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The Photo Cookbook Series
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THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
About the Author
My name is Klaus Herrmann. I
have been a computer scientist,
instructor and award–winning
scientific author for 14 years with
over 70 publications. But when I
discovered my passion for pho-
tography, everything changed.
My second life as a photographer, photography instructor and
author started in 2012 when I decided to leave the worn–out
paths of an academic career and venture onto new territory. I
had pursued travel photography since 2008 as a by–product of
my frequent business trips when I began connecting this new
passion with my profession as an instructor.
This book launches my Photo Cookbook Series – the foundation
for my premium educational material on farbspiel-photo.com.
About the Photo Cookbook Series
This is the first eBook in the Photo Cookbook Series (PCS) – a se-
ries of practical guides covering different photographic topics.
The PCS provides in–depth
information on different
photographic topics and
offers practical guidance to
photographers at all levels.
The topics include a variety
of areas related to the tech-
nique, the tools and the
workflow involved with cre-
ating, processing and pre-
senting your photographs.
Visit http://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs to get more information.
Preface
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Preface iv
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
About the Practical Guide to HDR
Vertorama Photography
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Vertorama photography creates fasci-
nating views of interiors. It takes your audience out of the specta-
tor's seat and puts it right into the scene. An interior photographed
this way literally comes to life. It opens towards the viewer, and in-
vites him to immerse into the scene. An excellent HDR Vertorama
will be a highlight in your portfolio.
But what does it take to create such an image? Which equipment
do you need? What are proper techniques for shooting the photos
and how do you turn them into the final image? In this eBook, I will
answer these questions and show you how to create your own HDR
Vertoramas, taking your photography to the next level.
The 7 chapters will walk you through everything you need to know
about the technology, different shooting techniques, and the post–
processing workflow for creating your own HDR Vertorama photo-
graphs.
Who Is This Book for?
HDR Vertoramas are certainly an advanced photographic topic. You
should know the basics of photography (exposure, composition
etc.) and you should have some experience with HDR photogra-
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THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
phy. This book is ideally suited for all those who are already practic-
ing HDR and want to step up their game to extend their skills and
ultimately their portfolio.
To achieve a necessary degree of completeness, I will give brief in-
troductions to basic topics (like HDR imaging). But this does by no
means represent a complete guide. Instead, it is meant to set the
stage for the real subject of this book.
What Do You Need to Follow Along?
You should have a decent camera to start with. While it is in principle
possible to use a compact camera, this has a number of disadvan-
tages which will let you quickly hit the limits. You are going to learn
how to take interior images under low–light conditions. Thus, you
should have a Digital Single–Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. We are going
to discuss the requirements in terms of camera equipment in more
detail in Chapter 2.
You should own software for producing HDR images, for stitching
panoramas and for post–processing images in general. There is a
wide variety of different products on the market that provide these
features. Some are commercial, others are completely free. There is
no real need to invest in expensive software. However, I will restrict
my explanations in this book to a certain set of products that are in-
dustry–leading and well–accepted in photography: Photomatix (for
HDR creation) and Photoshop (for stitching and post–processing). I
will not cover all possible products and explain how every detailed
step is executed in each of them. This Practical Guide to HDR Vertora-
ma Photography is about the principle techniques of HDR Vertorama
photography. It is not a software guide.
Contents at a Glance
● The technical side: I will explain which camera, lenses and
tripod support you need. We will discuss different features of
your equipment and their importance for your HDR Vertora-
ma adventures. This will enable you to take an informed deci-
sion as to whether and how you need to upgrade your gear.
● Rules of composition: Composing your HDR Vertoramas in
the field without ever seeing the final result is difficult. I will
give you extensive advice on how to get appealing composi-
tions nevertheless.
● Tripod shooting: I will show you how to adjust and use a
panorama head for highest quality and precision. We will go
through the shooting process together step by step.
● Hand–held shooting: I will give you an in–depth guide on
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Preface vi
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
how to manage the complexity of shooting the source pho-
tos for your HDR Vertoramas hand–held. Mastering hand–
held shooting for your HDR Vertorama work will open a vast
quantity of new possibilities for you. I will give you many use-
ful tips on how to achieve this.
● Post–production: In the post–processing chapter, you will
learn the entire process of creating your HDR Vertoramas
starting with the selection and preparation of the source
photos, via merging and stitching, all the way up to the post–
processing work in your photo editing software.
● Hands–on Examples: I will walk you through three in–depth
example HDR Vertorama projects covering the shooting situ-
ation, the specific challenges and how to master them, the
post–processing approach and the concrete editing work ap-
plied to each image. You will learn a ton of tricks which help
you achieve the results you look for.
Thank you very much for purchasing this book.
