Welcome to my HDR tutorial. Yes, there are many other HDR tutorials on the internet but from my experience this is the best, most simplistic way to do it.

What is an HDR?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It is the post-processing technique of combining multiple images of the exact same scene, taken at almost the exact same time into one image. "This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to represent more accurately the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight." (Source: Wikipedia) Have you ever taken a picture of a sunset and been extremely disappointed at the results? Either the sunset was washed out because your camera tried to properly expose the ground or visa-verse. My HDR process will help make everything in your photograph properly exposed.

Here is an example of what an HDR is capable of. The first picture is what your camera will take if it is on Auto and the second is what your final product will look like if you follow this tutorial. Which one do you like better?

HDRs require a lot of equipment and software but I believe you will find the results will quickly make up for it. (this list may look very long but if you are a photographer you should already have most of this) This is what you need:

1. A good digital (DSLR) camera. Every picture has noise in it but HDRs create a ton of it. You can reduce noise by having a good camera and by shooting at a low ISO. You can create good HDRs with Nikon D60's and Canon Rebel XT's but I highly recommend something with a better sensor such as a Canon T1i. You can't get much better than a Nikon D3X ;) Keep in mind I took a lot of my HDRs with a Canon Rebel XT and I am still very pleased with the results, even after upgrading.
2. Photomatix. This is for combining your images into an HDR. (required)
3. Photoshop. I use Photoshop CS4 and I wouldn't recommend anything less than CS2. In fact you need CS2, CS3 or CS4 for the plugins I recommend. (required)
4. Nik Software's Dfine 2.0. This is a Photoshop plugin. Meaning it runs within Photoshop and is not a standalone application. It requires Photoshop CS2-CS4. (optional but highly recommended)
5. Nik Software's Color Efex Pro 3.0. This is also a Photoshop plugin. I often use this to "cross-process" my images to add more life and contrast to them. I don't talk about this in the tutorial but I highly recommend trying it out. (optional but highly recommended)
6. A pretty good computer. As in, more than 2 gigs of RAM. (you can do it on 1 gig but it is painfully slow)
7. iPhoto (mac) or Picasa (mac or windows) works very well also. (required)
8. This is very important. You need a tripod. Tripods are a pain to carry but just think about how cool you are with them. And, as an added bonus you can whack people with them! One thing to say about tripods and general photography when you are shooting in public: know your rights. There are many funny videos of policemen bullying photographers just because they have tripods and look "professional". Anyways, tripods are required because all three of your exposures must be absolutely perfect. You can make an HDR from a single-image but the quality is not nearly as good. One more thing about tripods, you can get a pretty decent tripod from Best Buy for $30, you don't have to spend $600 on a 50-pound tripod. (required)

One more thing before I start: Make sure you are shooting in RAW format. JPG is acceptable but RAW captures much more light and is much more flexible. Click here to read more about why and how to shoot RAW.

Now I will run you through my basic HDR workflow.

Step 1, Taking the Pictures:

First, make sure your camera is on Aperture Priority mode. Second, turn on AEB. What is AEB? Auto Exposure Bracketing. Look up how to set this for your camera specifically. For my Canon T1i it is the first option under the second tab in the Menu. Set it to -2 0 +2 and turn on the self-timer. For most cameras, AEB doesn't work unless you have a timer on. Ok, you have your camera on a tripod set at -2 0 +2 and your self-timer is on. When the shutter is released it will take 3 consecutive exposures. One of those pictures will be over-exposed (+2), another normally exposed (0) and the other will be under-exposed (-2).

Step 2, Photomatix:

Photomatix will take your 3 exposures and create an HDR. To turn the HDR into a JPG you will need to tonemap it. First, select your 3 exposures in your photo-managing software, I am using Adobe Bridge CS4. In the picture below you can see 2 sets of 3 exposures that I took of a sunset on top of a water tower in Santa Fe. I will use the top set.

Open all three images in Photomatix at the same time (I just drag them onto the Photomatix icon on my dock) Select "Generate an HDR image" and then press OK.

And press OK again.

You are now presented with some options. Don't check "Align Source Images" if you took your exposures on a tripod. Select "Reduce chromatic aberrations" and leave everything else unselected.

Now press "Generate HDR".

After a few seconds an unprocessed HDR will pop up. Press "Tone Mapping" on the left.

Now you are presented with a bunch of sliders. Nothing here is "the right way to do it." I almost always have Strength at 100% and Gamma at 2, everything else is up to you. Make sure your Smoothing is at High or Max!

This is when you have the most flexibility when editing your HDR so you shouldn't continue until you are happy with it. When you have all your settings to your liking, press "Process."

Wait a few seconds and you will be presented with your processed HDR! Are you done? No, but almost. Go to File > Save As and save it as a JPG.

Go to the folder you saved it and open it in Photoshop.

Step 3, Photoshop:

What do I do with my pictures in Photoshop? I usually just sharpen and reduce noise. Here is my general Photoshop layout:

Sometimes I will process 2 HDRs and blend their exposures in Photoshop but I will leave that for another tutorial. One thing to remember is that it is always best to sharpen last. If you have Dfine 2.0, the noise reducing plugin, use it. It is pretty easy to use and I don't think I need to write more about it. Now that you are done with all of your noise reduction and basic adjustments it is time to sharpen your picture. Go to Filters > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen.

I don't recommend using a radius greater than 0.9 but it depends. You now have a completed HDR (: Hint: if you can't find your Dfine 2.0 plugin, look for a box like:

Notes:

1. Try to shoot at the lowest ISO possible to keep noise to a minimum.
2. You can create an HDR from a single RAW image. The quality is worse than if you use 3 exposures but if taken at a low ISO and properly processed it can look very nice. Just open a RAW file in Photomatix and you will be presented with this option. You may be forced to do this if you are taking a picture of a moving subject or if you are unable to use a tripod.
3. Some cameras can take 5 pictures on AEB mode, -2 -1 0 -1 -2. I find it pretty useless but if you have the option to you might as well use it.

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