2 Photography Tips That No One Else Will Give You But I Will

Tip #1 will make you a better photographer. Tip #2 will make you a better HDR photographer.

TIP 1: THE ZONE SYSTEM SIMPLIFIED

Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away, Ansel Adams and Fred Archer came up with a technique for exposing, developing, and printing black and white film called The Zone System.

This was around 1940, when things were very different. People read newspapers. Men wore hats. Back then, people had to know a lot about photography in order to call themselves photographers. That’s because back in 1940, photography was hard. Well maybe not hard, but you had to learn a lot. You had to deal with manual exposure meters, film, developing chemicals, enlargers, and photo paper.

Today, digital photography has put photography in the reach of just about anyone who wants to take photos. Taking pictures is now easy. Anyone can take a decent photo. You can even take a picture with your cell phone and get a decent image.

So what does this have to do with HDR photography, I hear you asking. Fair question. In the Zone System, there are 11 zones, 0-10. At the 0 end of the scale, you have pure black. At the 10 end, you have pure white, which we used to call “paper white” back in the day. In between zone 0 and zone 10 are nine shades of gray. In a black and white print, each element in the photo can correspond with a specific zone.

There’s are two thing that are allowed to fall into zone 10. The first thing is lights. Streetlights, bare light bulbs, the sun. You get the idea. The second thing is called specular reflections. Specular reflections are reflections of the sun (or bright lights) on metal or glass (or water).

Other than what I described above, NOTHING belongs in zone 10. Not pieces of the sky, not sides of buildings. Not bits of sidewalk. Not white clothes. Nothing else. If you don’t agree with this, you’re calling Ansel Adams an idiot, and if you call Ansel Adams rude names, his ghost will visit you in the night and haunt you.

Modern digital camera sensors have problems recording a complete tonal range. So if you take a photo in a scene that has high contrast, the highlights are going to overexpose and get blown out…

Into zone 10. Where they’re not supposed to go.

HDR photography was developed to compensate for this problem. By combining multiple exposures, you can retain detail in the highlights and in the shadows (hence the name “High Dynamic Range”).

Follow me just a bit more on this. If nothing in a photo is supposed to fall into Zone 10 besides what I’ve already described and HDR photography was developed to fix this problem, why in God’s name are people posting HDR images on this site with big honking areas of completely blown-out highlights?

I don’t get it.

I’ll tell you what really cheeses me off: when I see a photo with big blown out chunks of cloud or sky or in what’s supposed to be stone and then some clown rates it with a 10 and then writes “Perfect.”

Blown-out highlights aren’t perfect. They show others that you aren’t serious about learning your craft. Some people will tell you your image is perfect, but those people are clueless, and you shouldn’t listen to them.

TIP 2: HALOS

Halos around buildings, trees, and anything else that is adjacent to sky are bad, so don’t have them in your HDR photos. Halos scream out, "Hey, look at me over here, I’m a newbie and I haven’t bothered to learn the basics of HDR! If you’re new to HDR, you might think they look kind of cool. Trust me, they don’t. Halos in HDR are about as cool as wearing a Justin Bieber T-shirt.

You might post an image with awful halos and find some people saying, “Wow. Great image! This is a 10 for sure!”

Don’t listen to those people because they are not your friends. If you could see them, you’d see that while they were telling you what a great photo you just uploaded, they’re wearing Justin Bieber T-shirts.

They may be nice to you, but they won’t help you learn.

In Photomatix fixing halos usually isn’t a big deal. It’s a matter of moving the micro-smoothing slider to the right a bit. If that helps but doesn’t fix it completely, try moving the highlights smoothness slider to the right as well. If you still have some haloing, try decreasing the strength a bit. If that doesn’t work, experiment with the software. There aren’t that many controls. You may stumble across a fix.

If you still have some haloing, you can try fixing it in Photoshop. One thing that works for me is to crate a duplicate layer and set the layer style to Darken. Then I set the burn tool to 3% or so and to “highlights.” I’m not a Photoshop whiz. There are probably better ways to do it.

In a parting note, it’s ok to ask for help. There are people who are willing to help you.

I have to stop now. The mailman has just arrived with my new Justin Bieber T-shirt. I hope it fits.