Klaus Herrmann
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Contents
Introduction 11.1 What Is HDR? ................................ 3
1.2 What Is a Vertorama? ........................... 4
1.3 What Is an HDR Vertorama?....................... 5
1.4 What Are the Major Challenges? ................... 7
1.5 The Shooting Technique......................... 8
1.6 The Workflow ................................ 9
1.7 Summary and Take–Away Points .................. 11
Equipment 122.1 The Camera ................................ 13
2.2 The Lens .................................. 20
2.3 The Tripod ................................. 21
2.4 Spirit Level and Cable Release .................... 22
2.5 The Panorama Adapter......................... 23
2.6 The Data Storage.............................
272.7 The Software ............................... 28
2.8 Summary and Take–Away Points .................. 30
2.9 Checklist .................................. 31
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C t t i
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Contents ix
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
Planning and Composition 333.1 Planning .................................. 34
3.2 Composition................................ 37
3.2.1 Symmetry.............................. 37
3.2.2 Leading Lines ........................... 39
3.2.3 Geometric Shapes......................... 40
3.2.4 Distance and Position....................... 41
3.2.5 The Rule of Thirds ......................... 42
3.2.6 Leave Room at the Edges .................... 44
3.2.7 Vertical Angle of View ...................... 44
3.2.8 Estimating the Composition................... 45
3.3 Summary and Take–Away Points .................. 47
3.4 Checklist .................................. 48
Shooting With a Tripod 504.1 Initial Preparation ............................ 51
4.1.1 Finding the Nodal Point ..................... 52
4.1.2 Finding the Right Rotation Angle................ 56
4.2 On–Site Preparation........................... 58
4.3 Immediate Preparation......................... 61
4.3.1 Setting Up Your Camera ..................... 61
4.3.2 Choosing the Right Exposure .................. 63
4.4 Taking the Shots ............................. 66
4.4.1 Taking the Source Photos Using AEB .............. 67
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THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
4.4.2 Taking the Source Photos Manually (MEB) .......... 67
4.4.3 Taking the Source Photos Semi–Automatically (SEB) .... 68
4.4.4 After You Finished Producing a Set............... 69
4.5 Summary and Take–Away Points .................. 70
4.6 Checklist .................................. 71
Hand–Held Shooting 775.1 The Challenges .............................. 78
5.2 The Preparation ............................. 80
5.2.1 Initial Preparation ......................... 80
5.2.2 On–Site Preparation ....................... 82
5.2.3 Immediate Preparation...................... 88
5.3 Taking the Shots ............................. 89
5.4 Summary and Take–Away Points .................. 94
5.5 Checklist .................................. 95
Post-Production 986.1 Image Selection ............................ 101
6.2 Image Preparation........................... 103
6.2.1 Reducing Chromatic Aberration ............... 103
6.2.2 Adjusting the White Balance ................. 107
6.2.3 Turning Off Noise Reduction and Sharpening ....... 109
6.2.4 Exporting the Source Images From Camera Raw ..... 110
6.2.5 Optimizing Dynamic Range .................. 111
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Contents i
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Contents xi
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
6.2.6 Noise Reduction ......................... 113
6.3 Vertorama Creation .......................... 116
6.3.1 HDR Merging in Photomatix.................. 117
6.3.2 Tone Mapping .......................... 120
6.3.3 Stitching ............................. 122
6.4 Correction and Cropping ...................... 125
6.4.1 Rotation.............................. 126
6.4.2 Distortion............................. 128
6.4.3 Warp................................ 128
6.4.4 Fixing Minor Stitching Errors ................. 130
6.4.5 Merging Layers and Cropping ................. 134
6.4.6 Filling the Holes ......................... 135
6.5 Image Adjustments .......................... 138
6.5.1 General Advice.......................... 139
6.5.2 Image Enhancement Software ................ 140
6.5.3 Global Adjustments....................... 143
6.5.4 Local Adjustments ....................... 144
6.5.5 Sharpening............................ 146
6.6 Output .................................. 149
6.7 Summary and Take–Away Points ................. 151
6.8 Checklist ................................. 152
Contents xii
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Contents xii
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
HDR Vertorama Workshops 1557.1 Basilica St. Martin – Weingarten, Germany ........... 156
7.2 Matthias Church – Budapest, Hungary ............. 164
7.3 Yeni Cami (New Mosque) – Istanbul, Turkey .......... 170
Index 177
7
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This Is Only a Sample - Get the Full eBook Now!
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
...
...
You are flipping through the free sample PDF for the eBook
A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photographyby Klaus Herrmann
This is only a taste of what you will get when you go to
http://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs/hdr-vertorama-photography
and buy the full book.
Chapter 1 — Introduction 5
http://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs/hdr-vertorama-photography?utm_source=ebook&utm_medium=pdf&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=in_verto_samplehttp://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs/hdr-vertorama-photography?utm_source=ebook&utm_medium=pdf&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=in_verto_sample
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Chapter 1 — Introduction 5
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
1.3 What Is an HDR Vertorama?
If you combine both of these techniques, you get an HDR Vertorama.
As you will learn in Chapter 6, there are three different ways of com-
bining your source exposures into an HDR Vertorama image. To keep
it simple, I will pick one of them to show you the general anatomy
of such an image.
Figure 1.3 Te anatomy of an HDR Vertorama: camera angles (),
exposure series for each section (), the merged and tone mapped HDR im-
ages for each section (), the raw stitched Vertorama image (), and the final
cropped and post–processed HDR Vertorama image ().
2
1
3 4 5
Chapter 1 — Introduction 6
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Chapter 1 Introduction 6
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
For each section of the Vertorama, you produce an exposure series.
The images in such a series are generally referred to as brackets. The
example in Figure 1.3 has 6 sections (the rows of images to the left)
with 3 brackets each. The entire set of photos used to produce the
HDR Vertorama (all brackets in all sections) is simply called a set . In
the post–production phase, you merge the brackets of each section
into a single HDR image (). Then, you stitch the resulting HDR im-
ages together to get the raw Vertorama image (). Finally, you cor-
rect and crop the raw image and apply some image processing to it
to get the final image (). The result is an image with an increased
vertical field of view and an increased dynamic range.
As you increase the vertical field of view (sometimes to as much as
180° or even more), you will naturally get a much larger dynamic
range than in any single photo you shoot. For example, the floor at
your feet (in most cases the first section of a Vertorama) will be rather
dark while those sections at the top might be very bright since they
may include windows or portions of the sky. If you do not use HDR,
losing details is almost inevitable, both in the shadows and in the
highlights. This leads to some areas being completely white (blown
out) and others being completely black. HDR imaging allows you to
capture the details in those areas despite the limited capabilities of
your camera.
Click here to view a range of example
HDR Vertoramas with specific infor-
mation on the production process and
additional material like Before–and–
After comparisons and Making–ofvideos.
Chapter 1 — Introduction 7
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Chapter 1 Introduction 7
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
1.4 What Are the Major Challenges?HDR Vertorama photography is a combination of two multi–expo-
sure techniques. As such, it involves a number of unique challenges:
1 Producing the source images is not trivial. Keep in mind thatyou may easily need to make 12 exposures (4 sections of 3 different
exposures each) or even more for a single Vertorama image. Moreo-
ver, these images need to match (alignment within each section and
proper overlap between the sections) since you need to combine
them in the HDR merging and stitching process.
2 You will have to take the source images with great precisionsince being sloppy will prevent the software that stitches and merg-
es the photos from working correctly.
