Question about HDR photography

[wsucoug09]

Hey guys I am just trying some new things and am very interested in HDR photography. Haven't done much of it yet, just been reading some books about it and all. But i was wondering what metering setting do you all prefer or use? Does this change from "project to project" with what you are trying to capture in the image? I figured I would most likely be staying away from the matrix setting, so that leaves me with spot and center-weighted. Is there one that's works better than the other? or is it like i said before, it depends on what you want to capture in the image? Thanks for any help in advance.

[Steve Paxton]

Hello!

Generally speaking, you want to meter for the average of the scene - that is, if you were holding up a grey card and metering at 18% grey. This serves as your starting point for bracketing as series of images for HDR. Depending on you camera, you may be able to automatically bracket a series of three or five shots. Canon currently only allows three bracketed shots. I believe Nikon allows up to five. Shoot the main image at the proper exposure then bracket 1-2 stops over and under. I primarily shoot with Canon cameras so I usually bracket 2 stops over and under. This gives me three images. Once exposed normally, one 2 stops over and one 2 stops under.

When you make your exposure adjustments, try not to change the f-stop as that will modify your depth of field. Rather, change you shutter speed and keep your f-stop (or aperture) constant. Changing your depth of field between images will make it awkward to blend them later on.

The next step is to use an HDR program such as Photoshop or Photomatix to blend the images.

[Taallyn]

Nikon's allow up to 9 brackets at 1-stop EV increments.

Another new HDR application is HDRExpose by Unified Color. I am trying out it's 30-day trial right now. It seems to be good for more realistic images as it's methodology doesn't introduce color shifts as badly as Photomatix does for me.

I generally try to expose for the subject of the photograph, then bracket above and below it. I will capture 5, 7, or 9 images for the bracket depending on what I think I might need. You don't have to use all of the bracketed images, but it can be helpful to get more than you need it it is some place you can't get back to easily.