# A better HDR solution



## kylerpiercings

So I'm determined to make 2016 My year to really excel. Professionally I shoot a lot of architecture and real estate, given that the two are for two totally different clients I have two totally deferent techniques. 

My question here is about HDR techniques and software, for real estate since I'm limited to about an hour time wise, I just don't have the time to set up lighting and get everything finished so I use HDR and Photomatix, however I am not 100% pleased with the results. I've seen photography from other companies who also use HDR and a lot of the photos are really phenomenal, and I've reached out to them with no luck (assuming because I am a local competitor). 

Is there something I am missing? Some secret I don't know of?
My basic approach is to take bracketed photos in two stop increments starting with the darkest exposure (for the highlghts, making sure there is no clipping) and moving to the brightest exposure (making sure there is no shadow clipping) and running that through photomatix. 
No matter what preset I use, the highlights tend to look super washed out and clipped. I just don't get it.


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## weepete

Try using luminocity masks to create HDR images. I quite like this guy's method The Basics Of Luminosity Masks In Digital Blending


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## 407370

Throw up a few JPG examples of processed and unprocessed.
Try this method:

Use JPG
Open whatever graphics editor you use and create 6 copies of the image with various levels of brightness but with no contrast changes (in my experience its the contrast changes that create the issues with Photomatix)
import all 6 copies into Photomatix and reduce Noise / CA / Ghosting
Blend to taste
I dont photograph buildings much but I know my way around HDR. You probably have seen this but Hands-on Photo Tip: Photomatix Pro 5 'Fusion Real-Estate' Method - farbspiel photography


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## Big Mike

I haven't done too many, but I've been using the Lightroom HDR merge.  Makes it quick and simple since most of my workflow is in LR anyway.


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## Braineack

shoot Nikon/Sony RAW - increase shadow slider.


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## kylerpiercings

Here's an entire set from a $750k home yesterday. I don't hate the images, but I don't love them either. It's passable for me, but I'm not interested in passable.

To me this entire Image is hazy, and the windows are way too blown out for my taste

I've also included two photos from the other company who I know for a fact are using HDR for their images.


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## Braineack

those beat the horribly distorted, cartoonlike alternative reality pictures I'm used to seeing in house listings.


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## kylerpiercings

I guess I should also add some of the gear I'm using. 

Nikon D600 w/ 17-35 on a tripod
Shooting raw, adjust color changes, export to Jpeg, merge in photomatix


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## john.margetts

If it was me, I would not bother shooting RAW for something like this. I would shoot Jpegs and would restrict myself to just three images. In your example above I would choose the first, third and fourth exposures only. The fifth exposure is not adding anything to the mix except very blown windows which is what you are complaining about.

Sent from my A1-840 using Tapatalk


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## kylerpiercings

John, could you maybe put together an image using those brackets? I've tried using less, more, different exposure values, I'm not seeing much of a difference.

I tried running the set with the brackets you mentioned. 1AM_5353_5_6_fused.jpg was the result, and 1-1 was after processing with lightroom. It may be marginally better but still isn't the result I'm after


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## jsecordphoto

You're exporting Jpegs and then using photomatix? I rarely, if ever do tone mapping HDR, if I need to combine exposures I use luminosity masks, but I would be using tiffs in photomatix.


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## kylerpiercings

Does anyone have better examples of a three shot bracket being combined for this desired look?


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## killerseaguls

So, all that's being done is taking different exposures and tossing them into a program?  

Can this be done in post by adjusting specs? 


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## CaboWabo

Here are some places to read and watch videos 
farbspiel photography - View. Learn. Connect.
and 
Home - Shutter...Evolve 
Lots of info on both of them for hdr post processing and


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## Peeb

They look pretty good to me.


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## Peeb

Your looks much better than my first effort.  I used photoshop photomerge and the result is the traditional "overcooked HDR" look that pretty much telegraphs what you are doing.  Yours, OP, was much more subtle, which is better.


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## Alexr25

I'm not a great fan of HDR so my comments could be somewhat biased but the problem with your images is that they all to a greater or lesser degree lack contrast. In the case of the image of the kitchen there is not enough tonal range in the scene to warrant using  HDR and all it does is compress the tonal range of the image and gives a flat, false looking result.
Using just one photo (1AM_5355.jpg) from your example and processing it in lightroom gives a better image than the various HDR versions.


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## Braineack

Alexr25 said:


> I'm not a great fan of HDR so my comments could be somewhat biased but the problem with your images is that they all to a greater or lesser degree lack contrast. In the case of the image of the kitchen there is not enough tonal range in the scene to warrant using  HDR and all it does is compress the tonal range of the image and gives a flat, false looking result.
> Using just one photo (1AM_5355.jpg) from your example and processing it in lightroom gives a better image than the various HDR versions.




awful.  you have blown-out sky in the windows and rays of bright light streaming into a brightened kitchen.  You wouldn't want to give potential buyers the impression that the kitchen gets good natural light and is not otherwise a dungeon.


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## Braineack

I saw a really cool video on HDR a while back on YT.  I wish I could find it again.

Instead of the mindset "I need to take 3 images"  he basically took how little or many exposures it took, at equal stop-incriments in order to capture full DR -- then he would combine those.

Basically his shortest exposure was _just _clipping the blacks, then increase the shutter speed until he was _just_ clipping the whites.  In some cases it might just need one exposure, and others maybe 5-6.  But he said the key was shooting narrower stops between shots.

So if say you needed 2-stops of light starting at 1/125sec, he might shoot: 1/125, 1/160, 1/200, 1/250, 1/320, 1/400, and 1/500.

something like that at least, it's been a while.

His results were pretty fantastics, and the idea of only taking what you need makes plenty of sense to me.

I'll see if I can dig it up.


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## 407370

I had a closer look at the kitchen pics. 
The blown out windows are a problem with how the pic was taken and not the processing. Think of tone mapping as enhancing everything that is in the pic including blown highlights. If realism is the goal then I would take more pics later in the day.

As a matter of interest, how are these pics to be used? 

Do they get uploaded full size for potential buyers to download?
are they printed and if so at what size?


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## bulldurham

If you wonder where Jimmy McIntyre got his "actions" from, you might want to go to the original source, Tony Kuyper Photography—Getting the Actions if you look at some of his screen shots you will see a layer line that reads TK actions which is Tony Kuyper. If you really want to learn how to do Luminoisty/Channel work, this is the source I recommend to everyone.


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