3 Some interesting environments (e.g. churches, castles etc.)have a low ambient light level and tripods are not allowed in many
of these locations. This implies that you will need to produce the
source images hand–held with low shutter speeds. Blurry images
may easily be the result of this.
4 The overall composition of the final image is not visible to youwhen you shoot the source photos because the final appearance is
a result of the stitching process. Thus, composing your Vertorama
takes some thought and experience.
5 The size of the resulting Vertorama images can be huge andvery demanding on your computer.
This list of challenges may look intimidating, but don’t worry. In this
book, you will learn how to master each of these challenges step by
step to produce high–quality HDR Vertoramas. Yes, it might take a
while and some practice. The results though, will be very impressive
images that are well worth the effort.
Chapter 1 — Introduction 8
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Chapter 1 Introduction 8
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
1.5The Shooting TechniqueYou can generally approach HDR Vertorama photography in two dif-
ferent ways: You can shoot the source photos from a tripod or you
can shoot them hand–held . Both have their purpose, and both have
advantages and disadvantages.
Shooting From a Tripod
Whenever possible, you should use a tripod for your HDR Vertorama
shoots. Not only will this ensure perfectly aligned source photos for
later HDR processing straight out of the camera, it will also avoid
potential stitching problems in the post–production phase. These
problems are usually caused by parallax errors which I will explain in
Section 2.5 »The Panorama Adapter« on page 23 and Section 4.1.1
»Finding the Nodal Point« on page 52. Beyond that, using a tripod
offers the usual advantages of having sharp images irrespective of
the shutter speed you use.
Shooting Hand–Held
The points listed above are compelling, and consequently you may
think there is no reason to ever shoot hand–held. However, life is not
always so simple. Often, the usage of a tripod is simply prohibited in
certain locations for different reasons. As soon as you set it up, there
is usually somebody approaching you and asking you not to use it.
In other situations, you may not have the time to set up your tripod
properly. You may not have enough space, or there is a danger of
people tripping over it, hurting themselves and damaging your gear.
The Necessity of Mastering Both
If you rely on being able to use your tripod, you will walk away with-
out a photo in any of these situations. Therefore, learning how to
take high–quality photos under a wide range of conditions is very
important. We will discuss the detailed techniques and workflows
for both in Chapter 4 and 5.
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y p
THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
...
...
You are flipping through the free sample PDF for the eBook
A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photographyby Klaus Herrmann
This is only a taste of what you will get when you go to
http://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs/hdr-vertorama-photography
and buy the full book.
http://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs/hdr-vertorama-photography?utm_source=ebook&utm_medium=pdf&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=in_verto_samplehttp://farbspiel-photo.com/pcs/hdr-vertorama-photography?utm_source=ebook&utm_medium=pdf&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=in_verto_sample
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THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
Chapter 2 — Equipment
You will learn about…
f Which features your camera should have
f Which lenses are well–suited for HDR Vertorama
photography
f How to build a panorama head that is simple and
light–weight
f Which other equipment you need
In this chapter, we will take a closer look at the technology required forHDR Vertorama photography. I will explain which gear you need in terms
of camera, lenses, tripod and other equipment. I will point out some im-
portant features that your equipment should have. You can use this list
to check your current equipment for its adequacy. In case you plan to
buy new gear, you will find some features in this list that you should be
looking for. This chapter will end with a brief discussion about the soft-
ware that you need throughout the post–processing stages.
Creating great HDR Vertorama images requires two things: the right
technology and the right technique. Both depend on each other. If you
shoot hand–held, your equipment needs to have certain properties that
are irrelevant when you shoot from a tripod and vice versa. In general,
hand–held shooting is more demanding on your equipment because
sometimes you have to shoot in low light. Hand–held and low–light donot go very well together. In the following, I will discuss the features that
your equipment needs to have if you want to master both hand–held
and tripod shooting.
Chapter 2 — Equipment 13
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THE PHOTO COOKBOOK SERIES A Practical Guide to HDR Vertorama Photography © Klaus Herrmann 2013
2.1The CameraLet us start with the camera itself. As you will see, there are a num-
ber of features to look out for if you want to take up HDR Vertorama
photography and you plan on buying a new camera. Not all the
features discussed here are equally important though. Table 2.1 on
page 19 indicates the importance of each feature for both hand–
held and tripod shooting.
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) (Figure 2.1) is a camera function that
lets you take two or more images with different exposure values
with a single click of the shutter release button. You can configure
the way in which these exposures are taken. The most common
setup is a set of three images, one with a normal exposure value
(0 EV – e.g. the exposure measured by the camera's metering sys-
tem), one underexposed by 2 stops (-2 EV), and one overexposed
by 2 stops (+2 EV).
AEB is important if you are shooting hand–held since it is the sim-
plest way to produce the source photos with minimal offset (mini-
mal movement between the exposures). If your camera does not
have an AEB function, you have to adjust the shutter speed value
manually between exposures. This is possible, but it requires a lot of
practice in order to hold your camera still. It also requires a lot more
time to produce the large number of source photos you need, and
it increases the danger of objects moving in the frame or changing
conditions interfering with your shoot.
When it comes to AEB functions, there is a clear difference between
the entry–level to mid–range DSLR segment and the semi–pro to
professional DSLR segment: Entry–level and mid–range DSLR cam-
eras are typically limited to 3 shots with a maximum step width of
2 EV. This will cover many situations in HDR Vertorama photogra-
phy. Semi–pro and pro cameras can usually do up to 9 shots with
a maximum step width of 1–3 EV. Some entry–level DSLR cameras
Figure 2.1 ypical auto exposure bracket-
ing (BK) button on a Nikon camera body.
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will only do the 3 shots with 1 EV step interval. Others do not have an
AEB function at all. Stay away from the latter two types of cameras.
The minimum AEB functionality recommended for HDR Vertorama
photography is 3 shots with a step width of 2 EV.
Speed – Frames Per Second
The speed of a camera is measured in frames per second (FPS). This
is the number of exposures the camera can take on average in one
second under normal conditions. Today, some professional cameras
will go as high as 11 FPS while a cheap compact camera may only
do 1 FPS or less. The more FPS your camera has, the less time passes
while your camera takes the exposure series (assuming you are us-
ing AEB). This limits the movement in the scene and reduces the ef-
fect of camera shake and, therefore, the offset in the source photos.
