I’ve recently used the Pentax k-x a bit more to test out the in camera HDR feature.  At first I was under whelmed, but like usual, I messed with settings on my own until I got results I’m happy with.  Maybe not elated with, but happy/satisfied.  First I’ll post a few images, then I’ll explain how I tweaked camera settings to get to a warm, happy place.  Again, these shots were not single frame captures, they utilized the Pentax k-x merge to HDR (in camera) feature and then I tweaked them quickly in post. (They were all taken with the Pentax K-x “kit” lens)

I initially discussed the Pentax k-x some time ago and you can see my comments and test shots from that post: http://hdriblog.com/pentax-k-x-initial-test/

I still do not like the results from using the “HDR Strong” which is also HDR 2 under the two in camera HDR settings.  ”HDR Standard” which is also HDR 1 under the menu settings is less dramatic and the following workflow is what I used to get the image results above.

If you’ve never tried this k-x setting you need to do a few things to your camera settings…

1. Press the MENU button to go into the Menu settings and change file format to JPEG and press the menu button again to get back to the typical LCD settings.

2. Then press the INFO button which is just above the Menu button. On the top line over to the right four squares is the menu option “HDR OFF“.  You can change this option two ways.  You can highlight that option and then use the scroll wheel with your thumb moving it to the right to flip to HDR 1, then HDR 2  –OR– you can highlight HDR OFF and press the OK button and then a screen pops up with the three options and just select the one you want and hit OK again.  Obviously, the fastest way to do this is the first way I described.  Highlight HDR OFF and then use the scroll wheel to change it to HDR 1 or HDR 2.  You’ll see shortly why that scroll wheel is the better option.

Each of the images above are a combination of two captures that I brought into photoshop.  Those two captures which were shot from the EXACT same location on a tri-pod were taken by….

1. First taking a shot using the “HDR-1″ setting (also called HDR Standard).
2. Press and hold the shutter so that it takes the 3 consecutive shots (it is auto bracketing and will then immediately process the three shots over the next 10-12 seconds).
3. Then hit the INFO button & scroll the wheel to the right once to select “HDR-2″ (also called HDR Strong) and again press/hold the shutter to fire off the second bracket.

Now here’s the key… Before taking each exposure I forced the exposure compensation to at LEAST +1EV for each of the above outside shots and adjusted the interior shots up by almost +2EV.  That can be changed by using your right index finger and holding down the button just to the left of the shutter then use your right thumb to scroll the wheel to the right to increase the EV number.  Why do this? …

.. because I found if you fire off the camera when in either of the two HDR modes with exposure compensation set at ZERO, the merge to HDR and in camera tonemapping seems to over crush the highlights and you end up with very “dirty” mid tones and darker shadows than you would want ideally.

The camera is of course firing off three images. One under exposed, one middle, one over exposed.  It then merges those 3 bracketed shots to HDR in-camera, it then processes and tonemaps the HDR and saves the result as a JPEG.  You can’t get anything but a JPEG as a final file (unfortunately).

When I got back from shooting, I would then open the first shot (HDR 1 / HDR Standard) in photoshop.  Then FILE>PLACE the second image  (HDR  2 / HDR Strong) over top of the first image. I then drop the opacity of the top layer (HDR Strong) to about 30% as a starting point and then change its blend mode in the layers palette to either OVERLAY or SOFT LIGHT.  Then I just adjust opacity of that layer up or down to get the feel of the image to a satisfying level.  Save and export.

You may find that you like the HDR Strong layer better than the HDR Standard (your call and whatever floats your boat).  If so, simply reverse the layers so that the bottom layer is HDR Strong image and with the standard NORMAL blend mode and then have the top level be the HDR Standard image and change its opacity and blend mode as described above.

GOTCHAS - If you moved the camera slightly when you switched the camera menu settings between shots, you may need to use Photoshop’s align feature.  You click the bottom layer and shift select the other layer so they are both selected.  Then from the file menu EDIT>AUTO ALIGN LAYERS to have photoshop align the pixels.

UPSIDE:
You don’t need to do any MERGE to HDR and tonemapping because the Pentax k-x HDR Mode is doing that for you.

