To RAW or Not to RAW? ...... and HDR!

Well....I finally came around and decided that I would try to shoot in RAW format. I was on the fence about it for months and while I had off from work today I decided to do a test shot in RAW out my front door and then I sat at my computer and viewed the file in Abode Bridge.

Adobe Bridge allowed me to do some basic adjustments and then I saved the file as a jpeg and opened it up in Photoshop for some tweaks.

The next thing I tried was opening the RAW image in Photomatrix and "tonemapping" the photo. Again, I didn't chose the best image but I was able to get the "idea" of how it worked.

This really sparked my interest so I decided to leave the house and head to a favorite photography spot I found a couple months ago. I brought the tripod for once and got all set up. I set the camera to RAW + jpeg fine (because I just can't give up on jpeg yet and why not have the best of both worlds?) and I read the manual regarding bracketing while I was standing there to figure out how to set the camera for that as well. I also remembered to bring my remote shutter release (that I purchased with my camera at B&H Photo in New York City) with me to minimize the chance of camera shake.

Once I was all set up I was ready to start framing shots and taking photos! I wasn't sure if what I was doing was right because I'm still shaky on figuring out aperture and understanding what bracketing setting I should be using. So, today was really just a test.

When I got home and started working with the RAW files as well as the multiple exposures in Photomatrix I was shocked and amazed to see the details the RAW file includes (I should have listened to what everyone was telling me forever!!) and I was also extremely impressed with the HDR conversions....as a matter of fact - after only 4 times working with HDR in Photomatrix - I am officially hooked!

RAW shot with 3 exposures:


RAW shot with 3 exposures:


RAW shot with 3 exposures:


RAW shot with 3 exposures (I'm going to get this one printed!):


RAW shot tonemapped in Photomatrix:


So, as I said...I'm over the moon about HDR. They just look so surreal...like a painting. I just love what I've done so far and I have a lot more to work on to add to this.

I created a gallery on my website specifically for HDR. To view it click HERE.