You do not need 11 FPS (even though it would be nice to have). A
value between 4 and 6 FPS is sufficient even for hand–held shooting.
AE/AF–Lock Button The AE/AF–Lock Button (Figure 2.2) is a button on the camera body
(usually to the right of the viewfinder) that allows you to freeze the
exposure settings (auto exposure – AE) and the autofocus (AF) of your
camera. If you point the camera at the subject and press the shutter
release half–way through, the metering system measures the scene,
the camera sets up the exposure accordingly, and the autofocus ad-
justs such that the scene is sharp (assuming the autofocus is on and
the camera is not in manual mode). If you press the shutter release
button all the way through and let the camera take a series of shots,
the metering system will try to adjust to any changes between theshots. This may result in a different focus and an adjustment of the
exposure value even if you move the camera only slightly. Of course,
this is not what we want for an HDR exposure series. Exposures with
a different focus (e.g. one with the focus on a tree in the foreground
and another one with the focus on a mountain in the background)
are not useful as source photos for an HDR image.
For an HDR Vertorama, we need to take multiple exposures series
with the same focus and exposure settings. The AE/AF–lock Button
Figure 2.2 AE/AF–lock button of a Nikon camera.
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2.5The Panorama AdapterA panorama adapter (also called nodal point
adapter – example shown in Figure 2.8) is a de-
vice that you mount on top of your tripod. Yourcamera is then attached to this panorama head.
It allows you to rotate your camera/lens combi-
nation around the nodal point (also called the
no–parallax point ) of the lens. If you rotate your
camera around the nodal point in your Vertorama
shoot, parallax errors are avoided. This means that
the overlap of the different sections of your Ver-
torama will perfectly match which is important
for the stitching process (for details, see Section
4.1.1 »Finding the Nodal Point« on page 52).
The nodal point is different for each camera/lens/
focal length combination. Therefore, you need an
adapter that lets you adjust the camera mounting
accordingly.
You can buy off–the–shelf nodal point adapters
from various vendors. However, most of these de-
vices have the following problems:
1
2
3 456
7
Figure 2.8 Te Do–it–yourself panorama adapter fully assembled. Te panorama plate ()
with the scale () helps you control the rotation. A macro rail () enables you to move the camera
back and forth for finding the nodal point (see Section 4.1.1). wo quick release clamps let you
mount the camera on the rail () and the rail on the panorama plate (). An L–bracket () is
used for conveniently mounting the camera in landscape and portrait orientation. A DSLR camera
is permanently attached to the L–bracket, and a snap hook () is used to connect the L–bracket to
the camera strap when it is not mounted to this adapter.
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● They are bulky and heavy because they are designed to fit
many different camera models and use cases while still offer-
ing a stable platform.
● They are immensely expensive with prices ranging up intothe 4–digit dollar figures.
If you do not mind any of these problems, or if you already have
one of these adapters, that's fine. They will do the job. But you can
also build an adapter yourself that lets you create the source images
for an HDR Vertorama while being light, compact, and comparably
cheap. There are different ways of doing this, and you can use dif-ferent components, some of which you may already have. Below, I
show you one alternative.
This do–it–yourself nodal point adapter is composed from photo-
graphic equipment that you can buy on the Internet without having
to handcraft any parts. However, please note that this is a single–
row adapter . That is, you can only rotate it in one direction (either
horizontally or vertically). With other adapters that you can buy, you
can rotate around two axes, and thus, take multiple rows of images
which enables you to create complete spherical (360° x 180°) pano-
ramas. But for taking the source photos for a Vertorama, this adapter
is sufficient. Let us go through the individual parts in turn to see how
it is constructed.
Panorama Plate
The panorama plate (Figure 2.9) enables you to smoothly rotate the
camera around the nodal point. The screw on the right lets you lockthe position, and a scale in degrees around the plate helps you ro-
tate the camera in equal increments between the sections. There is
1 2
3
4
Figure 2.9 Novoflex panorama plate: Allows you to rotate thecamera. Te camera or any other device on which you actually mount the
camera is screwed on top (). Te knob () allows you to lock the plate
in a certain position given by the scale (). A spirit level () lets you
eliminate any tilt of the plate.
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3.2CompositionA good composition is essential for a good photograph. Of course,
this is also true for Vertoramas. But what exactly makes a good com-
position for this type of image? While you can easily verify the com-position of a normal photo simply by looking through the viewfinder
of your camera, composing a Vertorama image is much more diffi-
cult. The reason is that you will never see the entire image until you
have stitched all the sections together on your computer. Overcom-
ing this restriction takes imagination, experience, and a few tricks. Inthe following, I will give you some tips for planning and improving
your Vertorama composition.
3.2.1 Symmetry
Due to their inherent distortion, there are only a few compositions
that work really well for Vertorama images. If you scan through thisbook and browse the Internet, you will find many Vertorama images
with a symmetrical composition. In particular if you are photograph-
ing architecture, an asymmetric composition often has a distracting
effect on the beholder (Figure 3.1). Of course, there are asymmetric
elements in many scenes, but the main architectural components
(e.g. pillars, arches, gates etc.) work best in most cases if they are ar-
ranged symmetrical in your image. As with every photographic rule,
you may deliberately break this rule, but in general, it is useful to
start out by looking for a way to compose your image symmetrically.
If you go for symmetry, it is vital to take the source photos with preci-
sion. Due to the distortion of ultra wide–angle lenses and of the Ver-
Click here to view a range of example HDR
Vertoramas and examine their composition.
Chapter 3 — Planning and Composition 38
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torama itself, any sloppiness will am-
plify in the final image. Most often, you
will find your Vertorama image drifting
away from the symmetrical composi-
tion in a curved line towards the topof the frame. This is very hard (some-
times even impossible) to correct in
post–processing. Therefore, when you
are choosing a position, you need to
make sure
● you are on the axis of symmetryof the scene,
● your camera is level (not tilted
to the left or right) and
● your camera’s optical axis is
parallel to the axis of symmetryof the scene.