DOWNSIDE:
Fast moving objects make this two pronged approach a challenge and works best with static scenes. You need to use a tri-pod for best results. The time the k-x takes to process each shot can slow you down when shooting like this. You need a program that utilizes blend modes like Photoshop or a free application like GIMP (which is an open source, photoshop “like” app).

The 72 dpi myth was something that had me scratching my head years ago.  I was wanting to use some high end compositing packages to edit photos, but I was concerned about the fact that they deal in video “speak” and 72dpi was/is the norm.  So I was wondering how I could get an image I was working on in 300 dpi, there and back and not lose resolution.  I felt so dumb when I found out about the whole DPI myth and how it was/is tied to legacy printers, etc.

I still get people losing sleep over this stuff so I’m going to link a site with a ton of info on it.  There are a TON of other sites online.  If you want more opinions, just google:

72 dpi
72 dpi myth
The DPI Myth

…etc.

All About Digital Photos
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/index.html

The Myth About DPI
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/mythdpi.html

How to Properly Change DPI
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/changedpi.html

I hope this helps clarify.

HDR tutorial requests about my high dynamic range imaging workflow have come in via email (my photography site email) for a couple of years now. Again a couple more last night, but this time through the form on this site that I finally “fixed”.

So my question is… what do you need help with the most? Use the Contact Me page to send me what area you need help in the most whether it be HDR Capture (camera settings), choosing a camera for HDR Capture, HDR Post Production like HDR in Photoshop or HDR in other apps, Tonemapping, or otherwise.

In 2006 when I first heard about HDR there was very scarce information online to work off of.  HDR Tutorials were geared towards grunge looks and I was seeking to provide my clients nearly photo realistic looks for real estate work. Back then there were very few players in the market for applications and I decided to just use Photoshop from Merge to HDR – to tonemapping – to final tweaks.

Late last year weather turned bad here for weeks so I took some time to peek around the net and even some books at Barnes and Noble just to see what was out there in terms of HDR Tutorials and HDR Training.  I was amazed to see so many “gurus” or folks posting tutorials either slamming Photoshop for HDR work or quickly moving folks on to Photomatix because the sliders are easier to work with for beginners.  The slider issue I understand totally, but the steering away from Photoshop for HDR work I don’t get at all.

For example, one of the many things I like about using Photoshop for HDR is it is a complete high dynamic range pipeline from raw to final output.  That and you can view the entire exposure range in pieces simply by opening up multiple windows of the same view.  You navigate to the top menu to WINDOW>ARRANGE>NEW WINDOW and presto, another window of the same file you are working on opens in a new window.  If you just merged to HDR here in 32 bit space in Photoshop, then this second window has another exposure slider at the bottom to change at will that has no impact on the file, it is simply for viewing purposes.  You use the slider at the bottom of that new window to adjust the exposure range of the image you want to view in that one window.

That slider  is NOT some kind of adjustment layer, it is just for viewing purposes.  So you can open multiple windows, place the exposure slider to various under/over exposed settings so that as you make changes to the document here in 32 bit space, those changes update in each window.  This way, you can make local or global changes using various adjustment levels over either parts of the image or the entire image and see the results across the ENTIRE exposure range via viewing the multiple windows you’ve opened.

Here is a screen capture to understand what I’m talking about.  What you see is nine windows opened and I’ve adjusted the exposure slider at the bottom of each window.  I took that screen capture after I had merged to HDR and before I made my tweaks in Photoshop in 32 bit space.  Once I finished my adjustments and then tonemapped out to a 16 bit TIFF, I made some final tweaks right there in photoshop and the image on the bottom was the result.

Photoshop is VERY capable at creating photo real images as a single application pipeline – from Merge to HDR to final output right in Photoshop.  I would say if Photoshop’s pipeline has a major fault it is that it is TOO GOOD at keeping saturation levels under control and makes creating grunge and technicolor images a more difficult process because it doesn’t over saturate colors and it doesn’t create wacky artifacts like other applications do.

It blows me away when I see “gurus” poo pooing photoshop as being lacking for editing HDR images.  There are so many things you can do right there after merging to HDR waaaaaaaay before you ever go to the menu to choose IMAGE>MODE>16 bit to tonemap it down.  And you can work in layers in 32 bit mode just as you can in any other mode so if you know photoshop well already, then why are you taking your HDR images to other applications, then bringing them back to photoshop when you could just do everything right there in Photoshop?

