elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

I've played with HDR in PS. But recently I purchased one of the HDR speciality programs. I had the chance to speak to a head sales person with the company. She was electrifying, perhaps a slow day but we talked about many things, including using a single image. She said she has processed many HDR images from a single capture and was excited about the results.

Now the reason I bring this up is due to the fact that many places do not smile on a person using a tripod. Went to Florence last summer and no indoor place would allow a tripod or monopod. They would permit cameras with no flash, but no pods of any kind. So I want to consider doing more with HDR from one image. In RAW, we can create a second image over exposed, and another under. With a 24m sensor there is a great deal of data that can still be recovered.

I'm a big fan of sharing knowledge, so this is a moment when I would like to tap into experiences of other photographers.

HDR from a single exposure? (And thanks in advance.)

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I've done it. It is fun.

Which one did you buy. I like the one from NIK.

The English language is failing with HDR. Too many terms are used randomly. My sense is that HDR is supposed to mean combing images from from multiple exposures. Related is "Tone Mapping" that changes the presentation, colors and effects. In conversations, blogs and forums those terms, and others, are freely applied to a variety of photographic concepts.

You don't always need a tripod. Both the NIK and Photomatics HDR programs do both HDR and Tone Mapping processes. Tone mapping can be done on single images with either as well.

The newest versions of NIK and Photomatix will align hand held images well, as an option, at import. I try to put a corner of the frame in the same spot for each of three exposures. If your camera has automatic bracketing it is even easier.

If you are trying to get extra detail out of shadows and highlights, the HDR systems won't create what doesn't exist. They combine what can exist in multiple exposures. However, it is always amazing to me to see what my cameras can capture in RAW that can be brought up in Lightroom with simple sliders.

If you are only interested in the "tone mapping" effects on single images, you might consider looking at Topaz Adjust or NIK Color Effects. I have both and they are a lot of fun on the right images.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Thanks bsprague, and to answer your first question I bought Photomatix Pro. While I've lived in the world of PS for more than 10 years, this will be my first experiences in HDR.

To which, let me ask, what is the difference between HDR and Tone Mapping.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Different people apply different meanings in various articles, blogs, etc.

HDR is the process of creating a final image out of separate exposures. The best example might be of an interior with both dark shadows and a view of a bright scene through a window. A middle exposure would miss the bright outside and the darker shadows. A second exposure would get detail through the window. A third exposure would get detail in the interior shadows. Photomatics will combing those three images and make one that has detail everywhere. And, it will look very real. This is a scientific blending of exposure depths not possible with a single image.

Photomatics will also let you make subtle to extreme color manipulations. Even cartoonish results are possible. This is artistic "tone mapping" or manipulation of color.

HDR photos are often criticized for being "over cooked" or "unreal" as a result of too much "tone mapping".

The press release from the last Photomatics version update emphasized increased options that downplayed the tone mapping or color manipulation.

A guy named Trey Ratcliff has done a good job on his HDR website http://www.stuckincustoms.com/. His current feature shots include samples of both minimal and extreme tone mapping. A minimal one is a Grand Canyon shot. A more extreme shot is of blurry people in a Chinese market. In between is a house with a city in the distance. All are good.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

I've actually been able to do some pretty remarkable HDR shots hand held, even from the back of a fairly steady bass boat. I usually use three exposures. My secret is continuous mode, so the three shots are taken in rapid fire succession while I try to maintain a steady focus on one point. Of course, VR is a must. I use Lightroom and Photomatix Pro. The Photomatix does a good job of lining things up and LR takes care of chromatic aberration and tone mapping. When on a tripod, turn VR off, it can actually introduce vibration. Hope this helps...

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

MrPC. I'm glad you shared what you just shared. I do have a question for you. When you take your trio of shots, how wide do you bracket? Plus and Minus how many f-stops?

