rrg6481 Loc: USA

I am a real estate photographer seeking info on how to shoot pastel yellow walls in a home where there is also very deep walnut red wood cabinets and trim. I shot the whole house in HDR and am now being asked to re-shoot because the walls do not look natural. More bleached out under outside window light and more natural in the shadows. The problem is the mixture of daylight and ambient light. I am tempted to just on camera flash each room and deal with the shadows that are created. I know there is a way of using flash to bring out more of the natural color by strategically placing speed flashes within each scene but that is very time consuming. I need to get in and out within 2-3 hours when shooting a 5000 sq ft home. I am shooting with a Nikon d7100, in RAW format, in bursts of 10 photos 5 at a time 1EV apart. I have used Auto White balance and custom. Doesn't seem to matter. Processing in Photomatix Pro. Post in LR CC then retouching in Photoshop CC and some in ACR. Anyone out there have any experience with this? Yellow seems to give me the most trouble. Thanks in advance.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

It sounds like you are bracketing, not shooting in HDR. You can not shoot HDR in Raw format and You will also be unable to change The EV levels. To do that effect in HDR, The D7100 allows you to set the HDR strength, but you will be shooting in Jpeg. Actually, if you have all of your other settings set properly, you should be able to do just fine shooting in HDR even though the output will be in jpeg format. I would think that shooting in HDR mode in your line of work would be easier and a lot less work in post than with bracketing. It takes practice, that's all.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Of course you can shoot raw for HDR. I've been doing that since 2006. You don't have to limit yourself to just what is available in the camera. And not being able to adjust colors precisely is not going to get any better with just jpegs. Besides, Lightroom now offers an exposure fusion-style HDR merge that is quite good, and it produces a dng file, which for all intents and purposes is a raw file.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You have a real issue that most RE guys struggle to solve, judging from the results I see on MLS and on photographers' websites.

A couple of things.

1. You probably don't need 10 shots of each room that you use HDR in. You can do it in three, and maybe two shots.

2. Auto white balance is a no-no for color critical applications. So is custom in your situation. Better to use an Xrite ColorChecker Passport to profile your camera for the scene - it has a dual-illuminant mode that will effectively mix the colors of two light sources together.

3. You will benefit from increasing your post processing skills - masking, compositing, using a brush in color blend mode to sample the color the way you think it should be, and painting the wall with it.

4. You need to be skilled in local color adjustment, using the HSL controls in your software.

5. You should also look into frequency separation, though you probably won't be dealing with much editing on the high frequency side of things - more on the broad color elements, like color casts on walls.

4. If you want to use speedlights, that's fine. But you need to understand that you are now introducing a third light source color into the equation - and you'll need to be comfortable working with color correction filters and such.

5. You need to charge more - a 5000 sq ft home requires at least a day on premises and possibly another day on the computer to properly represent a home.

I've been mentoring an RE guy down in Scottsdale - this is his work:

http://ronnachtwey.com/skills/luxury-homes-overview/
http://ronnachtwey.com/skills/luxury-exteriors/
http://ronnachtwey.com/skills/luxury-interiors/

As far as using speedlights, you might find this "illuminating" (pun totally intended)

http://lefeverphoto.com/methods/speedlite-interior/

And here is a nice overview of the ColorChecker Passport - it has a good section on the dual illuminant feature at 18:12:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDtebpvATzc

And lastly, a very generalized overview of some of the specialized tools needed for architectural/real estate photography

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/architectural-interior-photography-equipment-and-techniques/

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I am an architectural and real estate photographer. I don't recommend shooting interiors using HDR. I do bracket sometimes but mostly for exposure choice. If you are having a color problem use an x-rite color checker. I do when I have doubts about white balance in a specific room. The accepted best method of shooting interiors is using off camera flash. Check out Scott Hargis and join a few real estate photography Facebook sites. If you shoot ambient light only you are going to experience a multitude of color problems. Yellow and orange in particular will drive you crazy. Good luck.

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

Seems like you are confusing your terms. HDR is normally accomplished by bracketing. These techniques are not exclusive as you imply. Secondly, you CAN bracket for HDR fusion with RAW files. Perhaps you are referring to a pseudo HDR mode within the camera?

Picdude Loc: Ohio

I freely admit that I am NOT a professional RE photographer. I enjoy following this topic, but my knowledge is all academic as opposed to practical. Having said that...