Give it a chance.

I can’t provide a link to an online tutorial showing how to take advantage of the full capabilities of Photoshop’s HDR workflow because I never found anyone else using it like I do.  I’m sure others use it this way and they are either too busy shooting to create tutorials (I can relate to that) or such tutorials do exist and I never found them.

Like I said, with nobody to turn to in 2006, I just starting farting around in Photoshop and eventually figured stuff out on my own.  Even Photoshop CS4 still has ZERO help files for working this way in 32 bit space, which is probably why so many folks use Photomatix Pro and the like.

HDR Portrait of a friend and her niece below. I have done a couple dozen portraits like this the last few years, but don’t advertise it per se.  Prior to the shoot she asked if it would be possible to “photoshop” the image to look more like a painting than a photo.  Enter HDR.

Knowing that’s what she wanted, HDR was going to make creating that look quite easy.  I could have toned down the colors or not tried to crush so much dynamic range into an 8 bit range, but I ramped it in there because she LOVES color. If you saw her home you’d be a believer.

Could I instead just have blasted them with flash from the front to try and balance the blazing sunset? Yes, but if you’ve shot directly into the sun like this yourself then you know I would have had to have HAMMERED them with flash and the shot ends up having an entirely different feel to it.

Here is a larger version linked below (hosted on my photography website):
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/hdr_portrait.html

The technique is a bit tricky.  This is what I do.  There may be a better way, but without a tri-pod and because I’m dealing with humans not a static subject, this is what I’ve managed to piece together.

It’s hand held, I’m shooting with a heavily back lit subject directly into a blazing sun.  I say tricky because I am firing off flash on the first image of the bracketed sequence.  The D3 allows you to choose the order of an automated exposure bracketed series and I chose to have it shoot “normal” for the first frame, then move to under exposed to over exposed. The D3 shoots at 9 frames per second and the SB-800 can’t recycle fast enough so the flash only has true power on the first blast so when the second frame fires the speedlite is spent momentarily so the camera is rapidly ripping through the under to over exposed shots before the flash can fully recycle.  Now depending on your camera, and the speed at which it shoots (FPS) + the type of speedlite you are using + the settings you have the speedlite set to, etc…. your results may vary. The camera is set to shoot on continuous shutter release for this automatic exposure bracket.

Post production for these shots can be handled in a ton of different ways, such as either beginning in LightRoom and using the Enfuse plugin to fuse images, alternatively one could take individual frames into Photoshop and layer them and mask in pieces needed, or one could merge to HDR and tonemap the image which will be the background and again mask in the flash image.  Regardless, the editing ends in photoshop brining in the first frame with the flash fired to mask over the properly exposed background (and your subject will be underexposed in that non-flash image).

The biggest issue is whether you were steady when you fired off the burst because the quality of either fusing the image or merging to HDR will depend largely on that.  Even though images can be “aligned” in post, that process does compromise the image quality to some degree.  Movement  also complicates masking in the single/flash frame in post, although you’d be surprised how much wiggle room you actually have if you are pretty good at dealing with layers and masking in photoshop.

I probably would not attempt this technique with a camera that shoots slower than 5fps, but I have not attempted this with a camera that shoots 3fps so I can’t say for certain.  The margin for error with the longer time between frames means either you or your subject is more prone to movement.  I’ve occasional had difficulty holding still even at 5fps on a 40D (some time ago), but I have never attempted this at 3fps and probably would have a higher failure rate with those longer moments between frames.

Additionally, your subjects need to understand how critical it is to remain still.  Good communication and/or with a countdown helps.  Blinking is not as big of a deal after the first shot fires because you’ll mask in that first shot anyway.  However, if they drift at all during the capture, then that movement can be problematic aligning images in post and obviously both you and your suj

I always shoot these sequences in RAW because obviously the white balance of the flash hitting your subject may be an issue with the other shots that follow not synching with whatever ambient lighting exists.  You’ll definitely suffer more if shooting JPEG when dealing with exposure adjustments and color balance issues this technique requires.

If you choose to attempt this in a more normal lighting environment, then obviously using flash might not be needed at all and you would just treat the shot like any hand held HDR capture.

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.

