My Free HDR Tutorial

One of my most favourite HDR Image that shows off the sort of lively colours and impact achieve with applying the correct HDR technique.

I have read hundreds of HDR tutorials available on the Internet, most of them giving only the absolute basics. Only a few go deeper into the details and the practical issues of making the photographs, but most of these tutorials don’t give tips on improving your HDR photographs beyond some basic post-processing.

With this tutorial I want to fill that gap with lots of easy-to-implement tips and techniques to make the HDR photographs and to create realistic-looking HDR images by using easy repeatable post-processing techniques with the existing software.

Part One- Introduction to HDR Photography is a HDR tutorial for those who are completely new to HDR photography. I will explain what HDR is all about, why you as a photographer should care, and I will show the basics of making an HDR photograph. I am convinced that some of you, who are already familiar with HDR, may also benefit from a better understanding of the reason behind all the basic techniques that are explained to make the HDR photographs in the field.

Part Two – Advanced HDR Techniques builds on the basic knowledge of part one and gives further detail or explanation about the techniques and tips used by professional photographers to improve even more their technique of making HDR photographs.

In Part Three it is time to create the final HDR image. After we made the best possible HDR photographs in the field, we want create the final HDR photograph itself. In this part I will show you in great detail how this is done with the existing software on the market and I will show you the most important post-processing techniques for creating realistic HDR images.

Finally in Part Four, I will demonstrate some more advanced photographing and post-processing techniques that I use that may come in handy for several purposes or situations. Post-processing images becomes an art in itself. The ultimate goal is to create an image with a very high wow-factor, which is the ultimate goal of this tutorial.

I hope you enjoy reading this tutorial as much as I enjoyed making it ! Have a great time!

Tutorial – Table of Content 

Introduction

Part One – Introduction to HDR Photography

• What is HDR?
• Basics of making a HDR photograph
  • Gear Requirements
  • Camera features
  • Camera settings
• Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)
• Manual Exposure Bracketing (MEB)

Part Two – Advanced HDR Techniques

• Measuring the complete dynamic range with spot metering
• Techniques to prevent camera shake while doing Manual Exposure Bracketing

Here are a few interesting HDR photographs that people seem to enjoy. This shows the sort of style of pictures and edits I have arrived at over the years by using the techniques described in this HDR tutorial. More photographs to browse in my portfolio.