Best procedure step by step to edit Raw bracketed shots

[ClaudioG]

Hi all, back from my break with a handful of images, i really applied myself to Seascape images. In so, here lies the problem. Sunsets was fine because it was behind my back when taking images of sea, so i used nd filter to slow down water movement.

The problem, Sunrise. I had to Bracket my shots as i was struggling to get correct exposures for sky and sea, So my question is.. if i have 3 exposures, 1 that is under one over and one as camera expects although some the sun were blown out but not to bad. How do i go about getting the best outta each image?

Especially if i start with Raw, do i get each exposure (3 , in some cases 2) close to each other and then do a little editing in photoshop?

Ive never attempted editing more than one image at once. So i'd appreciate any help offered.

Even in improving my question maybe

I dont know if im asking this question right?

[chauncey]

Aah...what software are you using?

[Downrigger]

I'm curious as to whether this can be solved well with PS or other PP software absent resort to HDR.

[chauncey]

It depends...don't ya just love that smart ass answer, but it does depend on the image. If you can use the highlight & white sliders to tone down and return detail to those highlights...then your golden. Boosting the bottom end using the shadows & black sliders will lead to increasing noise...can ya live with it?
I rarely resort to HDR as most of my subjects move, instead, using care to expose way to the right without crossing that right-most histogram line. Additionally, I will take a properly exposed virgin image without the subject and blend that with the properly exposed subject image.

[Polar01]

Claudio this is what I do, using PS CC same as for other PS programs. Select the 3 images, load into raw program, highlight the middle exposure, hit select all, make adjustments to image to get it looking the way you want, now hit done. Take the 3 images into your HDR program run, save as a tiff. Once saved take tiff file back into raw and rework, when finished take into Photoshop to put finishing touches to image, save as a PSD file. Now you have the 3 original files still as raw, the HDR tiff is still able to be worked in raw, and the final image.

Cheers: Allan

[ClaudioG]

Aah...what software are you using?

Sorry all..i have PS CS5 and Photomatix... but i'd prefer to get a more natural look in my images, i like HDR look, but for me, i feel it only works in certain situations.

[ClaudioG]

Select the 3 images, load into raw program, highlight the middle exposure, hit select all, make adjustments to image to get it looking the way you want, now hit done. Take the 3 images into your HDR program run, save as a tiff. Once saved take tiff file back into raw and rework, when finished take into Photoshop to put finishing touches to image, save as a PSD file. Now you have the 3 original files still as raw, the HDR tiff is still able to be worked in raw, and the final image.

Cheers: Allan

I like that Allan, i think i'll try this out. Im not a huge fan of giving these particular images and HDR look, what are my options if i dont put it into photomatix?

[DanK]

Sorry all..i have PS CS5 and Photomatix... but i'd prefer to get a more natural look in my images, i

Then you probably want exposure fusion rather than HDR. I also want a natural look, and I have only used HDR a few times for test shots since I discovered exposure fusion. You can find comparisons by googling. Here's one.

I do exposure fusion in Lightroom using a plugin, Lightroom Enfuse, set to the default settings. It's extremely easy, and the results are usually quite good.

You can do much the same thing by moving all of the images into layers in PS, then using masks and a feathered brush to select from each. I've never done this, as LR enfuse is far less work.

[Shadowman]

I like that Allan, i think i'll try this out. Im not a huge fan of giving these particular images and HDR look, what are my options if i dont put it into photomatix?

Claudio,

How do your images look noise-wise? Would there be a need to edit before aligning/tonemapping, etc.?

[ClaudioG]

Claudio,

How do your images look noise-wise? Would there be a need to edit before aligning/tonemapping, etc.?

Hi John, all shot at ISO 100 and on tripod.

[Manfred M]

Claudio - generally three images, one stop apart are going to be too close together to be of enough benefit to cover the dynamic range you are trying to cover. As a minimum, I will go with three exposures that are two stops apart; -2 0 +2 range. In extreme lighting, especially when shooting into the sun, I will get even more to ensure that I reduce the number of blown out shots.

[Polar01]

I usually use Photomatix to do images in HDR, however I dislike the heavy tone mapping that most people associate with as HDR. I usually chose the regular pre-set as it gives me the most control over the image with its sliders. Then it is just a case of bring some not a lot of detail back into the shadows and highlights to give the image a look, more of what our eyes are able to see than what the camera could capture with only one shot.
An option would be to open one file in CS than place the other 2 files on top then use layers and blending mode to hand blend the 3 images into one file, something that Photomatix does for your.
Adding an image to show the result of what I usually do, now this is a seven shot image inside a church, look in the shadow and highlights and you can still see some detail.

Cheers: Allan

[Shadowman]

Hi John, all shot at ISO 100 and on tripod.

Thanks Claudio.

[dje]

How do i go about getting the best outta each image?

Especially if i start with Raw, do i get each exposure (3 , in some cases 2) close to each other and then do a little editing in photoshop?

Claudio

The whole point in taking bracketed exposures is to use the "best exposed" parts of each image. To achieve this, you need to do some sort of blending, whether it be in HDR software or Fusion blending software. There is no benefit to be gained in adjusting exposure levels of the individual shots before blending.

I haven't used Photomatrix but I imagine it would have some settings (possibly presets) that would minimise the extreme Tone Mapping effects that are often used with the HDR process. ie give a fairly natural effect.

Dave

[dje]

I haven't used Photomatrix but I imagine it would have some settings (possibly presets) that would minimise the extreme Tone Mapping effects that are often used with the HDR process. ie give a fairly natural effect.

