Summary of Using HDR for Real Estate Phototography
May 19th, 2008
I’d like to synthesize and distill the information and discussions about how to approach using HDR for real estate photography.
First of all it is important to look a lot of real estate images and refine your ability to see subtle differences styles and lighting.
Next I think you must always be working to prevent committing the deadly sin of allowing the real estate photo to look unreal. The two ways this usually appears is what I call the “grunge” (walls look like they need to be washed) or “radioactive” look. In real estate work there is an expectation of reality so the more dramatically creative looks frequently see in HDR work is not appropriate for real estate work.
As an benchmark of realistic results that are possible with HDR look at the real estate images of David Palermo and Dan Achatz. David and Dan use HDR extensively and their work illustrates what is possible with HDR.
How do you approach getting realistic results with HDR for real estate work? Here is my summary:
- Shooting bracketed images: Use shutter speed to bracket. Many use 3 bracketed shots -2 EV, 0EV, +2 EV most DSLRs will do this with auto-bracket feature. Christian Bloch, in The HDRI Handbook, recommends spot metering on darkest part of image and lightest part of image and bracket all the way between light and dark in 1 EVor 2 EV intervals.
- Most popular software: Photomatix, Enfuse ( LR/Enfuse PC/Mac , Bracketeer for Mac, Enfuse Gui for PC, xFuse for Mac) Photoshop CS3 and Photomatix used together.
- Photomatix settings (starting point): Dan Achatz recommends (some place in the PFRE discussion group) starting values: Strength=20, Saturation=35, White Point=10, Black Point=10, Gamma=1.
- HDR books: Two good books on the HDR process are – The HDRI Handbook, by Christian Bloch and Mastering HDR Photography by Michael Freeman.
- Detail discussions: There have been some good detail discussions on using HDR for real estate photography in the PFRE flickr discussion group. here, here and here.
I’m sure there is something I’ve missed. Anyone care to add to the summary?
27 Responses to “Summary of Using HDR for Real Estate Phototography”
Scott Pruett May 19th, 2008 at 11:00 am #
Bracketeer is for Mac, FYI…
/dev/random › links for 2008-05-19 May 19th, 2008 at 3:30 pm #
[...] Using HDR for Real Estate Phototography How to use subtle HDR effects for a realistic appearance. (tags: hdr photography) [...]
Athol Kay May 19th, 2008 at 3:46 pm #
>>the deadly sin of allowing the real estate photo to look unreal.
Agree, but curious if the Architectual Digest look we seem to strive for counts as unreal. Perfect yes, but also vaguely unreal as well. Maybe good for ultra high end, but in the $300,000 range?
David Lenhert May 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pm #
Hi Larry, I’ve started using Photomatix and love it, although I admit I sometimes am a bit heavy handed with the strength. My question is: on your recommended starting point settings for Photomatix what do you recommend for the “Light Smoothing” setting?
Thanks,
Dave
m zigler May 19th, 2008 at 4:18 pm #
theres hdr books? cant possibly imagine it being more than say 10 pages.
“take 5 pictures of the same thing with 5 different exposures
…press go in software”
the end
larry May 19th, 2008 at 5:06 pm #
@Athol – Excellent point! AD is about as unreal as you can get!
@David – I use Light Smoothing on one of the highest 2 settings and Luminosity up towards the max. The other recommendations are Dan Achatz’s… I don’t know what Dan recommendations are for Luminosity and Light Smoothing. Dan has much more experience in this area than I do. Maybe he will weigh in here.
@Zigler – Yes, The HDRI Handbook is 344 pgs. This is a weighty subject:)
Scott May 20th, 2008 at 5:46 am #
M Zigler — yeah, I was shocked to discover that there are general photography books that are longer than 10 pages, too. I mean, really; set the camera to “Auto”, point it at something, push the button…….right?
Photo News Today » Blog Archive » Summary of Using HDR for Real Estate Phototography May 20th, 2008 at 8:36 am #
[...] Source and Read More: photographyforrealestate.net [...]
Zac May 21st, 2008 at 12:39 am #
While these techniques are fine and sometimes produce stunning results, albeit a trifle unreal at times, there are other techniques that produce results that many times look just as good and indeed better than HDR and better than using the shadow/highlight sliders.
A favourite technique that I use sometimes is contrast masking – all you need is one shot, not 5. A good link for learning contrast masking is found in the luminous landscape site – http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/contrast_masking.shtml
Did I mention using a Fuji S3 or S5?
Kelly May 22nd, 2008 at 7:27 am #
Enfuse works great for real estate HDR, however it does not align images so your photos have to be exactly in the same place. Anyone have any ideas how to align images that aren’t perfectly aligned?
larry May 22nd, 2008 at 7:39 am #
@Kelly – it depends on which implementation of Enfuse you are using. The latest version of Enfuse/LR 2.0 does image alignment. See:
http://timothyarmes.com/lrenfuse.php
This image alignment “align_image_stack” is from Hugin. You may be able to used it before running other Enfuse interfaces but Enfuse/LR runs it automatically for you.
Phil May 23rd, 2008 at 5:14 am #
Zac,
That was great tip. Just tried the Contrast Masking on an outside HDR shot and it give it more punch without darkening the image. I liked the layer at around 40% opacity. I’ve used the multiply option on some, but at only around 20% due the darkening effect. I’d use it as an extra processing step with Photoshop action on the HDR image, rather than as a replacement
CARLOS May 24th, 2008 at 4:04 pm #
M.Zigler I am with you 10 pages max, how hard is it?
