If you have seen there HDR photos , do not be impressed. Behind her there are only a few steps that we can follow and in a matter of little effort to get authentic HDR jewels as the examples you will see at the end of this post. In this tutorial, this is the photo that we will try to achieve as a final result (click to enlarge):
When I saw HDR photos for the first time I almost went crazy. I looked at many tutorials but none worked for me. Actually all were correct, but I reproach them for not being WELL EXPLAINED. So, trying to learn from the lesson, today I will try to explain "well" the steps to follow to get a good HDR photo
STEPS TO GET HDR PHOTOS
1- We need a SLR camera . There are several techniques that in the end are versions of the same technique. I will explain the one that works for me and is more comfortable for me. 2- RAW format: Put the camera to take photos in RAW format (click here if you want to know more about the RAW format ). 3- Take the picture: Usually give good results photos of buildings, cars, metal structures, etc. If you get the sky to have clouds (many or few, in case the clouds come out in the photo) you will make your HDR photo have a much more "dramatic" air. 4- Once at home, in front of your computer, you have to open the photo with Adobe Photoshop using Camera RAW (if there is no other way to process the photo, it is what you have to work in RAW, it costs a bit but the result end worth it). 5- Within the Camera RAW program you modify the exposure of the photo and add -1 as seen in the image (click to enlarge): and you save a copy of that image in .JPG. Call it for example hdr1.jpg 6- Return to Camera RAW but this time you modify the exposure to 0 (number zero) and keep another copy, which is hdr2.jpg 7- Once again (and last) in Camera RAW you modify the exposure to +1 and save the image hdr3.jpg In this way we will have three different copies only in the exhibition that goes gradually from -1 to +1. That is, a photo underexposed (somewhat dark), another photo correctly exposed (normal) and a third overexposed (some light more than normal). 8- Now we close Photoshop, we open Photomatix Pro (if you do not have this program get done with it before starting the exercise), and in the Photomatix menu you select HDR> Generate> Browse and select at the same time the three photos and open. Then you give OK. The program will open a dialog like this. 9- If the program detects the values -1; 0 and +1 alone, great, just give OK. If the program is not able to detect it correctly and you are wrong (putting for example -1, 0 and 2) please correct it in those boxes manually and then click OK. Another window appears asking you some options that you can leave by default and give OK. 10- Photomatix will take a few seconds (it depends on the hardware performance of your computer) and then the photo already generated will appear. Actually, the only thing he has done so far has been to put the 3 photos on top of each other. And now that? 11- Well, now we go to the Photomatix menu again, select HDR> Tone Mapping . And just at this point you will see how your photo is transformed into something very similar to what you are looking for. From now on, your artistic vein comes into play. Go touching the areas that I have overshadowed in red in the image, and you are leaving the HDR photo to your liking. You will see how easy, intuitive and exciting. If you want to be inspired with HDR photos, get into Flickr and search with the keyword HDR.