Easy Tips for Creating HDR Images

HDR Stands for High Dynamic Range.  It is an interesting way of adding depth to a photo by compressing the visible ranges of light the human eye sees to a balanced range a computer or printer can display.  Cameras are now more advanced than the super computers that took men to the moon, but they are nowhere near as complex and efficient as the eye.  For example, you can look at a scene and see detail in both the light and the dark areas at the same time, but a camera can’t.  It can only expose for one or the other.  By making a series of varying exposures you get the opportunity to have the computer create one photo by drawing only the best information from each of the other ones.  Depending on how you process it, the end result will be a strikingly realistic image that simulates the range of light your eye would see or a surrealistic image that hyper extends the qualities of light in the scene.

Setup:

1. Choose a location or subject where there is little or no movement in the frame (Movement causes ghosting).

2. Switch to the camera to Manual Mode to prevent your camera from making decisions for you.

3. Set the ISO as low as you can get away with and keep it fixed

4. If you can, set your image file to RAW because it gives you a little more dynamic range to begin with.

5. Select the best Aperture for the DOF you want and keep it fixed.

6. Set the WB appropriately for your situation and keep it fixed.

7. Turn your Auto Focus off.

8. Connect your cable release. If you don’t have one, then switch to self-timer mode.

9. It is ok to use filters as long as they stay fixed.

Shooting the HDR:

• Shoot 3, 5, or 7 shots depending on the complexity of the light and contrast in your scene (3 for simple and 7 for very complex).

• Reduce your exposure by one stop increments until you see good detail in the bright areas (Should have no blown out areas in the highlights).

Merging the Images:

• The result after merging is a strange looking, flat color image called a “Tone Map.”

• Bring the Tone Map back into your favorite image editing software

• To make the strange image look more like it is supposed to you will want to start with your “Levels” and “Curves” adjustments.

• Now perform your normal editing like you would any other image.

• Save the new file you created and also save your original series of images. Experiment with processing and editing different ways to get very different results.

-JMB

Should I shoot RAW or JPEG?

First ask yourself...

1. Does a film photographer save his negatives?

2. Would you want to watch a big screen movie that was filmed on an iPhone or downloaded from Youtube?

Yes,  it really is that simple.  A sound engineer, would never preform final edits on a 3 megabyte MP3 file.  How would they make adjustments to channels or levels?  They start out with a recording that preserves the best original quality possible enabling them to preform pin point changes in each instrument track.  The distortion and artifacts you hear on a poor digital sound file is a compressed audio example of what takes place in a a compressed JPG image. Like a high quality audio recording, RAW will yield more control during every step of the editing process.

I am not a digital scientist, but here are some comparisons as I understand them:

• JPGs are 8 bits, meaning each pixel has 256 levels of brightness. RAWs are 16 bits meaning each pixel has 65,563 levels of brightness. This is like comparing a pebble to a mountain!

• In RAW, even if something is blown out, you can still recover a little bit more pixel information beyond the blow out point, sometimes by as much as 2 or more stops of light. Same with darks, you can recover much more details in the shadows. If you have ever processed JPGs then I know you have already run in to frustrations with lights, darks, and lost pixels.

• RAW images are not compressed, JPGs are. RAW is the exact image as it was interpreted from the sensor. It is as important as saving your negative was in the film days.

• RAW records more meta-data. Contrast, Saturation, Sharpening, and White balance are not set, they are only tagged to the image, so you have more control over these in post processing. With JPG the cake is baked. JPG is set and you don't have the ability to truly and accurately manipulate these after the fact. Worst of all, JPGs have a gama curve applied and cannot be properly white balanced after the fact.

• RAW has a higher dynamic range between lights and darks. Test this out on a JPG...start tweaking levels and settings and quickly you will start to see banding and aberrations in the graduation of colors that you will not see in RAW. These aberrations are where you have lost data that can never be recovered.

• Remember, the very reason JPG was invented was to make pictures smaller and less detailed so they could be more easily managed on web!

• WWAAD - What Would Ansel Adams Do? If he were alive today and shooting with digital, do you think he would settle for the JPG compression and as much as 40-60% pixel information loss? If he was still concerned about the dynamic range and the post processing effects for which he was known, then you can bet the house he would be shooting in RAW.

