HOW TOMAINTTAINDETTAIL
L
ANDSCAPEPHOTOGRAPHYISallabout
detail, andthe mostdifficultdetailto
captureis in thesky– it’s thewayit’s
alwaysbeen.Witha normalstills camera,
theoptionsformaintainingskydetail
include splitRaworHDRtechniques,orif
youwouldlike togetasmuchdetailintoa
single exposureaspossibleNDgrads arethe
answer.Fordronephotography, the options
areslightlymorelimited.
SomefiltercompaniesmakeNDgradsfor
certaindrones,andwhile thesearetempting
theymaynotbethebestoptionforstills
photography.The reasonforthisis thatyou
havenocontroloverwherethe graduation
beginsandends– it’s fixed– whichmeans
thefiltermayaffectpartoftheframe thatSHOOTIMAGESTHAATSHOWDETTAILTHROUGHOUTTHESHADOWS,MIDTONES
ANDHIGHLIGHTSUSINGHDRPHOTOGRAPHYFOR NAATURAL-LOOKINGSCENESFOR THEBEST RESULLTS,AL -PRIORITY
USING THEAUTOE BRACKETINGFEATURE
ALL
IMAGES:
JAM
ES ABBOT Tyou don’t wantit too.Forvideo,however,
whereyoucan’tusealternativetechniques
formaintainingskydetailtheyworkwell,but
forstills,usingAutoExposureBracketingand
shootingHDRis byfar thebestoption.
HDRorhigh-dynamic range photography
is a techniquethat’s usedtocapturedetail
fromthehighlightsofa scene,alltheway
throughthe mid-tonestothe shadows.This
is achievedbytakingthreeorfiveexposures,
oneortwostops apart,andthesearethen
mergedtogetherin post-processing.For
thebestresults,alwaysshootin aperture-
priorityusingtheAutoExposureBracketing
feature.This meansthat only the shutter
speedwillchangemakinga perfectblend
possible at theimageediting stage.Whenyou’reusinga cameraona gimbal,suchas
witha drone,it’s easytofallintoa falsesenseof
security whenit comestoshutterspeeds.When
shootingwitha drone,if there’svirtuallynowind
at allyoucanachievesharpshotsat exposures
uptothreesecondsusingNDfilters.The realityis
that thereusuallyis windandsometimeseven
shootingexposuresin theregionof1/15sec
resultsin camerashake.Ifit is windy,it canbe
worthshootingyourimagesatISO 100 andthen
onceagain atISO 400 usingthenoisestacking
techniqueweoutlineonpage 8 4 toensurethat
youhaveperfectlysharpimageswithreduced
noiseiftheISO 100 shots exhibit camera shake.82 DigitalSLR PhotographyDecember 2 019
CAMERA SHAKE
HOW TO CREATE HDR IMAGES
EssentialGuid
3
PROCESSYOURIMAAGE:AnewHDR DNGwillbecreated,soyou'llneedtoselect
this.TTo recovershadowdetail,dragtheShadowwslidertotherightuntilthedesired
effectis achieved,andtheHighlightsstotheleft.Oncehappy,usetheBlackssandWhites
sliderstoreducethewashed-outappearanceoftheimage.Withthese,dragtheWhitesto
the right andtheBlacks to theleft.Oncedone, you canapply all normaladjustments.1
USEAEBFORSPEED ANDEASE:Set thedronetoshootin aperture-priorityat f/5.6.
SetISObetween 100 - 200 dependingonwindandtheshutterspeedselectedby
the camera.Applyexposurecompensationasrequiredusingthehistogramasaguide,
andfinallysetthecameratoAutoExposureBracketing(AEB)modeat eitherthreeorfive
exposures.The camera will now take threeorfive exposures whenyoufire the shutter.4
REFINEWITHLLOCAL ADJUSTMENTS:UsingjustthebasicExposure,Shadowsand
Highlights controlsin theDevelopmodule maynotre coverallimagedetail, such
asin theskyormorelocalisedareas,soforbrighteranddarkerareasusethelocalised
adjustmenttools– theGraduatedFilter,RadialFilterandAdjustmentBrush– toapply
further changes to specific areas.Here,theGraduated filter helped darken thesky.2
MERGEEXPOSURES TOHDR:ImportyourRawfilesintoLightroom.Selectyour
exposuresbyclickingonthefirst,holddownShifttandthenclickonthethird(or
fifth)image. Right-clickthemouseontheselectedimagesandgo toPhotoMerge>HDR.
Whenthedialogueopens,ensureAutoAlignis checkedandAutoSettingssis unchecked.
SetDeghostttoHigh and reduceif DeghostOverlay doesn’t show on theimage.HitOKK