Practical HDR Using Gimp
This tutorial will help you learn how to use gimp to make HDR images in a practical way. Technically, this process is called exposure blending, but a lot of people tend to mix the terms up. The process is relatively simple, yet very powerful. We are going to adjust the exposure using UFRaw several times, and export these different exposures as a layer into Gimp. Eventually, we will have several layers containing different versions of the same photo. Using Layer Masks, we will then mask off the unwanted parts of the different exposures, leaving us with a best-case image.
What You’ll Need:
A RAW-Shooting Camera. Check out my list of Affordable RAW-Shooting Cameras.
UFRaw gimp addon
More Information:
Related lesson – Layer Masks Using Gimp
The Benefits of Shooting in Raw
Original Image:
Final Image:
Gimp Video Tutorial:
7 Responses to Practical HDR Using Gimp
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Good stuff, Alex, thanks for posting this. I had just responded to your email when I saw this. I've used GIMP in a very similar fashion to this, but sometimes the area I need selected is far more intricate than I can do with a simple free select and brush. I'd like to be able to select some areas by a specific brightness level, then apply the mask to that selected area. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks again for this great tutorial and for the work you're doing here.
Thanks Rick,
This is a basic overview of this process – but what you're trying to do consists of more advanced layer masks. Simply put, it's the same process, but a more complicated layer mask.
If you are wanting to make a layer mask based on how bright or dark parts of your image is, all you have to do is initialize the layer mask to "grayscale copy of layer" and then make some exposure adjustments until you're happy with the result. Often times you'll have to further adjust the layer mask manually to really get what you're looking for.
Hope that makes sense. Thanks for droppIng by and leaving a comment!
Good tutorial! I appreciate the link to the list of affordable raw cameras. You don't strictly need RAW output if your camera can do automatic exposure bracketing, right?
I think when demonstrating working with layers, it helps to occasionally turn off the background layer momentarily to remind the viewer that you're working on a layer, and how exactly the mask works. (Maybe next time.)
You're right – a camera that will automatically take a photo and give you multiple brackets of that photo could produce a similar result. The only disadvantage of this is the lack of simplistic control you get when editing a raw image.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep that in mind.
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Awesome. Pretty neat tutorial and very helpful to understand this topic. Thank you Alex…
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