HDR Photography Tutorial — Using Adobe Lightroom

See more of the world with HDR photography.

In this video I show you how to do HDR photography using a simple technique in Adobe Lightroom. Get a FREE trial of Adobe Lightroom today — https://www.firstmanphotography.com/get/lightroom

HDR stands for high dynamic range.

When we see the world through our own eyes your brain and eyes work cleverly together to perceive many different shades. We can see detail in very bright sunny areas and also lots of detail in shadow areas.

The processor inside a camera is by no means as powerful as our brain so struggles to capture detail in both bright areas and those in shadow. Although cameras increase their dynamic range with every new model that comes out they still have some way to go.

Thankfully we have a way to get round this using HDR photography. All you need is your current gear and the power of Adobe Lightroom. It is a simple method of taking two or three shots with different exposures, to capture the shadows, mid tones, and highlight areas in separate images and then merging them in Lightroom.

When HDR images became popular many people were creating highly stylised pictures that made images look unrealistic and felt like someone had thrown up all over the picture. Thankfully you can use HDR to your advantage to create some beautiful images of scenes where there is high contrast and your camera just cannot cope.

Firstly you need to get out with your camera to somewhere great and capture a beautiful scene. Many cameras now have a HDR mode, like your iPhone, but if you want those high quality images you will want to use your DSLR or mirrorless camera.

The video explains how to do HDR photography:

• Take an image focusing on the mid tones.
• Apply those settings to manual mode
• Use bracketing. This takes three shots consecutively at set exposure intervals.
• Adjust the bracketing depending on the dynamic range of your scene
• Take your shot. You need to keep the camera as still as possible. It is possible to handhold but better off using a tripod.
• Merge in Adobe Lightroom.

HDR photography is fun and easy to do and this tutorial will get you started so you can shoot some beautiful images of your own.

Watch Episode one of the First Man Vlog — https://www.firstmanphotography.com/vlog/vlog-no-1

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