I have had to turn down even those who were offering payment for either or email/phone support.  Maybe in 2010 I’ll find some time to either create training or possibly do some kind of workshop, but as of now I’m (thankfully) looking at a very healthy shooting schedule this winter and spring.  Summer is usually my slowest time of year being I live in a summer beach town and when rentals are 100% occupied, there is less to shoot

Recently I tutored a photographer and while in Photoshop he mentioned that I’m a Photoshop Speed Demon. I’m not so sure I’m the fastest one out there, but I’ll tell you one thing that changed my life. It’s not a photoshop tip per se, it is a device that I use to speed up my workflow in photoshop (and other apps).

A brief run through history of how I got to this point. Like others (possibly yourself), I wanted to increase my productivity by converting repetitive tasks into actions that I could play back with keyboard short cuts.  So I created a dozen or so actions, associated keyboard shortcuts to those actions and for awhile I was content.

Then one night it dawned on me. Rather than keyboard shortcuts which take two or three keys pressed to activate, how could I dumb it down to one key.  More importantly, how could I get those one key strokes in one place on the keyboard, but also gather things like the “[" and "]” keys which control the brush size for when I want to paint on a mask or work with the stamp tool, clone tool, etc, etc.

I took a peak around sometime around 2008 and I settled on the Nostromo n52 (pictured below). The belkin nostromo n52 product link is HERE

As you can see, it has a keypad and a thumb joystick and various other buttons.  Now I’m not going to bore you with the details of each button and what I assigned it to, but when I am working in Photoshop I only need my mouse and that nostromo n52 gaming pad.  I don’t even touch my keyboard, but once or twice an hour when using Photoshop.  I’ll share a few vital keystrokes and anyone that does work with layers will relate to how easy this is for me now.

With my left hand on the pad, my left index finger sits on the top right key which I mapped as the “B” key to toggle on the BRUSH tool.  The key to the left of it is my middle finger and I’ve mapped that to the “X” key to switch back and forth between foreground/background colors which I usually have at White/Black for when dealing with masks.  The thumb joystick is where I mapped the “[" and "]” keys.  So if I press higher (top key on joystick) it bumps the size of the brush up a notch, pressing down makes the size of the brush lower.

As you can see with that index finger, one tap I get the brush tool and my thumb controls the size up or down and my middle finger switches the foreground/background color of the brush white/black so I can easily paint on masks very quickly.  I of course have another key stroke equal to command+Z for undo.   Also, that big red button above the joystick control I have set to command+shift+F which brings up the fade dialogue box.  So no matter if I just laid down a stroke or ANYTHING else in photoshop and want to fade that effect by 1-100%, that big red button brings up that dialogue.  For a final comment I have that key below the joystick for the thumb set to the spacebar for when I want to grab the canvas and pan, etc.

There are actually 14 keys on the pad plus a scroll wheel that can be pressed down like a key press and scrolled in either direction for additional commands.  Many of the keys on that keypad I have mapped to shortcuts to actions in the action panel.  Some of those actions are very intense 3-10 step actions that I used to do repetitively over and over using the mouse, keyboard and menu system.  Now they are just one key presses and my left hand doesn’t have to play “twister” all over the main keyboard as it used to.

Now here is the mind blowing part.  There are actually 3 “states” the keypad can be in so that technically the pad can be put in quickly so that you actually can map all those keys three times over.  That is information overload for me and I thought it would actually defeat my goal of one click key pressing so I ignored it.  The n52 works on Mac and PC, but I bought it two years ago so check the specs before you purchase.

Now did this take me a little while to play with and to get used to? Yes.  It took me a week before it stopped costing me more time to recall what each keystroke was equal to, but I have saved countless hours since by speeding up my edit sessions for portraits, landscapes and real estate shoots.  And photoshop is not the only application I use it in.

And when I want to switch to my PC I just unplug the USB connection and then go plug it in my PC and work with the PC apps I use.  Of course this means keystrokes for that new app are different, but I was surprised at how well I could compartmentalize things from app to app (your mileage may vary).

There may be better devices on the market than the n52, but it works for me and my hand sits comfortably on the hand cradle so that I can use it for many hours a day without strain. I also have a Wacom Intuos 6×8 tablet which I use when those rare edits benefit from from time to time as well, but I’ve found I’m far faster with a mouse and the n52.

Even though we saw the unique implementation of in camera HDR capture by both Pentax and Sony models, I have to tip my hat to the Promote Control as the “HDR Gear of the Year” award.  It allows even entry level DSLRs become HDR capture machines that exceed the capabilities of even the highest end Nikons and Canons.

Promote Control

I first touched on the Promote Control last summer and then followed up with another post about it and created a couple of video tutorials showing the product and its features.  My last post about it and what it does is linked here:
http://hdriblog.com/promote-control-turns-ordinary-dslrs-into-hdr-capture-machines/

The device’s unique benefit (besides the HDR and Timelapse modes themselves) is how you can sell off your current Nikon or Canon body and flip to the other system and still be able to use the Promote Control on that supported camera body (see their site for list of compatible models).  Another interesting fact is you can buy say a Nikon D40 which has NO in camera AEB support at all and simply attaching the promote control changes all that.  Suddenly cameras which were crippled with no AEB or only 3 AEB are able to capture wider ranges and with more control over the settings.

That said, it is important to understand you are still limited by your camera’s mechanical capabilities. If your camera’s shutter speed can’t go faster than say 1/2000 or 1/4000 of a second for example, then you obviously can’t take as wide of a capture as a camera that can go to 1/8000 of a second.  It’s just common sense and only becomes a real issue if shooting in very brite sun and/or wide open.

What I neglected to cover in the post this summer was the Promote Control also sports a Timelapse Mode (separate from HDR mode).  Some folks who bought on my recommendation later emailed me with thanks for getting them to buy the Promote Control simply because they were loving the timelapse feature that their cameras don’t provide.  As a side note, even though the older Canon 5D (original) is not supported for HDR Capture using the promote control, that 5D can however use the Promote Control’s “Timelapse” mode.  Just an FYI worth noting ( I used to have a 5D and loved it ).

A feature the developer is aware of that I and others have requested is HDR Timelapse.  Currently you can do Timelapse or you can do HDR Capture, but not both.  The workaround is to daisy chain two Promote Controls together in order to get HDR Timelapse, but that is of course expensive.  Basically one Promote Control has settings for Timelapse, the second HDR.  The developer has addressed the demand for this feature and has committed to taking a serious look at implementing it in a future firmware update (maybe… as in maybe they can or maybe they can’t pull it off), but they are aware of the desire for it from current customers and potential customers.  If that is a deal breaker for you, then email them saying you’d buy it if it was available and maybe they’ll act faster!

Personally I am spoiled by the fact that the D3 can do HDR Timelapse natively, but it would be nice if I could use the Promote Control instead because the D3 is limited to 9 AEB +/-1EV for HDR Capture (which is the equivalent of 5 AEB +/-2EV).  Now that may sound like a lot of range, but for shooting real estate interiors on the beach, it isn’t enough for shots with windows in frame combined with dungeon dark living space.  Each range by itself without the other is generally a full 5-9AEB +/-1EV.  So if the Promote Control can get a firmware update to HDR Timelapse, I’ll be a happy camper.

A great device for HDR Capture Mode and Timelapse Mode as is though.  Highly recommended for HDR captures.