This holds irrespectively of whether
you shoot hand–held or from a tripod.
1 2
Figure 3.1 An asymmetrical Vertorama () compared to a symmetrical one (). While image is
compositionally balanced, the strange bend towards the left side shown in image has something disturbing.
Note that image still has many asymmetrical elements (e.g. the people on the floor) but the main architectur-
al features (ceiling and dome) are in perfect symmetry. (Note: Image is non–HDR and mostly unprocessed)
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4.1.1 Finding the Nodal Point
In Section 2.5 »The Panorama Adapter« on page 23, I have ex-
plained how you can build a solid and yet simple panorama adapter.
Irrespective of whether you use this device or some off–the–shelfadapter, you need to find the nodal point of your lens before you
head out to shoot your first HDR Vertorama. I will explain this process
based on my adapter, but it is essentially the same for any kind of
adapter. Note that we will find the nodal point using a panorama set-
up (camera is rotated horizontally). For the actual Vertorama shoot,
you will simply put the adapter into vertical orientation using your
tripod head. The nodal point is exactly the same for both setups.
Finding the nodal point for a specific lens involves some testing and
incremental adjustments of the panorama adapter. You need to ad-
just the camera position on the adapter both in longitudinal direc-
tion (parallel to the optical axis) and in lateral direction (perpendicu-
lar to the optical axis). For doing this with this simple adapter, use
the two quick release clamps as shown in Figure 4.1.
In Figure 4.2, you see a typical example of a parallax error: Two verti-
cal poles are positioned at different distances from the camera. Two
photos are taken and the camera is rotated by about 30° between
the exposures, just as in a real panorama/vertorama shoot. In Fig-
ure 4.2 and, you see the two photos taken with a panorama
adapter that is not adjusted well. In the magnification ( and),
you see that this results in a parallax error: The two poles are shifted
relative to each other to an extent where they even switch positions.
12
3 4
5 6
Figure 4.1 Possible adjustments of the panorama adapter in lat-
eral () and longitudinal direction (). Te adjustments are made by
sliding the long rail () and the L–Bracket () in the respective clamps
( and).
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1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9
Figure 4.2 Example of a parallax
error (/ and/) occurring if your
camera is not rotated around the lens' nodal
point. After you adjust the adapter care-
fully, the overlap regions match (/)
and/), and the photos can be stitched
without any problem ().
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4.3.2 Choosing the Right Exposure
When you shoot from a tripod, you may use a wide range of different
aperture values. Your only restriction is the slowest possible shutter
speed of your camera. Most DSLR cameras available today have aslowest shutter speed of 30 seconds. If you want to go beyond this
limit, you need to use bulb mode. In this mode, the shutter will open
for as long as you press the shutter release button, and in order to
time your exposure you need an external clock. This raises the level
of complexity even higher. Thus, we will limit our discussion to shut-
ter speeds of 30 seconds or less. In an environment with low ambient
light, this may limit your choice of aperture values.
There are many ways of finding the right exposure values for your
source exposures. Some involve auto exposure series, others involve
manual exposure series. Additionally, manual and automatic expo-
sure series methods can be combined in many different ways. I will
explain three basic methods:
1 Auto exposure bracketing (AEB): If the dynamic range of thescene is not too extreme, this is the quickest and simplest method.
So, to keep your shoot simple, you can produce a set using the AEB
method. If you find that the source photos are well exposed (no
blown–out highlights and no blocked–up shadows), stick with this
method.
2 Manual exposure bracketing (MEB): This method is the mostflexible one. It allows you to cover virtually any dynamic range you
may find in your scene since it is based on manually measuring the
right exposure. Revert to the MEB method if the dynamic range is
too high for the AEB method.
3 Semi–automatic exposure bracketing (SEB): This method isa combination of the AEB and MEB methods. You measure the expo-
sures manually (as with the MEB method), but instead of proceeding
through all the shots manually, you produce consecutive AEB series
for every section to cover the measured dynamic range of the scene.
ISO and Aperture
Irrespective of the method you use for finding the right shutter
speeds and for executing the shoot, the first two things you need
to do is to choose your ISO sensitivity as low as possible (ISO 100
in most cases) and find an adequate aperture. Aperture values be-
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tween f/8 and f/16 usually give you the best sharpness. Note that if
you hit the 30 second shutter speed limit or if you exceed the high-
est possible shutter speed of your camera in your exposure series,
you have to adjust those settings accordingly. But you should always
try to keep the ISO value as low as possible to get the best imagequality.
Measuring the Exposure for Auto Ex-
posure Bracketing (AEB)
If your camera has an AEB function, the simplest method is the fol-
lowing:
1 Measure the correct 0 EV shutter speed by pointing your cam-era to a section of medium brightness.
2 Set your camera to manual mode and dial in the 0 EV shutterspeed.
3 Set your camera's AEB function to as many shots as possibleand chose an adequate step width. If your camera can only do 3 ex-
posures in AEB mode, use a step width of 2 EV to cover the highest
possible dynamic range. If it can do 5 or more, 1 EV steps should be
chosen.
Your camera is now ready to take the source photos by going
through all the sections one by one and firing off an AEB series foreach section. Note however, that this method involves some guess
work as you did not really measure the exposures necessary to cover
the actual dynamic range of the scene on the dark end and on the
bright end of the spectrum. Instead, you hope the series is sufficient.
Moreover, with a standard 3–shot AEB function, you will sometimes
have a hard time covering the dynamic range. In these cases, youshould revert to the MEB method. If you have 5, 7, 9, or even 11 shots
available in your AEB mode, this is much less of a problem.
Measuring the Exposure for Manual
and Semi–Automatic Exposure Brack-
eting (MEB/SEB)
A more systematic way to produce the right exposure series is to ac-tually measure the darkest and the brightest spot in the scene and
arrange your exposure series between these two values. The photos
are then also shot manually by iterating through the different expo-
sures section by section. This requires more work and more thought,
and it is slower. But you are not restricted by any limitations of the
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Chapter 5 Hand Held Shooting
You will learn about…
f The challenges of hand–held HDR Vertorama
shooting
f Important camera settings
f Finding the right exposure in low light
f The right shooting technique
f Avoiding parallax errors despite not having a pan-
orama adapter
In this chapter, you will learn how to produce the source photos foryour HDR Vertoramas hand–held. I will first go through some of the
challenges you are facing when you do so. Then, I will give a detailed
explanation of the entire workflow and the shooting technique.
