Kevin Crafts dot com

Why I Like HDR Photography

Nov 04 • Posted In: Photography

When I look back at the photos I’ve taken during the past year, I’ve taken a lot of HDR (High Dynamic Range) images. About half of the photographs on my photoblog the past 12 months have been HDR images.

So why am I making so many HDR images?

As a (mostly) outdoor photographer, I feel the HDR process gives my photos a unique look.  While other photographers may shoot the same scene, perhaps even from the same angle, the post processing gives me an opportunity to make an image of my own.

I am a big proponent of using computer software such as Photomatix of Photoshop to alter an image. When I press the shutter on my camera, that is only the beginning of the image making processes. But the steps that follow can be very different and this is what allows me to make an original and unique image.

Not every HDR image needs to have the cartoon look.  Not every HDR image needs to have the acid trip colors either. But the software allows me to take regular images and turn them into something that hasn’t been seen before.

HDR Processing Tutorial – The Bus

Nov 01 • Posted In: Photography, Tutorials

After some questions asking how I process my hdr photos, particularly the bus photos, I decided to put together this small tutorial.

The software used to complete this tutorial is Photomatix 3.0 and Photoshop CS.

Step 1: Shooting the photos

When shooting photos for an hdr process I set my camera (Canon 30D) to the fastest frame rate possible (5 FPS) and set the Auto Exposure Bracketing to the maximum amount of stops (2). I find that the fast frame rate will allow me to shoot handheld and then Photomatix can align the photos. I like using a wide angle lens and I my favorite lens for HDR is my Sigma 10-20mm.

I expose the photos so the darkest of the shots has the scene outside of the bus exposed correctly, since it’s darker inside the bus. I suppose I could shoot more exposures, but since I didn’t have a tripod, I just shot 3.

Here’s the 3 photos I ended up with:

Read more »