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I know I keep beating this HDR drum, but it’s a good beat.

After 2 months of dealing with health crud, I recently had to shoot in wicked harsh lighting conditions.  These days were not perfectly sunny blue sky days, but rather what I refer to as “White Haze”.  I say that because it is almost like a white sky with a hint of cyan.  Bad air, atmosphere issues, whatever you want to blame it on, the air quality has been terrible during this severe drought along the Emerald Coast of florida.

HDR to the rescue.  Many times I’m fighting the over saturation that can occur when merging brackets, but in this case I didn’t pull back at all and needed those under exposed frames desperately to pull some color that did not appear in the middle/normal exposures.

The first gallery was for a client that I first shot for in 2006 and delivered some pretty over tonemapped work.  Well guess what.  They liked that “look”.  Go figure.  So I let the first set be plenty colorful and saturated and the windows will look less blown out and more like paintings than I care to deliver these days, but what the client wants (and pays for)… the client gets.

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/resorts/2669/index.html

The second gallery was for a home that is owner occupied and the shoot could not be rescheduled. This day was probably the worst air quality I’ve seen in years. The sky was bright as can be but lacking a pure blue.  A very nasty “White Haze” persisted for the 2 hour shoot.  I had to work through cats, dogs and family running around preparing for the 4th of July weekend otherwise I’d have been in and out in under an hour.

Again, HDR to the rescue.  And even with HDR, the one living room shot I posted at the top of this blog post with windows in frame I could just not make look like most of my other work.  The sky at that point was completely WHITE to the eye.  Not cloudy, just so hazy and yet bright that you’d squint fiercely as you look out the window.  A circular polarizer didn’t help at all.  Only HDR and the under exposed frames allowed a hint of blue/cyan to come through.  And this is not some joke of a bracket like 3aeb that HDR newbies thinks can work for real estate.  This was an 11 aeb +/-1EV steps.

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/resorts/4097/index.html

Camera, Lens, Tripod …. and very limited time to shoot right at high noon (high contrast).

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It’s what I first began shooting myself and later got used to coping with.  Basically,…

• No formal knowledge of the property
• No prior prep time or staging time alotted
• No time to bring in external lighting
• No time to waste…  basically… HDR to the rescue

Here’s some typical “Camera + Lens + Tripod” shoots.  Some new, some relatively recent…

VRBO Listing for new client wanting to stand out above the rest

Sandestin Burnt Pine MLS Listing

VRBO Shoot for existing client that values (through bookings) high end photos

MLS Shoot for Existing Client (has sold 90% of listings I shot in 60 days or less)

What this blog post is targeting, are those who would like to either attend an all day seminar or get one on one training from me covering my real estate shooting workflow.  My HDR Pipeline if  you will.

So if you’ve been following my blog and have been wondering how I achieve these final images without using elaborate lighting setups, then email me.  Message me through the email linked at the bottom of my home page:  http://www.digitalcoastimage.com

This way I can actually plan on any such seminars or visits to various cities depending on demand in that region.

I’ve had a handful of students recently request one on one training despite having access to all the videos.  I get it.  Each person has their own camera and lots of specific questions.  So email me and let me know where you live so that I can plan accordingly.

Because of health issues I’ve been considering shooting far less than I have been and spending more time leveraging my time with others in the process.  Hence this blog post.

Nearly confirmed locations for one-on-one training are in the following regions:

• South Florida
• Philly
• Hollywood / L.A.
• Houston
• Conneticut

None are fully confirmed as of today, but bookings are in play for a few of them. When and if they do book, it would mean that routes to and from would be and could be potential candidates for either a group seminar or one-on-one training.  So email me your location if you’d be interested in being added to a mailing list that would ONLY receive emails about training information relating to my HDRI pipeline.

Also, I recently started a Flickr account.  Mostly to show how high end work can be done with very affordable entry level equipment when you employ my workflows. Here is a fraction of what I’ve shot with a Canon T3 and Canon 60D with a Sigma 8-16 f/4.5-5.6 lens.

Michael James

I’ve gotten this question via email almost  a dozen times.  So I’m going to cut and paste the response I send to folks.

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The Question they ask? All are along the lines as the following one… (and asked because Canon’s manual doesn’t cover it well).

“”"Can you help me out as I have not been able to find anything in the manual on how to increase the EV spacing between frames when in bracketing mode (for HDR Capture) with my Canon G12.”"”

ANSWER:

When I’m in AV mode, I press the center button “Func.Set” to bring up the menu.  White balance is the top choice and I scroll down one to the bracketing so that it now shows the three options.  When you select bracketing to be turned on you can immediately press the “DISP.” button to bring up the AEB options.  The scroll wheel on the back of the camera is what you turn to change the settings for the +/- for AEB.