In a nutshell, the workflow can be divided into the preparation and
the shooting itself. In the preparation phase, you will set up your
camera and plan the shoot (the composition and how you dividethe scene into different sections). During the actual shooting, you
will apply a special technique to take all the photos fluently and with
high precision.
To illustrate my points, I will show you how different camera settings
can be achieved with a typical Nikon camera. This may not directly
apply to your camera model. But it will at least give you some hints
on how to set up your camera accordingly.
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5.1 The ChallengesIf you shoot the source images for your HDR Vertorama hand–held,
you are facing a number of challenges. However, you can actually
produce good results with source images that are taken hand–held.Mastering the challenges only takes the right technique and a bit of
practice. In the following, I will discuss the challenges briefly. Later
in the chapter, I will give you detailed instructions and tips for deal-
ing with these challenges in order to produce high–quality images.
Low Light
Since the HDR Vertorama technique is ideally suited for creatingstunning presentations of interiors, you will find yourself in situa-
tions where the ambient light is low, irrespective of the time of day
and the weather. Low ambient light means that your shutter speed
will be low, down to a point where the natural movement of your
hand and body may introduce blur and lead to a lack of sharpness.
People in Your ShotsIf you use a tripod, you can use shutter speeds in the range be-
tween several seconds and several minutes. At these speeds, most
moving people will simply disappear from the scene in the final im-
age as they move too fast for your camera to depict them. If you are
shooting hand–held, your shutter speeds will usually be 1/10 s and
higher. This is fast enough to let moving people appear in your im-
ages. Thus, you need other techniques to deal with crowded placeswhen you shoot hand–held.
Lack of Alignment
The camera movement caused by the inevitable movement of your
hands and body will cause the exposure series for each section to
not be perfectly aligned. That is, for each exposure in a section, your
framing will be slightly different, and the images will have a relativeoffset to one another, creating a challenge for the HDR merging
procedure.
No Rotation Around the Nodal Point
Since you do not use a tripod, you cannot rotate your camera / lens
around the nodal point (see Section 4.1.1). This potentially intro-
duces parallax errors in your stitched image. You will learn how toavoid these errors as much as possible by adjusting your composi-
tion. In Section 6.4.4 »Fixing Minor Stitching Errors«, you will also
learn how to fix this type of error in post–processing if necessary.
Chapter 5 — Hand–Held Shooting 79
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No Support for Fixed Rotation Angle
In order to create enough overlap between the images of two con-
secutive sections, you simply rotate the camera for a predefined
number of degrees when you shoot from a tripod. When you shoot
hand–held, there is no panorama plate that supports this rotation.
However, there is a simple technique for controlling the rotation
based on visual cues.
Limitation in Autobracketing Range
Shooting hand–held makes you dependent on the auto exposure
bracketing function of your camera. Manual exposure bracketing as
we applied it on the tripod takes too much time and requires toomuch interaction with the camera. Therefore, you cannot set up your
camera to use any arbitrary exposure series that may be required
by the scene. This may be a more or less severe restriction, depend-
ing on your camera. In Section 6.2.5 »Optimizing Dynamic Range«,
you will learn how to work around this problem (at least partially) in
post–processing.
Limitation of the Image Buffer
Your camera will have a limited image buffer that most likely cannot
hold all the images you are going to produce in some hand–held
HDR Vertorama shoots. You have to consider this in your planning
in order to avoid the unfortunate situation of being bent over back-
wards for the last section while you are waiting for your camera tostore each image on your memory card.
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Chapter 6 — Post-Production 103
6 2I P ti
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6.2Image PreparationAfter you have selected the best set, you need to prepare the images
before you start merging and stitching them. In the following, I will
explain the steps of this preparation phase. Note that I assume your
source exposures are in RAW format. We will execute all the prepara-
tion steps in a single run in Adobe Camera Raw (the RAW converter
software that comes with Adobe Photoshop) and then save the cor-
rected photos at the end.
6.2.1 Reducing Chromatic AberrationChromatic aberration (in short CA, sometimes also referred to as
color fringing) is an effect caused by most lenses, in particular cheap-
er models and wide–angle lenses. It is caused by the failure of a lens
to focus all colors to the same convergence point. The effects are
color fringes, especially at high–contrast edges and a generally more
blurry image (see Figure 6.1). The fringes tend to get worse towardsthe edges of the image.
HDR software is typically not very good at removing these artifacts
automatically and the usual HDR workflow tends to amplify the ef-
fect, creating visible strange–looking fringes and blur in the final im-
age. Most RAW converters will let you correct CA. If you are using
Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) in version CS4 and above,
you can proceed as described below. Note that the screenshots are
of CS5, but the manual reduction of CA is basically the same. Let us
look at the manual correction steps:
1
2
3
Figure 6.1 Example of chromatic aberration (CA)
at the edge of an image (): high–contrast edges with CA
() and without CA ().
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1 Load all RAW images of your set into ACR by selecting themin your file browser and by dragging them onto the Photoshop win-
dow. The main window (Figure 6.2) of ACR will open.
2 Go to the Lens Corrections tab on the right side of the window.
3 Under Chromatic Aberration, you will see three controls: two
1
2
3
Figure 6.2 Adobe Camera Raw – main window: o reduce CA, select the Lens Corrections tab () and
the Manual tab () and make the corrections in the Chromatic Aberration section ().
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sliders for correcting different fringes and a general Defringe drop–
down list.
4 First open the drop–down list and select All Edges. This en-sures that the color fringes are reduced on all edges in the image,
not only on specific ones.
5 Zoom into a suspicious part of the image (e.g. high–contrastedge to the far right or left in the image) using a zoom factor of 200–
300%: Hold down the Z key and select the area by clicking and drag-
ging your mouse. To pan the view, hold the Space bar and click–drag
with the mouse.
