The Early Morning Mist image shown on the left was shot with a Canon 30D and a 70-200mm f/2.8 Tamron lens. Using aperture priority at f/18, I shot a 5-shot bracket with each exposure differing by 1EV. The resulting merger of the full bracket was unsatisfying mainly because the dynamic range of the scene was low. No more than 4-stops separated the extreme shadows from the extreme highlights. What’s a fellow to do?
The highlight I wanted to emphasize was the haze hovering just above the water. In the original tone mapped image made from 5 exposures, the line of fog turned a muddy gray. Unacceptable. I decided to bias the highlights without sacrificing the midtones so I merged a second hdr file in which I chose the +2, +1 and -1 exposures. By biasing the highlights I was able to create an image that held the midtones well and allowed the fog to appear as a separator between the tree line and the reflection of the trees on the water.
5-Exposure Merged HDR Image
The merged image to the left is the first merger of the full 5-shot bracket. Notice the gray-blue tone of the fog line as opposed to the whiter line in the image above. When working in low contrast conditions it is important to remain flexible in one’s approach in the preparation of the final image. By shooting a 5-stop bracket I had the flexibility to choose from the exposures to create an image that I found satisfying. I experimented using other exposure combinations as well but finally decided that the +2, +1, -1 combination produced the image I felt most comfortable with.
Low contrast scenes present one with a series of decisions. Do I shoot a single image? After all, my D-SLR is fully capable of recording up to a 5-stop dynamic range with no significant falloff from the scene I was photographing. On the other hand, should I shoot a 5-stop bracket in order to be able to bias the highlights or shadows without much image manipulation? Or should I shoot a 3EV bracket to merge into an HDR file? My personal bias pushes me toward the most expansive choice. In the end, this choice affords me the greatest freedom available. I could choose to use a single exposure, probably the one exposed normally. But I may wish to explore some HDR combinations and so I have the widest possible choices to make in creating merged files.
Single Normal Exposure
The image to the left is a single shot normal exposure, the central exposure used in making the two HDR images above. For most purposes this image is acceptable but there are areas that would take a great deal of manipulation to bring out. The area in the right lower corner is lost in the shadows, appearing mostly without detail as the darkest area of the shot. The HDR images both allow for the green seaweed to show through and the detail on the stern of the boat is not lost.
Here is the point. There is more to photography than just reading exposure meters, histograms and getting the gamma right, much more. The most important aspect of photography is not technical, it is visual. Being aware of the scene you are photographing, the light, the conditions, the dynamic range and so on must become second nature in order to produce a condition in which seeing the scene and composing an image are the most important aspect of your time.
