new HDR user - blown highlights

[Gregory...@adobeforums.com]

Hi,

I am just starting to experiment with HDR. I am using a Nikon D200 and Photoshop CS3. I am shooting 1 stop plus/minus and merging to HDR. It seems that the highlights are always getting blown out much more than the middle image. The shadows are brought up fairly well, but the entire upper end of the curve seems blown out with loss of contrast. I have been experimenting with different methods during the 32 to 16 bit conversion to correct it but have not been so pleased with the results. I can get the highlights back down, but the upper end is fairly washed out with loss of contrast. It seems like the middle part of the curve is also pushed up a bit which would account for the loss of upper end contrast.

I have looked at several tutorials on the net. They don't seem to address this specific situation and how to correct it. Also, the screen shots right after the HDR merge sure look alot better than mine, and don't seem to be blown out at the upper end.

Any help, pointers, links, etc would be so very much appreciated.

[harol...@adobeforums.com]

Using PS takes a fair amount of practice using curves (to precisely isolate blown highlights). Another method is to blend the adjustments in with a layer/mask to target the worst areas.

Having said that, getting the right range of exposures to begin with is probably the most critical part of the process. Use the camera's histogram to make sure you're getting a nice spread.

And...there is a lot of discussion about this (and other) hdr issue(s) available on the net. Try the Flickr hdr group for one good source.

[Bart_...@adobeforums.com]

Gregory: The next time you are out shooting, take a white sheet of paper with you and set the 'white balance' for the shooting conditions for each shot, a pain, but it will save you a lot of post-processing time.

[trouble]

One word: Photomatix.
Download the trial version and you will never want to try HDR in Photoshop
ever again.
Photomatix is easy to use to get good images, but you can make it as complex
as you want.
Photoshop is complex to use for HDR and makes it easy to get terrible HDR
images.
The choice is yours.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

Change the exposure after creating the HDR image -- see if you have any detail in the highlights. You may need to shoot a wider range (+-2 or 3 stops for simple scenes). Complex and wide range scenes can require a lot more exposures over a wider range (one session I did required about 30 exposures with 1 stop between each).

[Alex...@adobeforums.com]

I prefer just to use 'photomatix', a stand-alone program for merging to HDR and post-processing. Real simple and easy to use.

[Bob]

Photoshop is not terrible at HDR but it's pretty darn close. Your
best bet is to try out Photomatrix at http://www.hdrsoft.com/. Even
the experts say it's better than Photoshop at HDR. You can download a
fully functional free trial version from the site I just mentioned.
It will but a watermark on all saved images. I have been using the
trial version for a couple of weeks now and will be buying it shortly.

-Bob
http://designphotography.smugmug.com/