I’m not starting a war over this, but I would like to shed some light here.  Hell, I think the concept needs to be tonemapped to reveal the details in the shadows (blatant pun intended).

Anyone have any online resources linked they can send me?  I’m looking for links online that explain what tonemapping is as well as why tonemapping is necessary for 8bit viewing and printing. [[[ HINT: Anything viewable on the web or in print is NOT hdr. ]]]  If you didn’t even know this much then the links I post from users or an example I create myself if necessary will hopefully shed some light on the matter.

I’d rather not recreate the wheel and just link to current resources.  If there are none out there that clarify the concept for mere mortals then I’ll have to do so myself (only if necessary).  It needs to be simple enough so that my mom can understand.  She can barely use a DVR so she is my ultimate technology challenged litmus test.  If you have a link that cuts through technical jargon, send it to me and I’ll post it.

No comments on this post.  Send the links through my contact page (use navigation above).

If I don’t get responses or if the links provided to me can’t be understood by my mom, then I guess I’ll have to step up to the plate and create an example myself… but I’d love to save the time and just link to current resources.

Jack Howard has put together a great list of top class HDR capable cameras over at Adorama’s Learning Center.  Check out the list here:   2009 HDR All-Stars

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For you iPhone addicts, check out the very interesting app that allows you to take two images and they get tonemapped in the iPhone.  The app is called TrueHDR =  http://pictional.com/TrueHDR/Videos.html

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Here is a recent shoot I did for an existing client. On this shoot I used a D3 exclusively and many of the shots required a range of -5 to +5 EV in total.
Builder Shoot (Gallery Link)

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Here is a link to a High Dynamic Range Image sequence.  It is a “tilt” sequence I shot at a local garden near a state park.  This series was shot with a D3 and each frame is actually 7 images spaced 1EV apart and then tonemapped before being placed one after the other in post.

The amount of quality lost when exporting to a web video format is horrifying, but I have no choice.  The full 1080p version has no loss of color, detail/clarity or color shifts.  That said, here is the link to the web clip:
HDR Video (link to landing page)

Both of these videos end abruptly because I pieced together some segments shot over a few days while getting up to speed with the Promote Control.  However, after watching you should have a good idea of the Promote Control’s capabilities.

I am only showcasing the HDR capture abilities.  The Promote Control also has Timelapse, etc… (check their site for full list of modes) = Promote Control by Promote Systems

The amazing thing is that the Promote Control allows very affordable cameras like a Canon XS to capture what $5000 and $8000 dollar Canon / Nikon DSLRs can capture in an AEB for HDR creation.  The days of being limited by the camera manufacturer’s AEB limits are over for many Canon / Nikon shooters.  In fact, the Promote Control is perfect even for the high end DSLRs and extends their capabilities as well.

This device has now become a must have for my work. After watching the videos I think you’ll understand why.  There will be more videos to come in the future showing the Promote Control in the field and “best use” practices, but this should at least give you a glimpse at what is possible with this device.

Cameras it supports as of this post date:

Nikon: D3, D3X, D2X, D2Xs, D2H, D2Hs, D200, D300, D700, D40, D40x, D50, D60, D70, D70s, D80, D90, D5000

Canon: 1D Mark III, 1Ds Mark III, 5D Mark II, 30D, 40D, 50D, 400D, 450D, 500D, 1000D

More videos to come in the future.  Stay tuned!!!

Learn high end techniques used in Film and Broadcast at FXPHD.com.  Best online training experience I’ve had.  Period.  Extremely experienced instructors who actually work on major Film and Broadcast productions for a living.

If you have plans in the future to shoot video on a DSLR, then you definitely need to look at this terms course on DSLR cinematography taught by Stu Maschwitz, who spent four years at Industrial Light & Magic before co-founding The Orphanage in 1999.  And if those company names don’t mean anything to you, let me put in context. Imagine you wanted to be cartoonist, but had never heard of Disney.

I’ve taken courses from them in the past and have never been dissappointed.  This term I’m taking:

C4D101 – Introduction to Cinema 4D
CLR202 – Grading with Apple Color II
DOP210 – DSLR Cinematography
FUS202 – Intermediate Fusion 6
MOG201 – Creative Concepts in Graphics Design

If you join, then look for me on the forums.  My user name is:  Mike James