Mlibrescu,

If I may, I will offer my comments. First I must disagree with Tip #1, will make you a better photographer. The Zone System will not necessarily make you a better photographer. The Zone System is part of image management – a tool to aid in achieving the final visualized image.

Adams believed (as do I) that the photographer must be able to visualize the way the final print would look before the shutter is even released. The Zone System was part of the image management process that would lead to the visualized print. Given the limitation so of film, the Zone System allows the photographer to manage the exposure that will contribute to an optimal negative. The second component was development of the negative and adjusting development times (based on zone exposures and measurements) to provide an optimal printable negative. The final and third component of image management is the print itself and all the tools available to achieve the photographer’s visualization.

Ultimately, it is the photographer’s visualization of the final print that is important – the Zone System is one of several tools to allow the photographer achieve their visualization.

Great read and very humorous.

informartive discussion here.

Very well stated, sir and very true!

Of course tastes differ, but I personally find blown highlights in an HDR photo anathema. I have taken to 7 to 9 EV bracketing to make very sure that this doesn’t happen to me. The only blown highlight I accept in my own shots is the sun, or extremely bright artificial lights in night shots.

Halos are never attractive in my book. I can spend hours “painting” them out with a Wacom tablet in Photoshop when they do appear. The results are worth the trouble.

spiritofweston,

I disagree with your comment. Knowing and using the Zone System will make someone a better photographer. The photographer might still suck, but he will be a little better than he was. : )

Sir, you are correct. Learning the Zone System will make you a better photographer – technically. Unfortunately, it will not make up for a poorly composed image nor will it help a flawed or incomplete visualization. More often than not I encounter a number of “Photographers” who are more concerned about the equipment they own and use than in taking the time to properly compose and create a strong photograph. I fear that digital age has made this worse. During the days of film, one often had to think carefully about what they were going to photograph as not to waste a finite number of exposures. Those days are now past. Today, the number of exposures one can take is based on memory and battery life. Having the ability to see your image right after is taken is great; I would often proof my landscapes with a Polaroid before I would put in the actual film holder. What I do believe is that technology has given most photographers a lazy eye. That is, they can just shoot and shoot, hoping they get a decent image. One exercise I use with my students is to give them a broad assignment (i.e. Landscape or natural form) and then give them just one film holder to shoot – yes, film and view cameras are not dead yet. Most students appreciate this assignment because it forces them to take the time to compose, to reflect, to see.

“Good composition is only the strongest way of seeing the subject. It cannot be taught because, like all creative effort, it is a matter of personal growth.
In common with other artists the photographer wants his finished print to convey to others his own response to his subject.”

Quote from: Edward Weston, ‘Seeing Photographically’, in W. D. Morgan (ed.)
(1964) The Encyclopedia of Photography, Volume 18.

Marc, great reading here. Thanks.

Tips are really good but some people might misunderstand, so why not use a professional service instead of wasting time in editing yourself.

http://www.fotoeditors.com

Tips are really good but some people might misunderstand, so why not use a professional service instead of wasting time in editing yourself.

Because people on this site consider themselves photographers and know how to do it on their own

One thing you’ll find in my HDR’s I’ll have NO halo’s they went along time ago when i left noob status, however I find this website incredibly moronic in giving 10/10’s with bad halos and over exposed skies. Some voters need to sit back and vote and give feedback accordingly.

I joined this site to view others pictures and to gain knowledge and inspiratrion and it seems that neil79 is not the type of member that I really want to see posting arrogant comments like the one above as well as his harsh rather than constructive criticism of others pictures. Message for you Neil (and one that I am sure is echoed by many others).. learn tact and diplomacy and await praise from others rather than telling the world how wonderful you are!

Good info. Thx for taking the time to share.

I appreciate the generosity of those exclusive tips. You’re the type of guy who would give another the shirt off his back.

I am a newbie to this site, & learning a lot from all the great photographers using this web site to show their HDR work. There are some incredable HDR photo’s on this site but I find quite a few with really bad Chromatic Aberration/Fringing & they still get a 10. Just by looking at some of the photo’s I am beginning too understand the process to obtain this standard, thank you all for showing me the light as you may say….