It could be argued that JPGs sometimes have their place as they are faster, easier, and you can get more of them.  Even so, when has art ever been about quantity over quality?

-JMB

Balloon Girl at Snohomish KlaHaYa Days - Snohomish Photographer

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.”

- Walt Streightiff

Paisley - Snohomish Family Photographer

Meet the beautiful Paisley, a true miracle baby!  It is such a special to privilege to preserve these moments that mark her beginning and very first week of life.  Congratulations Angela and Dave!  Be sure to cherish every moment!

-JMB

Gina - Snohomish Photographer, Jared M. Burns

Gina has an exciting story about making the best change to her lifestyle, image, and health by dropping more than 50 lbs!  She looks so different in fact that she needed new portraits to better represent who she is now.  Gina is a great inspiration to all her family and has become the catalyst for effecting healthy change in the people around her.  You wouldn't believe it, but she is a proud grandmother and never misses a beat keeping up with the year-old bundle of energy that is her granddaughter!

-JMB

Krissy - Snohomish Family Photographer

Krissy has experienced a difficult year, but she has held close to her beliefs to bring her through. I feel these are special photographs because they express her strength of character and the peace she has always known.

-JMB

Kara & Ryan: Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma Engagements, Seattle Wedding Photographer

Ryan and Kara fell in love at Pacific Lutheran so it was only natural that we should take their engagement portraits in the same place.  The fall colors and brick textures created the perfect backdrop to capture these one-of-a-kind memories.  The coffee shop featured below was also significant as the place where they had their first date.  It is truly exciting to see where it all started and how far they have come.   As a first step toward the rest of their lives, they have chosen each other well and will have a wonderful journey together!  Wedding photography to follow in April.

-JMB

Baby Portraits with Ella - Snohomish Photographer

As far as she knew, we were playing the "Put the baby in the box" game.  As parents we discovered it was a brilliant solution for short-attention-span-syndrome with an acute case of the wiggles.  All that was left was for her to just be herself as I got to shoot away.  At 10 months, Ell's personality is really beginning to emerge and the wonderful thing about this series was that every shot captures a different expression or mannerism.  It is also another reminder of how fast she is growing up to see her sitting in the same wicker basket we laid her in as a newborn.

-JMB

Ella's First Portraits, Snohomish Photographer

I am the proud parent of this beautiful baby girl and these photographs are the only way I can stop her from growing up.  They have become some of my most cherished belongings.  Since these portraits were taken, almost a full year has passed by.  I never fully understood how fast they grow up until I had a child of my own.  Evey moment is precious and each stages passes in the blink of an eye without ever the chance to fully savor it.  It makes one truly appreciate the seventeen years we have left with her at home.

-JMB

Modeling Session: Snohomish Photographer

Now for something with a different kind of fun and a little more edge!  Andy is an up and coming model here in the Seattle area.  For this shoot we pushed the limits of what most people are usually comfortable with, yet he was a natural and kept up with every stride.  He's already got a professional attitude that allows him to effortlessly take direction and is confident enough to take the lead sometimes himself.  Best of all he brought unique character to every shot.

-JMB

NEWS UPDATE: Andy submitted these photos to the Seattle Modeling Guild and was accepted on the spot. He has gone on to work with big names like Union Bay and Calvin Klein! Congratulations on the new job Andy!

Kyle's Senior Portraits - Snohomish Photographer

Senior portraits with Cedarcrest student, Kyle, was one of the most fun sessions I have done.  He has one of those personalities that you warm up to quickly and makes you feel like you are old friends.  Kyle was able to naturally communicate this great quality to the camera.   The other fun thing about this session that we were able to create these portraits around my home town of Carnation, WA.

-JMB

Josh + Jaimie: Duvall Wedding - Seattle Wedding Photographer

Shooting the wedding day for close friends like Josh and Jaimie is a privilege that doesn't come around all that often.  It is a very freeing experience because you know that they are completely familiar with and trust your artistic expression.  Josh and Jaimie couldn't be a better match and had a beautiful spring wedding in downtown Duvall, WA.  As one of the biggest weddings I have ever photographed, it is a testament of the lives they have each impacted individually and as a couple.

-JMB