Most Shooters these days have little experience just buy a camera make a website learn on the road.
Within two years they are Rock stars.
Digital is brilliant but how many of the new shooters could use film?
So what we have is more and more average shooters and good software to fix the images.
oh and a lot of Rock Stars
Alex May 25th, 2008 at 1:03 am #
Lots and lots of rock stars
Paul Gemignani July 7th, 2008 at 11:24 am #
I was looking for some reference samples of HDR images. I found vicaso.net and was impressed. Great posts here, but is there a memebers section? Many of the posts are refer to flicker. Would be nice to share some work with the community. I have a sampel HDR shot up here: http://www.4waymedia.com/hdr.html
Let me know what you think. Thanks! 4waymdia@gmail.com
Liam October 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm #
In the original post by larry:
3. Photomatix settings (starting point): Dan Achatz recommends (some place in the PFRE discussion group) starting values: Strength=20, Saturation=35, White Point=10, Black Point=10, Gamma=1.
Where can I find Dan Achatz article recommending this settings? In my opinion, 20 (Strength) is too strong in Photomatix for real estate photography. But the samples in his website look very natural to me. I wonder the samples in his website are set at 20.
larry October 26th, 2008 at 3:20 pm #
Liam- I can’t find the flickr post where I copied Dan’s recommendations. You could search the flickr discussion group posts (http://www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/) or just ask Dan.
Frank March 31st, 2009 at 5:18 pm #
Are HDR scripts protected under copyright law—if I have a employee using HDR to make photos and they take it with them do I have legal protection…IP??
larry May 23rd, 2009 at 11:10 am #
Frank, I don’t don’t think copyright will protect you… see: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html
Technical companies have their employees sign non-disclosure agreements to protect the companies against employees disclosing trade secrets. I’d suggest you have a lawyer draw up a NDA for you to have your employees sign.
HDR Tidbits (links, news, inspiration) lets see how long this title goes | pixelens photography May 26th, 2009 at 7:05 pm #
[...] never though how great using HDR would be for real estate, something I should look into! Check out the post over at the Lightroom Killer Tips [...]
Thomas Vercline June 10th, 2009 at 10:41 am #
These look a lot like what VHT calls ‘clearshot’ photography at http://www.vht.com
Maybe they stole your technique!
Jenee September 8th, 2009 at 10:20 am #
Hey everyone!
I must say I’ve become obsessed with trying to gain as much knowledge as possible on HDR, but I am such a newbie. I’ve only done a few experiments here and there without using any external lighting and have been really disappointed with the results- even setting the tone mapping settings at recommended levels to avoid the cartoony look. I’m really wanting to create the dramatic high def look that I’ve seen possible in these forums, but I am worlds away from getting there I’m afraid. I’ve only tried photographing my dining room which is the size of a guest bedroom in a 1400 sq ft home- if you can imagine that. It has three bay windows and a standard dining room fixture- if you can imagine that too
Since this image is coming out quite distasteful in Photomatix after exposure bracketing (mid tones are pretty awful)…is it because small spaces are harder to expose with HDR or do I need to adjust something I’m not thinking of? It seems like the majority of people who post in these forums are avid photographers. I LOVE photography and know how to work a SLR quite well, but as far as a profession, I’m trying to get there. Still life/architecture is my passion, so I’m really putting my nose to the grind stone to really learn this and make it a full time career. I know lighting is everything, so any tips/advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I’m two seconds away from flying to a professional and getting a one on one lesson! 
Motivated and Determined!
Jenee
Doug Huffines September 12th, 2009 at 9:09 pm #
I’ve been shooting HDR for about a year now and really have a good time with it. Some HDR photos, to me, look radioactive and is distracting for most applications. When done well, it can really add a lot to the subject. It doesn’t work for every photo, but when it does, it’s great.
Kevin Galarneau October 21st, 2009 at 7:02 pm #
I can’t seem to get the hang of tonemapping. Everytime I have attempted HDR I haved walked away with a bad result. I prefer Enfuse, I feel it is much more user friendly and it creates a much more realistic effect which i prefer.
Joanna October 26th, 2009 at 2:05 pm #
We camera bracket our HDR real estate photos and I edit the exposures in Photomatix w/PS Elements for secondary editing. When you camera bracket interior views you are not using any flash attachments so your processed HDR photo will appear a little dark which can be remedied by applying levels, contrast, hue/sat adjustments, spot sharpening, etc to get the desired end result. The processing/editing actually takes longer than the photography. For exterior shots we do pole aerials and I process these as single-image HDRs.
Gary Shepard November 7th, 2009 at 12:13 pm #
I’m looking for a little help here.
I have been using image blending with very good results for several months now. I shoot with a Nikon D700 and a Nikon 14-24mm lens primarily. I am using the ProMote remote control configured to give me 7 exposures at 2 EV intervals. that covers a total of 13 EV. The measured value plus 2,4 and 6 EV each side of the measured value. A lot of thought went into this choice of exposures and I will gladly share those thoughts with anyone who is interested in why I chose the values that I did. I use Photomatix and blending with highlight and shadows adjust. My default settings are Accentuation 9.1, Blending Point 0.0, Shadows 5.6, Color Saturation 0.0, White Clip 8.8, Black Clip 9.4 and midtone 0.0. The results are generally quite good. The one issue that I am strugling with is ghosting or flaring around the windows. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help to eliminate that issue?
Gary Shepard November 7th, 2009 at 5:05 pm #
If anyone is interested in seeing my HDR/Blended image work go to http://cpsrealestatephotography.com. Constructive feed back is welcomed.