Hi Kevin,

Bracketing is done to capture a greater dynamic range than is possibe with a single exposure. Shooting RAW does not do the same thing. This only captures the data and has nothing to do with the "dynamic range in that data".

If you want to do HDR images you will have to use bracketing. Bracketing in RAW will make the best possible images as you will get better quality from RAW.

You can't process RAW images in photomatrix.

You will have to "develop" them in a RAW converter. Save them as uncompressed TIFF and then photomatrix the TIFF's

The amount of EV depends on the dynamic range of the scene. For a very high range you need to use 3 exposures at 2EV. For low range images like inside with no windows you can use 1EV.

Photomatrix recommends using 2EV for most scenes. You can do 6 images at 1EV and you will have the same thing as 3 at 2EV except that you will have twice as much data to work with. This takes more time of course because of processing twice as many images.

I sometimes use 4 or 5 images at 2EV but only in tricky situations where I must get the shot the first time. Later I have all the data and I can choose to process 3, 4 or 5 images.

General Lee

Hi Guys,

2 cents worth here....

You can do HDR with single RAW images (I do it all the time) I see no reason to shoot multiple shots and combined unless the EV is off the scale. 2 stops either way is very do-able.

I go about it like this:

At 0EV I set "all" other options within PS CS2 Camera Raw Converter and save the .xmp file for each EV step I.E: Normal, Light and Dark. Could just as easily be 0, -2, +2 for the naming.

The only thing you change is the "Exposure" setting for the -2 and +2 shots and once you have done this apply the correct .xmp file to the rest of the shots in a panorama image set.

You then can play HDR with your chosen program I.E: Photomatix, Photoshop, Ulead PhotoImpact, or one of the Digital Darkroom Photoshop Plug-Ins.

What you need to be mindful of is the "plastic" look these file tend to be after processing. Other terms to describe them is "Flat, Lifeless, Dead" it is one thing to get a High Dynamic Range so you can see more detail. I.E: through windows etc. But it usually comes at a cost. (You get dead fake looking images with a plastic look)

Here I show an example: 

One point worth mentioning is that HDR was created with Photomatix in "Default H & S Details" in Auto mode. (Fast and simple for this example)

Anyway as you can see in this example the HDR is "dead"  yes it has a good dynamic range and yes I made it totally with (1) RAW image.

Obviously a full size image would show you the full detail but this example is just too show you (one) way you might go about doing a HDR shot.

Regards, Smooth

Hi Kevin,

LOL, yes but I can see details out the windows! (isn't that all that matters?) "Tongue in cheek!"

YUCK! Mate I don't know if it's only me but I can pick these monstrosities from miles away.

I think the answer is to shoot at the correct 0EV mark in RAW and save this image. Then make the "extra" -/+EV shots and make a "simple" HDR. Then you have two images (one correctly exposed and one plastic) bring them both into Photoshop as layers and using a "Layer Mask" blend only the areas that need to be. (Like blown out windows and reflective areas).

The best thing about doing HDR shots with single RAW images you don't get that "movement" issue between shots. (Be it objects in the shot moving or the camera itself) 

I'm not saying it the best or only way. It is just an option for people to make off what they will.

All you can do is have a good old play and see what works for you. Most of us have our own (sometimes secret) methods. In the end though it's what looks right to the 99%ers who will be viewing the end product.

Regards, Smooth

hey smoothie,

with ur method,  can you do interior shot  with 1 raw image set at 0 ev, then take it to PS raw converter and get 2 additional raw images (+2  -2),

then blend all 3 raw in photomatrix, and be able to SEE OUT THE WINDOWS?

cuz for me, when i do an interior shot (not raw), windows are always white blown. So my brain is saying, "if i start with a white blown window, how can raw converter make it see the stuff out the windows...when its all white from the begining."

Mate, the only way to learn is too try things for yourself. Give it a go and show us your results and we can compare!

Shooting RAW captures a lot of information and a very broad spectrum.

Regards, Smooth 

The fake look comes from the fact that most humans are not used to seeing a HDR image. We are used to looking at limited dynamic range images because that is what can be made with a single exposure on most cameras. The HDR image has a much greater tonal range...much closer to real life. But to see it in 2d looks funny.

Tone mapping will produce very funny looking images if not done correctly. But producing the actual HDR image is only one of the steps. Simply merging a set of images to HDR is not enough. At this point you have a "tonal rich" image. What this really means is you now have a lot and I mean "a lot" of pixal data to work with. You now have enough data to edit it in photoshop without loosing so much data that the image suffers from data loss and again becomes wierd looking. Every time you perform an edit in photoshop like levels, curves, sharpen, color correct you are removing some data from the image. PS interpolates the missing data and redraws the histigram to replace the missing data. The more editing that is done the worse things get. If the image is not an HDR image depending on the exposre of the image you will have some or very little editing room before you hack the image to death.

The other thing is you MUST take at least 3 exposures at 2EV ( EV=Exposre Value...1ev is equal to one stop. But we use EV so we dont have to say 1/60 to 1/30) if the scene has a very high dynamic range.

ALL panos have the highest range possible because you are shooting an entire 360 area that includes all tonal ranges from white to solid black. IF you are shooting a still image then the dynamic range is limited to the specific lighting situation that is framed and often only 2 exposures at 1 EV are required. It is the panos that are the hardest to do using HDR.

About doing the RAW trick to get an HDR image:
Smooth is very correct in how this is done as a RAW image is only data that if not shot raw is processed by the cameras "algorithm" into a JPG or TIFF. How this is done is a closely  guarded secret specific to the camera manufacturer. So by using your own RAW converter you are doing the same thing except that you have control over how this happens. This is related to how color is created from basically a black and white image. In RAW conversion you determine several things related to exposure and two of those are color intensity and tonal range. You are really "developing" the image. If we were using film we could in the lab change some of the these parameters by using different solutions and developing time. So we could make the image over expose or under expose. BUT...and this is the key....we are limited to the original exposure as to "how much we can push this either way."

Altering a single image in RAW either way "is not the same thing" as bracketing seperate exposures. Even though RAW is only capturing the data there is a dynamic range in which this data lives. The dynamic range is a function of how the sensor performs. For example a full frame sensor will have many more diodes and will therefor be capable of much more dynamic range than a 1.5x sensor.

A simple example is a bracket set shot at 1/8, 1/500 and 1/2000 vs 1/30, 1/90, 1/250

The fist set will have a dymaic range that far exceeds any sensor made today ( except large format cameras). The second set will have a dynamic range that is close to what could be coxed out of a single RAW exposure.

We often bracket in still photogrpahy because we are not sure what the "exact" perfect exposure is. Do we expose for shadows or highlights???. Cant tell until we get back to the house.  Assuming you make a "perfect" exposure then it is very possible to use a single RAW exposure to cox out the missing data and merge to a HDR. But if you are off then you wont quite have enough data in either shadows or highlights to make it work out like you want.

So, wheather you can make it work from a singel RAW image or 3 bracketed RAW images depends on the dymanic range of the scene and the dynamic range of your cameras sensor.

Smooth has demonstrated how to do this with one RAW image....and I might add very well. However this will not work for extremly high dynamic range scenes.

General Lee