Just noticed Allan has covered this in his post above.

[Manfred M]

Claudio

The whole point in taking bracketed exposures is to use the "best exposed" parts of each image. To achieve this, you need to do some sort of blending, whether it be in HDR software or Fusion blending software. There is no benefit to be gained in adjusting exposure levels of the individual shots before blending.

I haven't used Photomatrix but I imagine it would have some settings (possibly presets) that would minimise the extreme Tone Mapping effects that are often used with the HDR process. ie give a fairly natural effect.

Dave

Yes and no. There are many ways of combining images, without resorting to tone mapping.




This shot is made up of 3 images shot 2 stops apart. In Photoshop. I stacked the images and used layer masks (non-destructive erasing) of the layers beneath to get to the final image. The shot was taken at around sunset, and the sky was blown out and the shadow details were not great, but hand blending (a.k.a "poor man's HDRI") I got the effect I wanted without resorting to tone mapping.

[Colin Southern]

There are quite a few misleading assumptions creeping in here. So lets work through the chaff to get to the wheat:

- Taking multiple exposures is great because it gives you options - one one hand it gives you the option of producing an HDR composite, but on the other, it also gives you the opportunity to choose the best single frame to process if you don't know which one is going to give you the best data to work with. Often - even with a RAW capture - things can easily get pushed to (and beyond) the limit -- having a bracket of exposures gives you options if the "normal" exposure turns out to be less than ideal. So in tricky situations, NEVER be afraid to shoot a bracket -- there really is no downside.

- Manfred pointed out that shooting brackets 1 stop apart usually isn't the best thing to do. If you're shooting with an HDR composite in mind then I agree; in this scenario it's all about dynamic range management, and if the sensor is already capturing around 12 stops (pretty typical at base ISO) then shooting a 3 frame bracket at a 1 stop delta only extends that to 14 -- not a huge difference. Usually I'll do a 5 stop bracket 1.7 or 2 stops apart. However, if you're trying to get an optimal exposure in a single frame then a 3 frame bracket 1 shot apart can be valuable -- especially if a little EC is used to offset the base shot (eg you're not sure how far you can push the highlights - the normal exposure looks to be OK so you set in an EC of +1 - shoot a 3 frame bracket - and end up with 3 shots at 0, +1EV, and +2EV so you can pick the frame that's the most recoverable to give you the best shadow data) (in contrast, something shot with 2 stop EV deltas would almost certainly be unrecoverable at +4EV).

- HDR is a technique - it isn't a "look". It's not valid to say "I don't like the look of HDR photos" because it's impossible to tell if a photo is HDR by looking at it. HDR is simply a set of techniques to capture the full dynamic range of the scene using a sensor that's not capable of capturing it in a single frame. Subsequent too that multiple frames may be processed in a way that makes the scene look realistic or they may get processed in a way that exaggerates things (my term for this is "ultra tone-mapping"). The photo below is HDR - 5 shots 2 stops (off memory) apart, yet processed to look "normal" (I might add that it doesn't look completely normal because it's tough to fool the eye to this degree and I didn't do a perfect job on the local contrast control, but it's good enough to be printed on a 44 x 22" canvas and is currently hanging on the wall above my home PC. Moral of the story "don't be afraid of HDR just because it's HDR" - it's not a "look" - it's just a technique.

- Tone Mapping. ALL images are tone mapped - no way to avoid it in real-world terms. The difference is in whether an image is tone mapped to produce photorealistic results or "alternative interpretation" results. I'm normally shooting HDR for photorealistic results -- the likes of Troy Ratcliff (www.stuckincustoms.com) produces SENSATIONAL "alternative interpretation" tome mapping. (He's moved to New Zealand too - smart guy!)

So - back to the original question(s). Shot 1 stop apart, there's probably not a lot to be gained by merging to an HDR composite, but I'd at least give that a go. What you're wanting is FILE -> AUTOMATE -> MERGE TO HDR PRO, but to be honest, I can't remember if this was introduced with CS5 or CS6 - if the latter then you're out of luck. Photomatix will do it easily too though. With regards to Photomatix, first remember the great Spiderman quote "with great power comes great responsibility"; usually Photomatix is associated with horrifically over-processed images, but it doesn't have to be that way; a few years ago when I checked on the best images section of the Photomatix site I was very surprised to see that the best images were all adjusted for a photorealistic result.

Hope this helps.

[Geoff F]

This is something which I do quite regularly, Claudio.

Let's start with 3 bracketed shots, and decide if you really need all three. Quite often I find that just 2 shots will suffice. Once again, it depends on the scene and how much difference you have set between shots.

Then I open them in ACR (or other converter) and edit each image to get the best that I can from it.

Select all images and transfer to my editing screen. There is a more complicated option of saving each image individually as a Smart Object which can be re edited in ACR; but let's not worry about that at the moment.

Place all images as layers on the same background. And again, there are a number of ways to do this; I usually drag them but copy and paste etc are acceptable.

Make sure all layers are active (you might have to convert the background to a layer) and select all (similar layers).

Use Auto Align to correctly align the layers.

Personally, I have tried several HDR programmes and none of them will give me the natural effect that I require, so I now do the clever stuff with masks. Decide on which layer will become the background and mask the others. You will need to decide whether to use Reveal All or Hide All settings and be careful to use the correct brush (black or white) for editing the masks.

Then it is simply a case of keeping a cool head as you mix and match pieces from each layer.

I use a drawing tablet instead of a mouse because it gives me greater control over the fiddly bits.

I have simplified the procedure slightly so ask again if there is something which doesn't make sense.