How to Create Natural‐Looking HDR Images Using Lightroom CC
Assess the scene to assure there is a need for the use of HDR techniques., Turn you camera on and set it to a non-automatic shooting mode., Use a tripod if you have one., Take your pictures carefully., Manually bracket if needed., Import your three...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Assess the scene to assure there is a need for the use of HDR techniques.
If the scene does not have super dark shadows and super light highlights, one shot might be able enough dynamic range to correctly show the scene. , If your camera has a "bracketing mode"
set the camera to take at least three shots with at least a stop of exposure difference., Attach it to the camera and start composing your shot., If the camera has a bracketing mode, take the three bracketed photos.
If the camera is not on a tripod, try and hold the camera as still as possible.
If there is too much camera shake, Lightroom will not be able to align the images when blending them. , If the camera doesn't not have a bracketing mode, you will have to manually bracket your photos.
Raise each photo's exposure by a stop, starting with the underexposed photo.
If you are not using a bracketing mode or a tripod, be very careful when recomposing each shot after adjusting the exposure.
There is a lot of room for error when not using a tripod and manually adjusting the exposure. , Make sure to import all the photos into a single folder so they are easy to select. , A menu will appear with multiple options.
Put your mouse over the "Photo Merge" option.
Another box will appear with two options.
Click on the "HDR..." option. , If you took your bracketed images without a tripod, you should enable this setting.
It will attempt to align your photos to correct for hand shake.
The second setting is "Auto Tone".
Don't click this option.
It will edit the HDR image for you.
We are going to edit the image ourselves to obtain the best results possible.
The last setting is "Deghost Amount". The more movement in a scene, like trees or clouds moving, the higher you should set the deghosting setting. , Then click the "Merge" button on the bottom of the window.
This will start the blending process.
The more settings that were selected before merging, the longer it will take to create your final HDR image. The final image, that will be ready for editing, will be in the same folder the bracketed images were imported into. , Editing HDR images isn't an exact science because every image is different.
There are some rules to follow that will help create realistic and natural looking images. , If it's to far to the left, the picture is too dark and the exposure should be raised.
If the histogram is too far to the right, it is to bright and and the exposure of the shot should be lowered. , This is going to increase the dynamic range of the photograph which will increase the detail in the shadows and highlights of the image., This should start making the image look more natural., When adjusting the sliders the picture will go black or white depending on the slider you are adjusting.
Adjust the sliders until you see a change in the image.
Some color will appear telling you that part is absolute white or absolute black depending on the slider you are adjusting.
Once you see a little but of color, leave the slider there and check the image.
This should help the image to look more natural. , Move the slider in small increments and pay attention to how it changes the image.
It can bring more detail to certain parts of the image like the sky, but can also create ghosting and artifacts that will make the image look unnatural., To finish, look at you final image and tweak any sliders that might need changing.
Fine adjustments make big differences to the final image. -
Step 2: Turn you camera on and set it to a non-automatic shooting mode.
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Step 3: Use a tripod if you have one.
-
Step 4: Take your pictures carefully.
-
Step 5: Manually bracket if needed.
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Step 6: Import your three or more images into Adobe Lightroom CC.
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Step 7: Select all of the bracketed images and right click one of them.
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Step 8: Wait for the window to open with multiple settings to enable or disable: The first setting is "Auto Align".
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Step 9: Select your desired options.
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Step 10: Select the merged HDR image from the folder and move to the "Develop" tab of Lightroom.
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Step 11: Look at the histogram and see if it touches both sides.
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Step 12: Raise the shadows up to +100 and drop the highlights down to -100.
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Step 13: Increase the contrast slider.
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Step 14: Hold the "option/alt" key while adjusting the "Blacks" and "Whites" sliders.
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Step 15: Adjust the "Clarity" slider.
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Step 16: Do some fine-tuning as needed.
Detailed Guide
If the scene does not have super dark shadows and super light highlights, one shot might be able enough dynamic range to correctly show the scene. , If your camera has a "bracketing mode"
set the camera to take at least three shots with at least a stop of exposure difference., Attach it to the camera and start composing your shot., If the camera has a bracketing mode, take the three bracketed photos.
If the camera is not on a tripod, try and hold the camera as still as possible.
If there is too much camera shake, Lightroom will not be able to align the images when blending them. , If the camera doesn't not have a bracketing mode, you will have to manually bracket your photos.
Raise each photo's exposure by a stop, starting with the underexposed photo.
If you are not using a bracketing mode or a tripod, be very careful when recomposing each shot after adjusting the exposure.
There is a lot of room for error when not using a tripod and manually adjusting the exposure. , Make sure to import all the photos into a single folder so they are easy to select. , A menu will appear with multiple options.
Put your mouse over the "Photo Merge" option.
Another box will appear with two options.
Click on the "HDR..." option. , If you took your bracketed images without a tripod, you should enable this setting.
It will attempt to align your photos to correct for hand shake.
The second setting is "Auto Tone".
Don't click this option.
It will edit the HDR image for you.
We are going to edit the image ourselves to obtain the best results possible.
The last setting is "Deghost Amount". The more movement in a scene, like trees or clouds moving, the higher you should set the deghosting setting. , Then click the "Merge" button on the bottom of the window.
This will start the blending process.
The more settings that were selected before merging, the longer it will take to create your final HDR image. The final image, that will be ready for editing, will be in the same folder the bracketed images were imported into. , Editing HDR images isn't an exact science because every image is different.
There are some rules to follow that will help create realistic and natural looking images. , If it's to far to the left, the picture is too dark and the exposure should be raised.
If the histogram is too far to the right, it is to bright and and the exposure of the shot should be lowered. , This is going to increase the dynamic range of the photograph which will increase the detail in the shadows and highlights of the image., This should start making the image look more natural., When adjusting the sliders the picture will go black or white depending on the slider you are adjusting.
Adjust the sliders until you see a change in the image.
Some color will appear telling you that part is absolute white or absolute black depending on the slider you are adjusting.
Once you see a little but of color, leave the slider there and check the image.
This should help the image to look more natural. , Move the slider in small increments and pay attention to how it changes the image.
It can bring more detail to certain parts of the image like the sky, but can also create ghosting and artifacts that will make the image look unnatural., To finish, look at you final image and tweak any sliders that might need changing.
Fine adjustments make big differences to the final image.
About the Author
Gary Gordon
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow creative arts tutorials.
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