Hdr

rob shearing

Senior Member
Apologies if this has been covered before. I read that you cannot achieve the "HDR" effect with the D3100 because it doesn't auto-bracket exposure. By shooting in RAW and taking two copies of the shot (one -2, and one +2 in exposure) I was able to produce this photo using "Easy HDR". Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Copy_ - Copy - DSC_0002_ - Copy - DSC_0002_01_ - Copy - DSC_0002_02_easyHDR-BASIC-2l.jpg
 

J-see

Senior Member
Maybe I'm missing something but why not just over and underexpose the parts you prefer in post instead of taking multiple shots and try to perfectly merge them?
 

J-see

Senior Member
That's what the op did.

He's still mixing two shots if I'm not mistaken. If it's only for the exposure difference, it is much easier to adjust those parts while processing. All it requires is one shot and you'll have less difficulty trying to get rid of imperfections that are always there when merging two shots (aura above the cabin in this case).
 
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BackdoorArts

Senior Member
You are absolutely correct! You can do HDR photography with any camera that will allow you to manually adjust exposure parameters. So while the D3xxx series does not automatically calculate brackets for you it is simply a matter of adjusting the shutter speeds around a fixed aperture so that you get a series of photos you can load into appropriate HDR software. The nice part about auto-bracketing is that you can do it handheld far more easily instead of putting the camera on a tripod (which is the proper method anyway). Nicely done.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Maybe I'm missing something but why not just over and underexpose the parts you prefer in post instead of taking multiple shots and try to perfectly merge them?

Some cameras lack the dynamic range necessary to squeeze out the details from a single frame, particularly in extreme situations. Most current sensors will let you get away with pulling up to 7 stops of detail out of a shot, but it's often nice to have more and that's where multiple exposures help with that.

I think the point of the OP is that many people equate auto-bracketing with the ability of a camera to "to HDR photography" and that is definitely not the case - it just simplifies it by executing the exposure calculations for you.
 

J-see

Senior Member
Ok that's why. I hadn't even heard of HDR before I got this cam and tried some HDR programs but couldn't accomplish anything deserving a better title than crap. Now I try to do something similar simply by using the tools at my disposal in post, eventually finalizing versions as a TIFF and then process those further. I'm nowhere near some HDR shots I see online but find it much easier than manually mixing different shots.
 

Skwaz

Senior Member
YES you can get very good HDR photos with d3100
That is the camera I started with and now have the 7100
I will post some HDR taken with 3100 when I can
As you will see it's easily possible , the only downside is the scene has to be
pretty much static as the time it takes to get the 3 or 5 exposures doesn't
lend itself to movement
will post as soon as I can
 

rob shearing

Senior Member
I had seen some incredible shots from inside an old asylum, they were so eerily atmospheric, and since upgrading my camera would probably lead to divorce proceedings, this was the only way I have found to achieve a similar effect. The aurora around the cabin is a little annoying, but for a first attempt I was quite pleased with the shot. Maybe there is another way to do this with the D3100 if someone could point me in the right direction please?
 

J-see

Senior Member
I had seen some incredible shots from inside an old asylum, they were so eerily atmospheric, and since upgrading my camera would probably lead to divorce proceedings, this was the only way I have found to achieve a similar effect. The aurora around the cabin is a little annoying, but for a first attempt I was quite pleased with the shot. Maybe there is another way to do this with the D3100 if someone could point me in the right direction please?

I don't know what program you use to do post but in LR you can use the brush to "paint" over those areas and adjust them to the rest. It should be possible too when you dodge and burn in other programs.
 

Skwaz

Senior Member
Photomatix for me
Still using the free version that leaves a watermark but until you are
sure what you want then it's a great start
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I had seen some incredible shots from inside an old asylum, they were so eerily atmospheric, and since upgrading my camera would probably lead to divorce proceedings, this was the only way I have found to achieve a similar effect. The aurora around the cabin is a little annoying, but for a first attempt I was quite pleased with the shot. Maybe there is another way to do this with the D3100 if someone could point me in the right direction please?

I'm assuming you're speaking of a lot of the great Urbex/Abandoned photos out there that have this rather flat, ethereal look to them. Those places tend to be so dark inside that a tripod and long exposures are truly necessary. I don't know how much HDR or exposure blending goes on in those places, but any time you have a camera on a tripod it's possible (and perhaps recommended) to shoot multiple exposures at different exposure values.

The rest of what gives you that effect is all about post processing. There are techniques they use to give you that feel, some of which are very similar to what you get in a lot of HDR/Tone Mapping programs. Having looked at a lot of it they do, in fact, do a lot of bracketing and exposure blending - whether or not they do it in an HDR-specific program or purely in Photoshop varies with the photographer. Suffice it to say, if they're showing you windows and room details then it's some form of HDR. It's also possible/probable that they're bringing in artificial lighting.

Here's a link to Pt. 1 of a 2 part walkthru of one person doing an urbex-type shot. 9 shot HDR.

 

J-see

Senior Member
What I use as a start to get some HDR look can be done in any program.

When processing the RAW:

Kill the high-lights and shadows, up the black and white some and go crazy with contrast, vibrance and clarity.

After that you can start working further on that shot.

It's probably not the real thing but it is a step into the right direction.
 

J-see

Senior Member
There's more to life and Photography than PP
All to there own

There indeed is but HDR mainly is PP regardless how you do it.

Here's an attempt; I didn't have the right shot but this is about 15 minutes of post. Not the same I know but I'll get there. ;)

280-Edit-2-Edit.jpg

Here's one how I get that more matte look by killing the vibrance in that last version:

280-Edit-2-Edit-2.jpg
 
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Vixen

Senior Member
Maybe I'm missing something but why not just over and underexpose the parts you prefer in post instead of taking multiple shots and try to perfectly merge them?

You can do the under/over exposure in PP but you can't get natures slight shifting of light this way, unlike if you take separate shots. This subtle light shift makes the resulting photo better IMHO. :D

If you were out on a windy day and there was a lot of movement, you could do the extra exposures in post to eliminate the movement, but some software eg NikHDR Pro2 has the great facility to choose one of the shots as the baseline for ghost reduction so that movement does not show up in the result.

You can also use layers to merge and select the highlights/shadows as you suggest in another post but for a lot of people (me for example, who cannot yet get my head around layers) find it easier to use dedicated HDR software
 
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