SEAN MCCORMACK

Merge bracketed exposures into to a single HDR file without losing access to Lightroom’s full raw editing toolset

The Lightroom pro shows us how to retain huge detail and tonal range

High Dynamic Range describes a photo with an exceptionally wide tonal range – beyond what a typical camera can capture in one shot. You’ll typically create an HDR file by merging a series of photo shots at differing exposures to get a photo with an increased range of tones. When shooting landscapes, you often find that an exposure for the sky makes the ground too dark, and an exposure for the ground would blow out the sky. The solution is to take a shot for the sky, and a shot for the ground, and another somewhere in the middle would allow you to get a smooth transition. A typical sequence could have anywhere from three to nine shots, covering a range of exposures from three stops overexposed to three stops underexposed.

There are several programs that deal with HDR. Even Photoshop can do HDR, but the 32-bit files created cannot be edited directly in Photoshop. You need to create a 16- or 8-bit version of the file that loses some of the benefit of the 32 bit HDR file.

Fortunately when you use Merge to HDR in Lightroom, you retain the same editing features of any raw file. This means you can use White Balance and have a huge range in Exposure control. Most of the Lens Profiles available are for raw files only, so your HDR file can benefit from them too.