HDR: In Camera vs In Post Production

 A lot of people have stretched into HDR Photography in the recent years as technologies have advanced.  Many cameras offer the capability to create an HDR image in-camera vice using a post-processing software package (like Photoshop or Lightroom).  A major down point to these in-camera options is they prevent you from using the camera during the processing, which means you're missing opportunities.  You may also not have as many options for controlling the exposure and it's impossible to properly see on a tiny display (anything smaller than 15" by many standards, most professionals prefer 20"+) if the exposure and adjustments really are correct for the image in question.

Personally I'd rather be able to take more images while shooting, and have more control over the end-product.  This is especially true when creating the HDR image requires multiple exposures (every HDR image requires at least 3 images, but 7-9 are more common) that are over longer than normal exposure times.  For example, the first image on this page is an HDR image that was combined from 7 different exposures.  This played with the streaks from the cars and the lights on the buildings as well as traffic lights.  It also gave nice depth throughout the dark portions of the buildings, tracked the movement of the moon a little behind the Union Bank building and gave me the option to use a single image for a print later, or the end-product HDR image.

The image here on the right is the same HDR image as above.  It's the same except for its differences.  I took the original HDR image that I had initially created, converted it to Black & White (during that process I was able to push and pull various color layer attributes to make the black and white version even more interesting with detail and contrast), then I added a sepia layer to it.  The Sepia layer added a lot of character for the image, but left the buildings feeling like they were new constructions in an old world.  Finally I added a layer of texture to give the image a feel like it was manually printed on a heavy tooth piece of cold-press, warm-tone paper.  That little difference made the image work, and I was able to give it some other special treatment, like over darkening the trees to balance out the blinding light of the cars, etc.  There are some things that can't be done in camera, while it's best to get the exposure and composition as close to perfect in camera as possible, some things are  better left for Photoshop.

It's all about the light!

San Diego Bay at sunset, Late September 2012.

People, cameras, computer monitors and televisions all see light differently.  People's eyes adjust to the light, as such a lot of times people think there is either too much or "still enough" light to get a photograph, and they're as often right as they are wrong.  Some time's it's a matter of needing different equipment for the situation you're in, other times it's how you're taking the photograph.  Simply stated if you're shooting on a DSLR (or Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera, switch to manual and control what you can of the exposure.

The corner over looking Henessey's and Golden West Hotel in downtown San Diego, February 2012 if I remember correctly, either way it was early 2012.

Using a tri-pod will allow you to use a "bulb exposure" which is essentially any exposure where you manually tell the camera when to start and stop the exposure.  The modern DSLR (and SLR for that matter) are designed to have built-in exposure times varying anywhere from 30 seconds to as fast as 1/8000th of a second, how fast the shutter can move is usually dictated by the quality of the camera, however few if any allow for a longer pre-determined shutter length than 30 seconds.  That's where the Bulb feature (usually indicated by either "Bulb" or "B".   All three of the images on this post were shot using a tri-pod while on the Bulb setting.  The exposures varied anywhere from 45 seconds to 3 minutes.

Early December overlooking Downtown San Diego from the Admiral Kidd (Event & Catering Center) located on FLEASWTRACEN in Point Loma.  

As you begin to venture in to long exposures there are a countless numbering of technicalities and sciences to remember.  For now let's keep to the basics.  Any exposure that is less than the length of your camera lens should be taken with support assistance from a bag, tri-pod or mono-pod as the situation dictates.  What I mean by that is if you're using a 28-105 lens and you're zoomed in to 105 then any shutter speed 1/100th of a second of LONGER (ie 1/80th, 1/60th, 1/30th, 1/20th, etc) should be taken while on a tri-pod.  Using a tri-pod in those instances will help reduce your chance of lens shake.

If you're shooting sports from the sidelines and you're using say a 200mm lens then you want to keep your shutter speed closer to 1/200th of a second, as you learn to properly pan with the motion that may change, but for starters 1/200th is a good starting point.  Because games can go long I'd also recommend using a Mono-pod, it's smaller than a tri-pod (and therefore you can move more easily with it and won't get in the say as much or get run over as easily) but it also provides a little bit of stability that helps you to focus your attentions to the horizon in the distance that might otherwise be thrown away in the moment.

If you're using long exposures (really anything longer than 1/20th of a second) you really want to consider using a remote shutter release, this is the critical component that allows for bulb exposures without the potential for "camera shake" from engaging and releasing the shutter, it also allows you to expose your image for seconds to minutes or hours as the scene dictates.  If your exposures are going to be within your cameras pre-programmed shutter speeds then you can get by using the "timer" option, using this remember that there's a delay from the time you tell the camera to start the timer to when the camera engages the shutter and subsequently completes the exposure.

Don't be afraid to make an exposure take longer.  Making your ISO go down to 100 can make the quality of the image that much greater, especially in low-light situations where you're equipped for long exposures.  f/22+ (ie f/22, f/32, f/64, etc) allow for greater depths of field.  Generally shooting at night it's hard to tell if what you really want to be in focus is in focus.  Having a greater depth of field by using one of these apertures can heighten the interest and end quality of your image.  Just remember apertures are fractions, f/22 is larger than f/32 and is substantially smaller than f/2.8.  That's because it's a mathematical equation specific to your lens/camera combination presently being used, but more on that in future posts.

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Cross Processing for a better world

Digital Cross Processing

Digital Cross Processing

The principle is simple, shoot a roll of slide film and develop it using the standard color film process rather than the slide film process.  The result is colors that are out of the range they would normally appear in.  The process works similiarly if you shoot normal film and have it processed as slide film, though the second option is much more involved. 

So why cross processing?  Because it allows the photographer another tool to use to help push a point across to the viewer from any background and though language barriers may exist the visual arts have been breaking down the barriers between languages for far longer than photograpy has existed.  This particular grouping of images is part of a collection designed to push the extreme of what may become a reality if our waste of natural resources isn't curbed as our gluttony if not put in check may well result in our no longer having clean cities, clean air or clean water.  I hope you chuckled just barely.  All of those issues are a reality, but to what end will you let it continue to slide?

Yes I just picked on you.  And you, and you and you.  Why?  Because if it's not driven home to each one of us how we can all play part to making the world a cleaner and more beautiful home then we might end up with no home to live in. 

Digital Cross Processing

Digital Cross Processing

Digital cross Processing