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The pain in the ___ for me is when.. lets say I have bracketing currently set to do +/- 2EV between shots and I want to go back to +/- 1 between frames…

… you again press the Func.Set button and if I had turned the camera off at some point it defaults to selecting WB and I have to scroll down one to get to the bracketing.  Once there in the bracketing as long as the camera is in bracketing mode, you can then hit the DISP. button to bring up AEB and then use the scroll wheel to change it to whatever is needed for that scene.

I mostly just leave it in +/-2 because I’m usually using the G12 for landscapes, but when I do want a less aggressive bracket for a mild scene, that is a lot of button pressing to do just to get to the AEB options… but for a point and shoot, I guess I should just be pleased I have that control at all  :)

(complaining over)

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Canon T3 / 1100D sample image.  Created with the trusty Promote Control to bracket much larger than a Canon can do natively.  Shot with the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM (at 8mm). (O.K. so I forgot to move the hand soap directly ahead which fills the doorway…. sue me!)

Once again the promote control turns an entry level DSLR into a HDRI capture device.  Brilliant.

I know it’s been awhile since I posted anything on the blog or on Twitter.  I’ve been dealing with terrible health challenges.  I’ve spent more time getting treatments, tests, blood work, chelation therapy, detox programs and on and on.  It has consumed my time the last couple of months.  Hope to be back soon, but the docs can’t pin point the exact issue aside from high levels of toxins and metals in my blood (hence detox and chelation therapy).  I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.  I have about 4-6 hours of energy a day… sometimes less.  Dizzy spells keep me off the computer too.  Geez.  When your grandmom tells you that you’ve got nothing if you don’t have your health.  She ain’t jokin’.

The only reason I have the T3 is a real estate photographer wanted into my HDR Training for Real Estate Photography beta even though it is still not finished.  So I told her if she drop shipped a new T3 kit so I could test it, I’d let her in.  I didn’t actually expect her to do it!!!  So here’s my first use with it and a few comments.

This is NOT a full Canon T3 review, just my quick take.

• Dynamic Range seems to be no better than XS / 1000D
• Image Quality seems to be no better than XS / 1000D
• Video and higher ISO abilities make it a great upgrade to the XS / 1000D
• Body is made of a smooth plastic and reminds me of a child’s toy (hate it)

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I’ve had quite a few photographers ask me about shooting for realtors.  Yes I do.  I’m not sure what they are looking to hear for details, but yes I do market to and shoot for realtors.  Here are some MLS shoots specifically.  These were shot in the last couple of months to keep food on the table.

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/DBTS/index.html

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/403/index.html

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/egroup/niceville/index.html

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/77_Siesta_Bluff/index.html

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/DBTS_4647/index.html

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/egroup/ssands114/index.html

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/egroup/waters_edge/index.html

I’ve also shot for custom home builders, etc, etc, … but this is just a peek at MLS specific shoots.  You’ll notice nearly every shot is full wide angle view and no tight crops. The reason is Realtors can easily get tight crops with their point and shoots, but they lean on me to get WIDE.

I’m very excited about this lens.  Moreso to use on the coming Sigma SD1, but I have been very pleased with the results on my Canon 60D.  A few samples here on this link:

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/sigma/8-16mm/index.html

The new FD glass sigma implemented deals with glare quite well.  Perfect for bracketing for HDR in difficult lighting environments.

Previously I had discussed using the 60D with the new 8-16mm:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma7TUysv7l8[/youtube]

If you are trying to follow someone’s HDR tutorial, you will DEFINITELY get different results than they got if you are not shooting with the exact same sensor.

A single shot on a D3x is like taking two separate shots with an older Canon Rebel about 1 EV stops apart and then blending them in post.  So if a D3x shooter says you only need 3aeb with frames at +/-2EV, you actually need 6aeb at +/-1EV with your older Canon Rebel to get the same gorgeous post production results.  How do I know this?  I’ve shot with both!!!

So you can’t follow tutorials of someone shooting with a D3x if you only have an older Canon Rebel.  Here’s a chart showing some recent DSLRs and their sensor rankings.

What is extremely important to understand is that these numbers show ONLY the absolutes.  Even though a camera may have light show up for 10+ stops does not mean the data is clean throughout the entire histogram.  There is noise in shadows on all of these models.  And the noise print is dramatically different.

If you are shooting with even a brand new APS-C sensor, it more than likely will not have shadows as clean as even a 3yr old model with a full frame sensor.  Even at 100 ISO on both models.  Its just physics.

You can yank FILL LIGHT up to 70 on a Nikon D3 shot and the same scene shot with a Canon 60D might only be able to have FILL LIGHT pulled up to 30 or 35 before breaking down badly.  So the 60D shot never gets to be lightened up as much as the D3 shot.  Again, its mostly physics.  An APS-C sensor is simply much smaller in size than a full frame sensor.

For example, my Canon 60D is a 2010 camera, but its APS-C sensor can not hang at all even at 100 ISO with my 4 year old full frame Nikon D3 sensor shooting at 200 ISO.  And my old and crusty full frame 5D from many years back has better shadow data than the 60D as well (100 ISO on both).

