Is there a primer for HDR from 5D3? How to bracket shots? PP?

[cayenne]

Hi folks,

I would like to pay with HDR, but not sure where to start.

For instance, how do you set the camera to do this?  I found how to set it to shoot HDR, it brackets 3 images and spits out a jpg.  Is there a way to do this without it spitting out the jpg it puts together?

How do ya'll set the camera to take your HDR series of images?  Any links to a tutorial on this for the Canon 5D3?

Also, for PP....do most of ya'll use Photomatix? Anyone use the open source Luminance (http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/) program I've found.

Or, so most of you do it with Photoshop or GIMP?  I'd seen one youtube video that seemed to get the most out of an HDR shot...using Photoshop where they could use masks to paint in/out the best parts of each images exposure with layers. 

I don't know how to use layers much yet, but sure did look interesting. Anyone know of any good links to tutorials on trying this?

Anyway, just wanting to find solid info on how most of you shoot your bracketed exposures...and your workflows for processing using plugins or real image manipulator applications....

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

[Marsu42]

I would like to pay with HDR, but not sure where to start.

Photomatrix is excellent at assembling handheld brackets and has the superior wysiwyg interface so you can play around, plus it does hdr and exposure fusion - much better than any oss I've tried. The alternative is a plugin from the Photomatrix company to assemble shots and then use the image in Lightroom4, best for the "realistic" look and to use the good ol' Lightroom workflow. Photoshop is as always superior when you know what you're doing, but the difference imho is seldom worth it unless you're pro shooting for the Times Magazine's cover.

So if you're not on the road and/or want to get a quick hdr to show to your mom, imho forget in-camera hdr, the only advantage on the 5d3 is that you end up with a smaller raw picture in comparison to 16bit tif or even floating point tif.

[muldereric]

If you want my true answer I would say RTFM! It is explained in detail which possibilities you have for HDR and how to set them. Really only takes less then 5 minutes to find it using the index. That's what manuals are for!

But to help you a bit:
1) You can set the picture style to HDR, in which case your camera will merge the pictures for you and create a jpg
2) You can use standard bracket shots. In any mode press the Q button on the right of your screen to bring up the quick settings menu of your camera (must not be in auto mode). Use the small dial or joystick to navigate to the EV settings slider. Now turn the big dial on the back of your camera e voila! Now you have 3 indicators instead of one! If you turn the dial more they more further apart. This way you can set the exposure values for the 3 shots your camera is going to take. If you press your shutter button now, your camera should take the 3 pictures automatically. This way it will just save 3 separate images. One under exposed, one normal and one over exposed. You can use these with photomatrix.

Just read the manual and experiment. Easy to find, easy to do. Good luck!

Hi folks,

I would like to pay with HDR, but not sure where to start.

For instance, how do you set the camera to do this?  I found how to set it to shoot HDR, it brackets 3 images and spits out a jpg.  Is there a way to do this without it spitting out the jpg it puts together?

How do ya'll set the camera to take your HDR series of images?  Any links to a tutorial on this for the Canon 5D3?

Also, for PP....do most of ya'll use Photomatix? Anyone use the open source Luminance (http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/) program I've found.

Or, so most of you do it with Photoshop or GIMP?  I'd seen one youtube video that seemed to get the most out of an HDR shot...using Photoshop where they could use masks to paint in/out the best parts of each images exposure with layers. 

I don't know how to use layers much yet, but sure did look interesting. Anyone know of any good links to tutorials on trying this?

Anyway, just wanting to find solid info on how most of you shoot your bracketed exposures...and your workflows for processing using plugins or real image manipulator applications....

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

[cayenne]

I would like to pay with HDR, but not sure where to start.

Photomatrix is excellent at assembling handheld brackets and has the superior wysiwyg interface so you can play around, plus it does hdr and exposure fusion - much better than any oss I've tried. The alternative is a plugin from the Photomatrix company to assemble shots and then use the image in Lightroom4, best for the "realistic" look and to use the good ol' Lightroom workflow. Photoshop is as always superior when you know what you're doing, but the difference imho is seldom worth it unless you're pro shooting for the Times Magazine's cover.

So if you're not on the road and/or want to get a quick hdr to show to your mom, imho forget in-camera hdr, the only advantage on the 5d3 is that you end up with a smaller raw picture in comparison to 16bit tif or even floating point tif.

Thank you.
Yeah, it is looking like Photomatix is one of the defacto standards, and I just saw a good demo using it on youtube...I do think I want the pro version...with the selectable areas for de-ghosting...etc.

I'm wondering if it is worth the extra $20 for the bundle of the stand alone plus the aperture plug in...I do have aperture 3....hmm.

Thanks for the info.....

Are there any good sites or turtorials for doing this work and constructing a good workflow?

C

[joshmurrah]

I don't have a 5D3, so can't really comment much, I have a 5D2 and use AEB.

I do have a copy of Photomatix Pro, but I find myself just using Photoshop CS6's built-in HDR instead... it works pretty well and keeps my workflow simpler. 

I usually start with the Saturated preset and tweak the sliders from there.

The alignment/ghosting options work pretty well, but not quite as good as Photomatix... I try to avoid needing to use those options though.

