LR HDR

[shaun]

Hi

New convert to lightroom. Using a sony a7r111 and tried various brackets 2 - 3 stops on 3 shot mode for HDR. I'm finding LR seems to go with best exposure open up shadows and pull down highlights instead of using the 3 exposures. So this means shadows are noisy? 

Any help would be great

Shaun

[mcbroomf]

I use HDR quite a lot in LR and it seems to do a good job.  I'm not sure what you mean by this "... with best exposure open up shadows and pull down highlights instead of using the 3 exposures" it definitely seems to use the extreme exposures in my files.  For example a low exposure file to maintain highlights might have completely black (no detail) shadows and the other end of the 3 or 5 I'm using might have completely bleached out highlights and plenty of detail in the shadows.  The resulting file has both detail in the shadows and control over the highlights.

You do have to do significant tone mapping (as it used to be called) by pushing shadows and pulling highlights.  If you select Auto in the HDR window you'll see where LR places the sliders and you can then move them to taste.

[shaun]

Hi thanks for that info. So for me the extreme exposures arent used. It seems to go with middle exposure and try to pull as much data from that as possible. I know theres plenty of dynamic range in the files but not enough.

Didnt know i had control and thats what i want to do. Is there a dropdown somewhere that allows for that.
Thanks
Shaun

[rdonson]

Shaun,

I too use Lr HDR a lot with my Fuji X-T2 (until the X-T4 is delivered).  It works well for 90% of what I shoot

I usually shoot 3 exposures that are 2 stops apart or -2, 0, +2.

I'd be shocked if your A7R3 didn't have more dynamic range than my X-T2 in each shot.

Have you tried what Mike suggested about using  "Auto" in the Develop Module?  It in the "Basic" section.

 

[mcbroomf]

While you can use Auto in the Develop module I mean to check the Auto Setting option in the HDR window when it opens.  It's at the top under Auto Align.  It could be they will give the same result though, I have not checked this.

It's important to understand (sorry if I sound bad) that with no adjustment the file will likely look like the middle exposure.  It's up to you to open the shadows and control the highlights.  The Auto Setting does this for you (or perhaps a starting point).  You can then compare the real noise in the shadows of the HDR DNG file to the noise in the middle file.

[Cornfield]

A few months ago I swiched to mirrorless with the Nikon Z's  I have reduced the number of times I shoot brackets drastically.  The files have so much depth and ACR really does the work without much input from me!