When bracketing you only get extremely clean data in the center/sweet spot of each capture. A camera like a Nikon D3x gives you more clean data in the middle part of the histogram than even a Canon 5D Mark II. So if you have to bracket a huge dynamic range scene with 11 frames spaced 1EV apart with a D3x, you might want to consider bracketing only 2/3rds steps between frames with a 5D Mark II (and increase the number of shots to cover the same dynamic range).  With an APS-C sensor you will often need to go down to 1/3rd EV jumps between frames and take far more shots to cover the same dynamic range in order to caputure the same clean data throughout that range. Basically, the sliver of perfect data of each sensor (per capture) decreases as you move down the scale of the chart provided.

I know this because I’ve delivered nearly 15,000 commercial images that were originally fully bracketed series of 7-15 shots per image.  And I’ve used dozens of cameras from various brands like Pentax, Nikon, Sigma and the worst of dynamic range brands… Canon.  So I’ve done a ridiculous amount testing to try and find the holy grail of HDR capture.  In the end, there is no one camera sensor or system that is perfect, but what I’ve found are general rules that allow you to make sure you get the entire dynamic range of a scene nailed with what system you are currently using.

This image was taken using the “HDR” SCN dial mode available in the G12.  It excels in daylight conditions.  Amazing in fact.  But other situations are not as favorable.

I was asked by a real estate agent to take a dozen or so “view” shots and due to the low amount they budgeted, I opted to use the Canon G12 and the SCN mode using the in camera HDR.  Given it was outdoors in strong daylight conditions I knew I could get away with using the G12.

The following gallery of shots is not perfect, but took only a half an hour of my time to shoot and email pics to the agent.  Pretty amazing for a Point and Shoot.

http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/bellavita/views/index.html

There are two ways to approach HDR capture with the Canon G12.

The first option to capture HDR on the Canon G12 is to shoot RAW and while in Aperture Priority mode you can choose to shoot a 3 aeb sequence.  In Aperture Priority you of course control the aperture, but you can also control ISO and White Balance settings. You control what the EV steps between each shot are set to from as little as 1/3rd EV steps up to 2 full EV jumps between the 3 shots.

You would then import those raws and insert them into whatever workflow you currently use for HDR processing.  Yes I am not a fan of 3aeb, but for a point and shoot and to capture raw… I’ll take what I can get.

The second option to capture HDR on the Canon G12 is to use the SCN mode dial and choose HDR.  That puts the camera in fully automatic mode and it fires 3 consecutive shots off at undisclosed details for shutter/EV jumps and then does the high dynamic range imaging (toning) in camera and writes the file to .jpg as a file format.  (Why camera manufacturers choose JPEG as a file format to save a high dynamic range image is beyond logic)

What I can tell you right away is that this camera does very well shooting in the SCN mode shooting HDR when in bright sunny conditions.  But is awful for shooting indoors in mixed lighting.  In the SCN HDR Mode, you have NO CONTROL over aperture, ISO or white balance.  As soon as you hit interior lighting the camera goes to f/2.8 as a first line of defense…. this is a disaster for real estate or architectural photography.

Another big downside is that you have no way of using exposure compensation in the fully automatic SCN HDR Mode. There is no way to force the camera up or down by any EV amount. The camera just meters the scene and that is your only option.

I’ll be doing a full review of the capabilities of the Canon G12 as it relates to HDR (next week or two). However, because there has been so much interest in the G12′s HDR capabilities I’ll make a few brief comments now regarding the SCN HDR Mode and reserve the video review for later next week.

QUICK TAKES regarding SCN HDR Mode:

Pros:

• Great for daylight white balanced shots with lots of light
• Superior in camera processing compared to Sony and Pentax models
• Supports Canon RS60-E3 release cable so you don’t have to touch camera

Cons:

• No control of aperture, ISO or exposure compensation
• No control of white balance (AWB only)
• Zero in camera alignment from what I have found – Tripod only
• Slow frames per second which adds to deghosting issues

I just deleted what I posted last night about the Canon G12.

I’m writing this one off to the “RTFM” category.  As in… I didn’t find some of the HDR settings in the manual and made assumptions.  I’ve since found the extra key to press to adjust the steps between each shot and the SCN dial mode which has HDR mode all the way to the right as options.  That mode being the one that takes 3 shots and merges in camera.  As a result of finding these… I’ll be doing some testing at some point in the near future.

The above image was a 3aeb +/-1EV and expands to a larger version if you click on the photo.  I only used 1EV spacing because that was the default setting on the G12.  I only just today was made aware of the extra buttons to press to find out how to change the EV steps.  For this shot I’d have definitely have gone to +/-2EV to try and tame the highlights better.

I have a Pentax K-x so I have that as a reference point as it relates to in camera HDR processing which like the G12, gives you a JPEG as a final processed image.  Now I’m even more interested to see how the G12 in camera version compares to the K-x.  More to come in time… possibly a shoot out between the K-x and G12 using in camera HDR to see which I like better.