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What Is HDR?
Kamera Express
What is HDR?
With HDR photography, you can increase the dynamic range of your photos — HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. This ensures that every part of your image is properly exposed, creating a result that looks closer to what you see with your own eyes.
What is dynamic range?
A large dynamic range simply means that there are more nuances between black and white. This is especially useful in situations where the contrast between dark and light areas is very high. A camera has a limited dynamic range, especially when compared to the human eye. You may have noticed that when photographing in bright sunlight, shadows can become completely dark and lose detail, while your own eyes can still see those details clearly. This happens because dynamic range depends on the sensor inside the camera. For example, a full-frame sensor generally performs better in this area than a crop sensor.
How do I take an HDR photo?
With an HDR photo, you go a step further than what is possible with a single “normal” image. To achieve this, you take multiple photos that are identical in composition but differ in exposure. In the photo with the longest exposure, you will notice that the shadows are properly exposed, while the highlights become overexposed and lose detail. On the other hand, the photo with the shortest exposure will retain much more detail in the brighter areas of the image. However, the shadow areas in that photo will appear too dark. The photos you take for an HDR image are merged into a single photo, where only the correctly exposed parts of each image are used. Any underexposed or overexposed areas are therefore excluded. The more photos you take — and the more exposure steps there are between the darkest and brightest image — the better the final result will be. Take at least three photos, but preferably five or seven.
Exposure
1/60 second
Exposure
1/15 second
Exposure
1/4 second
Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB)
Many cameras today include a feature called Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB), which makes the process much easier. With this function, you select three different exposures, and the camera automatically takes all three shots in quick succession with a single press of the shutter button. On your camera, you can set how large the difference between the exposures should be. This gives you one “neutral” exposure, one underexposed image, and one overexposed image. For example, you might choose a difference of one stop between the photos. If the situation requires it, you can of course adjust this by choosing a larger difference, such as two stops between each photo.
Tips & Advice
| Tip | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1. Use a tripod | Since every image needs to be exactly the same, it is recommended to use a tripod. This ensures that your camera does not move between shots. |
| 2. Keep your ISO as low as possible | Because you are working with a tripod, you can keep your ISO low. This helps prevent unnecessary noise and gives you the best possible image quality. |
| 3. Turn off autofocus | To make sure every photo is focused in the exact same way, we recommend turning off autofocus to prevent the camera from refocusing between shots. Of course, you can use autofocus before taking the first photo to achieve the desired focus point. Once you are satisfied, switch it off. |
| 4. Only adjust your shutter speed | Take each photo with a different shutter speed, while keeping all other settings the same. If you change the exposure using a different aperture, each photo will have a different depth of field, which is not desirable. You can increase or decrease your shutter speed by one stop for each shot, effectively doubling or halving the shutter speed. |
| 5. Avoid movement in your shot | Since all photos need to match each other perfectly, HDR is less suitable for locations with a lot of movement. Think of a busy intersection or a forest where trees are moving heavily in the wind. Multiple shots taken at different moments may not align properly because the scene changes constantly. |
| 6. Pay extra attention to shadows and highlights | For a successful result, it is important to cover the entire dynamic range with your multiple exposures. Pay close attention to both the shadows and highlights and ensure they are properly exposed across your different photos. If all image information is captured, you are guaranteed a much better final result. |
| 7. Use a remote shutter release | When using long shutter speeds, it is best to use a remote shutter release. This helps prevent vibrations caused by pressing the shutter button manually. |
| 8. Shoot in RAW | Shooting in RAW gives you much more flexibility during post-processing. For example, you can easily correct your white balance afterwards. |
How do I edit an HDR photo?
Although you can manually merge your photos yourself, there are fortunately many programs available that can do this for you. You simply select all the different exposures you captured of your photo, and the software takes care of the rest. Of course, each program has its own workflow and offers different editing options to fine-tune the final result.
