How To HDR Photo Tutorial

After the last two years offering up as much support as I can through email and in person for friends and web visitors alike, my first ebook, “How To Take HDR Photography” is finished and available for purchase! It took me over a year to write and edit the book, which would have gone much faster if I had not been so busy at work! Now for a bit of marketing speak:

How To Take HDR Photos is a new eBook that simplifies the process of taking HDR pictures so that anyone can do it. You will learn everything you need to know from What Camera to Buy, to Advanced Editing Techniques. All you need is a digital camera and HDR software. With this simple guide you will be taking HDR photos in no time!

To celebrate, for the next week only you can get $10 off the purchase price of $30 by using the Discount code: FirstInLine. Get your copy of the How To Take HDR Photos eBook!

Over at VisualPhotoGuide.com they created a great video tutorial for how to take an HDR photo with a Nikon D50.

The Canon Rebel DSLR is the most widely used DSLR today. Some of the best HDR photographers use this camera. It’s affordable, versatile and not over-burdened with features. Follow the following directions to get started taking HDR pictures:

1. Set the Shooting Mode to P
2. Set the Multiple Exposure/Self timer button to Multiple Exposures
3. In the Menu, scroll right one frame to the (Camera icon) 2 menu.
4. The first setting is AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing). Select this setting and use the right directional button to widen the bracketing to the widest setting. It should now have a white indicator under -2, under 0, and under +2.
5. Put your camera on a sturdy tripod. Frame your composition. Press and hold the shutter button (to take the pictures). When it has taken all three pictures release the shutter button.

Now you need to process the photos using HDR Software.

A few days ago Amazon.com accidentally posted the updated specs for the new Canon 40D. The new camera has a much faster rapid shot that should improve the Automated Exposure Bracketing (AEB) setting for taking HDR pictures much quicker. Read the full details on Engadget.

Any camera will take the pictures required to produce an HDR photo. Some will require much more work than others to get the same results. There are a few technical details that you should consider when choosing the camera you will use to create your own HDR photos. Megapixels, Battery, Memory, Automatic Exposure Bracketing, and RAW file support.

Here are a few cameras in different price ranges that I recommend based on these criteria.

Fuji Finepix s5600
HDR Photos taken with the Fuji Finepix s5600 on Flickr

This is one of the most affordable 5.1 megapixel point-and-shoot camera’s you can get that will auto-bracket multiple exposures. I owned a Fuji s602 as my first digital camera and it served me well for 3 years before upgrading. This camera has RAW support and uses AA batteries which is nice. Unfortunately is also uses xD memory which is proprietary and is more expensive than SD and CF. If you have a little more money, you’re better off going with the next camera.

Canon Powershot S3 IS
HDR Photos taken with the Canon Powershot S3 IS on Flickr

This camera combines the ease of point-and-shoot with the quality expected from Canon. It is 6 megapixels and has a nice 2″ swiveling LCD display. The lens also retracts into the body of the camera for a much smaller form-factor than the Fuji. Power is supplied by AA Batteries and a 1Gb SD memory card can cost less than $50 and take around 300 high quality jpegs. The downside, pointed out by my dear friend Jim Van Wyck is that the lens cap doesn’t stay on and is constantly falling off.
Nikon D50
HDR Photos taken with the Nikon D50 on Flickr

Nikon’s DSLR’s are the toughest DSLR’s built, on the market. There are hundreds of add-ons and a starter package for the D50 will cost less than $1000 and include everything needed to get you shooting. The most notable difference between point-and-shoot cameras and DSLR’s is the ability to change lenses. The ability to use high quality lenses results in much sharper photos and better framing options when shooting. Both the d50 and the Canon Digital Rebel are both considered “entry level” pro-sumer digital SLR cameras.

Canon 20D
HDR Photos taken with the Canon 20D on Flickr

Although the Canon 20D has been replaced by the 30D there’s a small difference between the two, so save some money for lenses and check out the 20D. The 20D has RAW file support, +-2EV bracketing (the Fuji and Canon S3 only have +-1EV), and much more then the scope of this article covers. This camera has all the functions you would need for advanced photography and produces very high quality pictures.
The best combination I have used, and currently use, is the Canon 20D and a Canon 10-22mm Super-Wide angle lens.

What camera do you use to take your HDR photos? Share your favorite set-up!