6Use the sliders Fix Red/Cyan Fringe and Fix Blue/Yellow Fringe to
remove the visible fringes. The specific setting is highly dependent
on your lens. As you experiment to find the right settings, you can
observe how the fringes increase or decrease when you move the
sliders. Finding the optimal settings should be a matter of a couple
of minutes. Note that the same lens used at the same focal length
and aperture produces very similar CA across all photos. Since you
will likely take all your HDR Vertorama source images with the same
lens and focal length, you can save a lot of time by storing your set-
tings as a preset
1
2
3
Figure 6.3 Chromatic Aberration controls: Slid-
ers for changing Red/Cyan shift (
) and Blue/Yellowshift () and the general Defringe option ().
Click here to learn how to save your set-tings in Adobe Camera Raw as a preset.
Chapter 6 — Post-Production 106
7
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7 When you are satisfied with the result, youcan apply the settings to all loaded images (Figure
6.4): Press the Select All button in the upper left cor-
ner of the ACR window and then Alt –click the Syn-
chronize… button.
From Photoshop version CS5 upward (ACR 6 and
above) the CA removal (along with other lens cor-
rection features) can also be done based on a lens
profile (Figure 6.5) if you are working with RAW im-
ages: Go to the Lens Corrections tab, choose the Pro-
file tab and select your lens profile in the Lens Profile
section. All corrections stored in the profile will be
immediately applied to the selected image. If there
is no lens profile for you, choose the Manual tab and
go through the steps explained above.
1
2
Figure 6.4 Applying the
settings to all loaded images: Click
Select All and then Alt –click the
Synchronize… button.
1
2
3
4
5
Figure 6.5 Lens corrections
using lens profiles: Go to the Lens
Corrections tab () and choose the
Profile tab (). Click Enable Lens
Profile Corrections (). If your
lens is in ACR's database, the make,model and profile will appear in the
Lens Profile (). Fine tune the re-
sult in the Correction Amount sec-
tion ().
Click here to get more information on
Correcting Chromatic Aberration.
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6 4 Correction and Cropping
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6.4 Correction and Cropping
The image resulting from the stitching process is far from being fin-
ished. It has rugged edges and needs some very basic perspective
corrections before we can work on things like contrast and color
(Figure 6.25).
Before you start with the correction work, make the grid visible by
pressing Ctrl + ' on your keyboard. Go to Photoshop > Preferences >
Grid, Guides & Slices and set the options in the Grid group to display
a grid line every 10 percent. Next, enlarge the canvas to create more
room on the edges of the image. This will give you some more space
to maneuver. To do this, open the Canvas Size dialog (Figure 6.26) by
going to Image > Canvas Size… in the main menu of Photoshop. Set
1
2
Figure 6.25 Te HDR Ver-
torama in Photoshop right after thestitching: You may have to rotate the
resulting image (). In the Layers
panel, you find each source image
in its own layer (). Photomerge
created a layer mask for each image
to hide the parts that do not con-
tribute to the final Vertorama. Note
the rough edges that are a result of
distorting each image to make the
overlapping regions match.
Chapter 6 — Post-Production 126
h d h d h fi ld b f h Fig re 6 26 I i
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the Width and Height fields to about 10% of the current
size of the image and check the Relative box. Make sure
the Anchor is set to the middle. This adds the amount
of pixels to the width and to the height and centers the
image on the enlarged canvas.
In the following, I will explain typical correction steps.
For this purpose, I will use an image that makes the ne-
cessity and the effects of the steps more obvious.
6.4.1 Rotation
In many cases, your composition is symmetrical along the vertical
axis (like the examples shown before). For such a composition, the
image needs to be exactly aligned with that vertical axis. There-
fore, the first correction step is to rotate the image (if necessary) to
achieve this alignment (Figure 6.27).
1 Define a new vertical guide by clicking with your mouse onthe left ruler (make the rulers visible if necessary by selecting View
> Rulers). Click on the ruler and drag the new guide into the middle
of the image. Most images have a natural line of points that define
the vertical axis of the image (e.g. the top of arches, the middles of
an aisle, the center of paintings on the ceiling). Drag the guide onto
that imaginary vertical center line. If all the points on that line are on
or very close to the guide, you are done. If the guide and the vertical
center line are not parallel, you need to rotate the image as follows.
2 Choose Edit > ransform > Rotate from the menu to activatethe Rotate tool. A bounding box will appear around the image.
1
2
3
Figure 6.26 Inc r ea s ing
the canvas size: Set the Width and
Height fields () to about 10%
of the current size of the image
and check the Relative box ().
Make sure the Anchor () is set
to the middle.
Chapter 6 — Post-Production 127
3 Cli k f th f th b di b d d th 4 Wh th ti l t li f th i d th id
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3 Click on one of the corners of the bounding box and drag themouse to rotate the image. It does not matter which corner you use.
4 When the vertical center line of the image and the guide areparallel to each other, hit Return to apply the rotation permanently.
1
2 3
Figure 6.27 Rotating the image to get the
vertical lines straight: Create a vertical guide ()
to align the vertical features (in this case the center
of the tower). Drag the corners () of the bound-
ing box () with the mouse to rotate the image.
1
2
Figure 6.28 Distort the image to tune the
horizontal and vertical symmetry: Create guides ()
at the elements that need to be symmetrical and drag
the corners of the bounding box () until the image
is symmetrical.
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Chapter 7 — HDR Vertorama Workshops
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You will learn about…
f The challenges and the thought process behind
different HDR Vertorama projects
f The specific steps taken to post–process each of
the sample images
f The individual adjustments applied to each image
and the ratio behind these adjustments
In this chapter, I will walk you through three exemplary HDR
Vertorama projects. I will give you details on the settings used
in the camera as well as in the post–production steps. This will
help you approach your own projects.
The emphasis in these examples will be on the post–produc-
tion side. The chapter picks up where Chapter 6 left off – with
examples of the image adjustment steps that are specific to
each image.
Remember that each project will be different in terms of post–
production. Therefore, it is not easy to give you a general pro-
cess that applies to each and every HDR Vertorama. Demon-
strating the process by using examples will give you enough
insight into the general process to enable you to apply it to
your own projects.