[robbymack]

if your going to use photomatix then the in camera hdr processing of the 5diii is pretty much useless unless you sort of want a preview of what things could be, but the control photomatix gives you it's not going to really match the few presets the camera provides.  Just shoot brackets and don't worry about the in camera hdr.  For those of us who think hdr is a bit of a gimmick and don't want to spend the time merging photos and pp in photomatix or any other hdr software then the in camera option is a nice feature to have, but probably not used all that much. 

[distant.star]

.
Here's an example of a 7-bracket shot with a 5D3:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indymcduff/8258668732/#

If you have questions, Indy is a good teacher.

[SPL]

Hey Cayenne,

Just, IMO,…I rarelly use in camera HDR processing with my 5D III.  Part of the fun is gathering your exposures and working with them in post.  I would agree that Photomatix is probably the best,…I also use Nik HDR Efex Pro,..they both are great.  Nik software plug-ins are great.  In camera settings, I use AEB with 1 stop exposure between each shot.  You can set this to take either 3 shots, 5 shots, or 7 shots.  Look on page 316 of the user manual to customize your AEB setting. ( I think this page is correct,..hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong,…thanks in advance…)  I actually set this to one of my custom settings on my mode dial with a 2 sec delay for quick access.  There are a lot of great sites on the net and YouTube to learn how various people handle their HDRs.

[Marsu42]

Here's an example of a 7-bracket shot with a 5D3

I just cannot help noticing that you could have taken the same tripod shot with a Rebel 550d and Magic Lantern which allows for unlimited (+automatic) bracketing like 20 +- 0.5ev shots :-o ... at the resolution of the flickr shot no one could tell the difference.

[Storm]

Throwing in my two cents worth:  Photomatrix is fine, but IMHO NIK far surpasses using control points to finely tune any and all points of the image that you choose.  Unless you are very careful and know what you are doing, Photomatrix tends to make the yellows stand out, slightly overwhelming the eye with yellow.

The ghosting is what causes that awful white haloing in skies.  With NIK HDR Efx Pro, I found it easy to reduce the ghosting to nil, simply by choosing the lowest number.  I do use both programs and many cameras, as well as Photoshop CS6 Extended.

There is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to do HDR.  It is all in the eye of the artist, or what you previsualize as your finished image.

I have not found a single camera that produces HDR that is anything but ho-hum.  The high end Nikons give you a 2 to 9 bracket right on top of the camera.  If you are using a tripod and are very careful, you can start off with a 9 bracket starting at -0-, and I do not recommend doing full stops at using a nine bracket.  That will produce almost all white at one end, and all black at the other end.  Start practicing with 9 bracket 1/3 stop, balanced at zero.  Then learn to shoot for your taste.  I prefer deeper, darker images for the most part, so my bracket will often start at -1.3 as the zero point, depending on the subject.

IMHO the ideal HDR does not scream HDR at the viewer...instead, it allows the photographer to bring into view tones and variations that are missed even by the human eye.  The tones are there when you shoot, you just don't see them.  Furthermore, having all the tones at your fingertips, you can then lighten and darken to suit either using NIK, or NIK Viveza, or even just the burning and dodging tools in your software, be it Photoshop or Gimp or whatever.  Instead of making those dodged spots gray, you will actually be lightening true colors and tones.

Last but not least;  about layers.  Layers for the HDR shooter are wonderful.  I have noticed many fine amateur photographers take beautiful images, compile an HDR finished product...and never bother to either brush the effect out of blown-out windows or mask the windows so that just the darkest of the frames has the windows showing (cut, paste to a top layer).  That is when it reeks HDR and PP.  The very best HDR, IMHO, makes the viewer wonder if it is...or if it isn't...HDR.

Don't be afraid to experiment.  It isn't as if you are paying for film or paper.  You are learning what you love, enjoy the journey.

[tolusina]

Here is link to a a step by step Instructable for HDR in GIMP...
http://www.instructables.com/id/HDR-photos-with-the-GIMP/#intro
It seems a little intimidating at first, once you've done it once or twice you'll find it quite easy.

I've been fairly pleased bracketing 3 frames, -1, 0, +1, or -1.5, -0.5, +0.5 depending on the subject and the lens.
In my opinion, anything beyond ±1 stop gives results too surreal in appearance for my tastes.

[TrumpetPower!]

The built-in HDR on the 5DIII is great for generating quick-and-dirty previews. Unless you have reason to know that it's not good enough, just set it in full auto mode, make sure the JPEG it generates is roughly what you had in mind, and then worry about post-processing when you get back to the studio.

Once there, you'll probably get the best results by putting all three (or however many) images in layers in a single Photoshop file and then using a soft brush to composite in or out the appropriate bits of each image. In the simplest version, you'd mimic a graduated neutral density filter by using only two shots and a gradient mask to blend from the one to the other. In a more complicated shot with blue sky, backlit mountains, and a bright snowy plain in the foreground, you'd have two gradients, one between the mountain / sky transition and the mountain / snow transition -- something you can't (easily / cheaply) do in the field with filters but is trivial with multiple exposures.

More complicated scenes will require more complicated masks and possible more exposures, but it'll be rare that you need to composite together more than three exposures. You might, however, need to adjust how much space between said exposures...if you were inside a mine shooting out the entrance and wanted to include both the inside and outside, you might only need two exposures, but separated by several stops. And you'd need a (non-existent) moderately-hard-edged donut-shaped ND filter to do it in-camera, but only a few minutes in Photoshop.

Have fun!

b&