In Siena, Italy there is a unique view of the Torre del Mangia that looks incredible with a wide angle lens. I shot this with my new Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens, and due to the contrast of the bright sky and the much darker interior courtyard, I had to use HDR to obtain the exposure you see here. I used an aperture of f/8 with 500 ISO, and the shutter varied per the bracketed exposures. I hand held the camera, knowing that the software would align the three shots. I never hand hold an HDR image taken with a telephoto. There is too much movement. With wide angle lenses, though, I can get away without using a tripod. Two f/stop increments between frames enabled me to capture good detail in the shadows as well as the highlights. In order to orient this composition correctly, where the horizontal and vertical lines were parallel with the respective sides of the frame, I had to stand dead-center in the courtyard; otherwise the lines would be skewed and the picture wouldn't work.
2 Comments
Oct 30, 2017, 2:23:07 AM
Jim - Hi Bob, I determine how many f/stop increments to use based on the contrast in a scene. When using the automatic HDR feature in the 5D Mark III, I choose plus or minus 3 f/stops when contrast is extreme. Plus or minus 2 f/stops when the contrast is moderate, etc. When using a tripod and doing HDR, instead of adjusting the increments, I simply shoot more frames such as 5, 7, or even 9. The more contrast, the more frames are required.
Oct 29, 2017, 10:30:19 PM
Bob Vestal - Hi Jim. You clearly love the new 14 mm lens--and you are showing us why. Very interesting shot, which reminds us to look up even when not in a cathedral. In general, with only 3 frame HDR is your default setting 2 stop frame difference and then check exposure? Or do you meter sky in this case and then shadow area?