Chapter 7 — HDR Vertorama Workshops 156
7 1 Basilica St. Martin – Weingarten, Germany
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7.1 g , y
Location
This image was shot in the Basilica
St. Martin in Weingarten, Germany. The basilica was built between 1715
and 1724 in the Italian–German Ba-
roque style. With 102 meters, it is the
longest Baroque church in Germany
today.
Challenges The specific challenge with this Ver-
torama was to capture the afternoon
light falling through the windows
onto the white interior. This light cre-
ated a large dynamic range, and it
was imperative for the image that the
spots where the light hits the pillars(for example) was not blown–out but
still had enough details.
Composition
Note how the four main pillars serve
as leading lines towards the centralelement of the image – the paintings
on the ceiling. The location of these
paintings in the frame obeys the rule
of thirds vertically.
Post–Processing Ap-
proachAt the start of the post–processing,
it turned out that an appealing color
contrast between the white walls,
the paintings, the floor and the win-
dows would be the biggest asset of
this image. Therefore, these elements
had to be processed separately. Thewhite areas had to be desaturated
and the colors in the other areas had
to be enhanced to create the desired
contrast.
Chapter 7 — HDR Vertorama Workshops 157
Basics and Major
Mil t
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2 31
Milestones
The 15 source photos () were
taken hand–held with auto-
bracketing series of 3 shots
(+2 EV, 0 EV, -2 EV). The exposureseries are shifted a bit towards
the dark end to capture the light
reflections on the pillars.
The source images were merged
in Photomatix Pro and then
stitched, corrected and croppedin Photoshop () before I ap-
plied a series of selective adjust-
ments to get the final image ().Exposure Data
Camera: Nikon D90 Exposure series:5×3 auto–bracketed shots
(+2 EV, 0 EV, -2 EV)
Lens:Sigma 10–20mm F3,5
EX DC HSMShutter speeds: 1/40 s, 1/160 s, 1/640 s
Focal length: 10mm Aperture: f/7.1
Method: Hand–held ISO: 800
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Tone Mapping
I used Photomatix Pro's Details Enhancer for the tone
mapping. To create a good local contrast, I set the
Strength and the Detail Contrast fairly high. To avoid ex-cessive noise due to the high Detail Contrast, I increased
the Micro–smoothing , and to prevent the white walls
from showing color artifacts, I slightly decreased the
Color Saturation.
I set the White Point to 0% to keep the bright spots on
the white pillars and walls from loosing details. To bringsome brightness back into the image, I increased the
Luminosity setting to its maximum. A secondary effect
of the increased Luminosity is a slight painting–like style
that fits the image quite well.
The Lighting Adjustments were set to 4.0, a value that
puts the image well on the natural side. Values of 0 andbelow would have created a grungy surreal look with the
danger of causing halos. Finally, I increased the Smooth
Highlights setting to avoid grayish–looking highlights.
Chapter 7 — HDR Vertorama Workshops 159
Post–Processing Stages
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Essentially, the whole post–processing was structured into four
steps:
●
The source images were merged, tone mapped andstitched, resulting in the raw image () that was the basis
for all the work done in Photoshop.
● Topaz Adjust was applied to the entire image to bring out
the details and the colors ().
●
Selective adjustments were applied to the key elements ofthe image ().
● The global contrast was increased, a vignette (darken-
ing the edges) was added and a spotlight was put on the
paintings in the ceiling (). The vignette and the spotlight
support the composition and lead the viewer's eyes to the
paintings.
The adjustments were executed coarsely in this order, but the
whole process was an iterative one where the global and the local
adjustments were refined step–by–step.
1 2
3 4
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Selective Adjustments
In the following figures, you see a summary of all major adjustments
applied to the different areas of the image according the general
post–processing approach sketched above. The presentation is ba-sically arranged in 4 columns: In the left column, you see the final
image. The second column shows the masks applied for selective
editing. In the third column, you see the relevant part of the Layers
panel in Photoshop. Each adjustment is residing inside a group, and
the respective mask affects the entire group. The fourth and final col-
umn shows the settings of the respective adjustment layers.
So, you can easily follow each of the adjustments by going from left
to right in the figures.
Click here to read the article Structuring
a Photoshop Project for information on
using groups to keep your project tidy
when you have many local adjustments.
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1
2
3
The largest and most important adjustment to this image is the de-
saturation of the white walls (). This was achieved by putting a
Hue/Saturation layer onto these areas and decreasing the saturation
to a value of -71. This removed the slight pink color cast that was a re-
sult of the tone mapping and of applying Topaz Adjust on the image.
I increased the saturation on the window areas () to bring out the
blue tones, and I added a slight Curves adjustment to the floor ()
to pronounce the dark and reflective look.
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The paintings () are the actual star of this image, and quite a bit
of work went into making them vibrant. I applied a Color Balance
layer () to remove a reddish color cast. A Vibrance layer () helped
boost the less saturated colors in the paintings, and finally I used a
Hue/Saturation layer () to control the intensity of the colors. This
may also have been achieved with the Vibrance layer, but the Hue/
Saturation layer gave me more control.
To get a bit more contrast into the image, I added a Curves layer to
the ornaments around the paintings ().
12
3
4
5
Chapter 7 — HDR Vertorama Workshops 163
The finishing touches
consist of a spotlight
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consist of a spotlight
on the paintings ().
This is simply a levels
layer with a decreased
white point to makethe areas brighter. The
mask has an oval shape
and a Gaussian Blur fil-
ter with a large radius
was used to create a
very smooth transition.
As a result, it appearsas if an additional light
source was present
that illuminated the
area around the paint-
ings.
This spotlight effect goes hand–in–hand with a slight vignette ()applied to the edges of the image. The darker edges and the bright-
er paintings help leading the eyes of the viewer towards the paint-
ings and create a subtle sense of depth.
Finally, I used a Levels layer to fine–tune the overall contrast (). The
mid–tones are slightly brightened, and the white and black points
are pulled inwards to increase the contrast. Note that a layer mask
protects the highlights on the pillars and walls. These would have
lost details if the Levels layer had been added to the entire
top related