I have read from and talked to other RE photographers that are firm believers in shooting interior shots during 'twilight hours' to help resolve dynamic range issues, and in many cases can get excellent results without using HDR or bracketing at all. Understandably, your access is dictated by the Realtor and Home Owner, and time of day may not even apply in your situation. But would be interested in hearing yours and others thoughts.

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

I agree with David. Off-camera flash will help with the color balance. But, ambient light, sunlight, shadows, all affect the actual colors. I warn my RE clients that some color cast is inevitable in a photo, whereas in viewing a room in person, our brains filter out the differences -- we "Know" that wall is yellow -- even though if you look carefully you'll see that it's dark yellow on the shadows and very light yellow in the sunlight, and even different under the lamp.

I always use bracketing and HDR fusion. The term HDR is frequently misused to mean "tone mapping". Fusion (Photomatix "natural fusion") results in a natural looking result.

I find that this method (bracketing with off-camera flash), is very efficient. I can photograph a 2,000 SF home in an hour (typically 100 shots). Photomatix's batch processing takes 10 to 15 minutes on my PC. Then final processing in Paint Shop Pro for sizing for the MLS, for the brochures, and for virtual tour slideshows -- cropping, straightening, fixing lens distortion, etc. takes about 2 - 3 hours for a job that size.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

You are talking post processing. I was speaking strictly of in camera settings. It is just another tool that one can use and it can be very effective. I shoot 99% of the time in raw myself. However, when I am at my other job doing forensic investigations, In camera HDR is sometimes the only way to go, especially in dark, badly burned areas were the use of a flash creates too much of a reflected shine. Photo manipulation other than resizing is not allowed in court. This means any type of post processing will dis-allow a photo.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

No, I am not confusing the issue at all. I do both all of the time. Bracketing and High Dynamic Range are two different terms that have different uses. In camera HDR is not pseudo by any means, however, it is a form of bracketing in that it takes a low contrast pic and a high contrast pick and then blends them in camera. In my case, my camera takes three pics and blends them whereas the D7100 only takes two. But like I stated, the HDR function within the D7100 can only be used while using one of the Jpeg modes which can be rather limiting since it locks out many of the functions that are available when shooting raw. Yet, it still has its' purpose. I can see it being very useful when shootin down a hallway or in areas of poor lighting where the use of a flash would produce distortion due to the narrow intensity of the light produced. It would also eliminate having to set up umbrellas or multiple flashes, thus saving both time and money.

hcmcdole

HDR does indeed use bracketed shots and can use RAW (bracketed shots) as well in Post Processing (you are talking about HDR in camera which you may not have much control over).

And I agree with the folks who use the ColorChecker Passport - works great for correcting color in post processing.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

You did not pay attention to what I wrote. I was speaking only of in camera processing, nothing else. And yes, in camera HDR does just that, it shoots a picture high and a picture low (mine shoots low, middle and high) and then combines them in camera. That is just a simple way of bracketing. Just not as much control. The OP is trying to bring out the highlights without distorting the colours (in this case, yellows). This is also why I said he needs to make sure that all of his other settings are correct in camera since he will not have quite as much control in post because he will not have access to the raw data.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Forget in-camera HDR, as it anyway appears that you know. First it gives you only jpgs, and second it is most probably not strong enough to capture the whole dynamic range that you face.

Question: what tonemapping method are you using in Photomatix? I hope it is Contrast Optimizer--the new local tonemapper introduced in v5. It gives the most natural effect in large areas of color. Obviously you should try different strength and tonal compression settings.

Two suggestions here: There is a program called SNShdr that is cheap (Home edition, without batch processing is like 40 euros) and gives very natural-looking results. You can create the .hdr file in SNS or you can open an .hdr file there made with Photomatix. I'm not saying it is the solution, but it offers a different look than Photomatix. I use both of those proggys and get better results in SNS sometimes (and better in Photomatix at other times).

Another possibility is making two versions in Photomatix: one strongly tonemapped for the darks and any bright highlights, and another using different settings for the walls, and then mask together using layer masks in PS. It sounds like a pain, but actually it can be quite easy and might be easier than reshooting.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Using the Custom White Balance feature of you camera would be best, Kelvin second best. Doesn't matter whether you are shooting Raw or JPEG, get the white balance right!
Next - test the balance by shooting something red - red and purple are the hardest colors for a camera to recreate - if the color of the LCD image matches the color of the object your white balance is OK.

zigipha Loc: north nj

The op clearly said he is using sw programs for the hdr, not the in-camera feature