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Usually only 1. I've found that is plenty to get quite a bit of dynamic range. My D5200 will go up to plus or minus 2, but I like the results at 1. I tend to go for what I remember seeing plus making it just a little more stunning. I don't like overcooked. Here's a couple of hand held back of the boat examples...

HDR of Lake Austin, December 2013

(Download)

HDR of Lake Austin, December 2013

(Download)

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Nice examples of HDR without too much color manipulation. Thanks.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Nice examples of HDR without too much color manipulation. Thanks.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement. I tried a little more color on the 2nd one in the series. We usually don't get much color in the fall and winter here in Texas, but our extreme drought has caused the plants and trees to act a little more like where I grew up in the Midwest. As a result, after living here since 92, I finally got some color.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Okay, not to labor a point (or two: HDR and Auto-ISO), but I'd like to pick your brains, those of you who are deep and experienced in HDR. When you use Auto Bracketing for your three shots, have you ever done that with Auto-ISO?

Only recently have I attempted to use the Auto-ISO on my Canon 5DII, and getting amazing results. If I set my camera to Av for my three shots, I can't imagine what will happen if I have the camera in Auto-ISO. Any of you experience that before?

And thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

The way I learned and I think it's pretty standard, is to use Aperture Priority mode on a Nikon, I think it's Av on your Canon. You hold the aperture constant and the varied exposures are accomplished by different shutter speeds decided on by the camera. The ISO and the focal length are also constant. I just checked the EXIF data in some of my bracketed photos and this is always the case. I'm sure there must be better explanations of this here in the HDR section if you search for Aperture Priority and HDR. I've never seen any instructional videos or books that I've read that have suggested doing it any other way. If the Aperture changed, your depth of field would be different and your focus would change. Changing ISO would probably introduce a whole other set of problems. Again constant aperture and everything else, just variable shutter speed to get the different exposure values. Anything else is worked out in post processing software.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Every one of your thoughts are logical and consistent. Then Auto-ISO should not be used when capturing the three bracketed shots.

Oh, one final question. Have you done any HDR work using only one capture?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

By definition, at least the ones I am trying to use, you can't do HDR with one exposure. HDR means that you are combining multipe exposures to extend dynamic range. To get that you have to have extra exposures aimed a getting more detail in both highlights and shadows. One exposure gets detail in the really bright parts, another gets the detail in the really dim parts and a third gets everything in the middle. Combined, you have (H)igher (D)ynamic (R)ange than a single exposure can collect.

You can, on the other hand, load single exposures into an HDR program and adjust the colors, contrast, exposure, etc. I'm trying to suggest that is called "Tone Mapping". I've done it, it works and is fun. But, it does not extend the dynamic range. You cannot get increased detail in the dim sport or the bright spots because it is not there in the original capture. Software cannot make what is not there.

If I am trying to get more detail out of the dark and light spots in a single image, I have better luck in Lightroom or ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) with the Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, White and Black sliders. To get it to work well, the capture has to be in RAW format.

andrew.haysom Loc: Melbourne, Australia

I too am a Photomatix user. I will often create a HDR image from a single RAW exposure. This is often when there is movement between the bracketed exposures (eg trees in the wind), or when I just haven't bracketed (eg when I'm shooting wildlife). There is sufficient data in a RAW file to generally get some highlight or shadow detail from a -2 and or +2 exposure.

My Canon 6D allows 3, 5, or 7 exposure brackets, my usual mode is -2, 0, +2 but when needed (eg higher range of exposures) I'll switch to a 7 exposure bracket.

I too would not recommend having Auto ISO on when bracketing I think the results could be unpredictable. For HDR I always use AV mode as you need the aperture to remain constant otherwise the DOF would be inconsistent. Now, some clever people (Peter are you still here) will combine exposure bracketing and focus stacking but that requires very careful manual combining of images and is beyond my skill.

Regarding Tonemapping, I very rarely use the Photomatix presets that use Tonemapping as I prefer the more natural look, I find Tonemapping always gives an unreal look and greatly exacerbates any noise and chromatic aberration in the original image.