How To Create a Photorealistic HDR Image?

By Mira Crisp | Published December 9, 2011
It’s time to show you how I edited my Santa’s portrait for the Shoot and Edit photo challenge. In this process I’ll show you how to create a photorealistic HDR image using Mini Bridge in Photoshop CS5. By using the Mini Bridge and Merge to HRD Pro function, you don’t have to have a third party plug-in to achieve nice results. I’ve started with SOOC Santa’s photo. Of course, I did not shoot three different images with different exposures for HDR because, to be honest, I did not think of doing Santa’s portrait as a HDR image. However, when I started editing it, it crossed my mind that I could do a black and white HDR image. There are three editing steps toward creating a B&W HDR Santa portrait.

The first one is creating a photorealistic HDR image:

So, the first step was to artificially create three images with different exposures. I simply went to Photoshop Tool bar selecting Image > Adjustments > Exposure. Since I (you) already had/have the SOOC image with zero exposure, for the first image you need to changed the exposure to -2, and for the second to +2. Save each image. That way you get three images with different exposures.

The next step is to open the Mini Bridge and open those three images in it. Keep your images selected. Under Photoshop tool in the Mini Bridge, choose Merge to HDR Pro. In a bit the pop-up menu will show.

In the new menu, select Photorealistic (that will change to Custom after the next step, so when you see Custom, don’t worry). Now, in this section, change the numbers until you get the results you like. My numbers are depicted in the image below. If you want, you can check the Remove Ghosts box so you can clearly see the changes.

Click on the OK button and wait until the image opens in Photoshop.

The second editing step was to convert the image to black and white.

This step is easy and it’s nothing new to those of you who have been reading my blog for a while. I used this gradient map method to convert the HDR image to black and white. Read How to Get a High Contrast Black and White Image to see a step-by-step tutorial. Again, play with the tones until you are happy with the result. Sharpen as necessary.

The third and final step was to frame this B&W HDR Santa.

I opted to use Rita’s vintage frame #14 which also applies a texture to your photo making it a little bit brighter and adds a vintage feel to it. I rotated the frame to a landscape instead of a portrait frame it came in.

Here it is! The vintage Santa!

Linking up to This or That!, And Then, She Snapped, Pixel Dust Photo Art, Fabulous Friday

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Mira Crisp

Hello! My name is Mira and I take pictures, blog, and drink espresso! As a portrait photographer I take pretty pictures in Ft. Walton Beach - Crestview - Destin, Fl. area. I blog mainly about photography and image enhancement and I am enjoying it a lot. I'd love to hear from you, so please feel very welcome to leave a comment or two.

More Posts

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookFlickr

This entry was posted in Adobe Photoshop, HDR, Image Enhancement, Tutorials. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

27 Comments

  1. Posted December 9, 2011 at 3:49 am by Kim Stevens | Permalink

    Just a beautiful edit on that Santa!!

  2. Posted December 9, 2011 at 5:13 am by Ashley Sisk | Permalink

    I may need to come back and read more…this looks great girl!

  3. Posted December 9, 2011 at 6:33 am by Yvonne | Permalink

    Very cool!

  4. Posted December 9, 2011 at 7:11 am by deb duty | Permalink

    Gorgeous edit and great info!

  5. Posted December 9, 2011 at 8:39 am by Shanna | Permalink

    What a fun edit and cute santa. I'm now following you so I can come back and learn. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Posted December 9, 2011 at 9:26 am by Stacia | Permalink

    Love the vintage look. Makes me want to go through my grandmother's old ornaments!

  7. Posted December 9, 2011 at 2:21 pm by Steve | Permalink

    Love it Mira…thanks a bunch, I am going to give this a try, I am usually working with Photomatix but have not completed much HDR using CS5. Thank you again.

  8. Posted December 9, 2011 at 3:46 pm by withoutadornment | Permalink

    I love the texture and tones of this photo! Great job with your edit!

  9. Posted December 10, 2011 at 2:58 am by johanna | Permalink

    love the vintage alteration!

  10. Posted December 10, 2011 at 3:47 am by Terrie | Permalink

    A great shot of a very cool Santa and a tutorial added in for good measure….how great is that?!! Thanks for sharing the how-to and the great finished project. I never think of making Christmas photos black and white because it seems a season all about color to me – and then I see something as well done as this and think I should consider giving it a try…… Happy Holidays (visiting from PAF)

  11. Posted December 10, 2011 at 6:16 am by Linneas Atelje Photography | Permalink

    Really lovely vintage feeling in this picture.

  12. Posted December 10, 2011 at 11:58 am by An Ever Grateful Heart | Permalink

    Beautiful photo! Love the finish of vintage on it. Lovely blog! I am a new follower! Thanks so much for sharing.

  13. Posted December 10, 2011 at 12:07 pm by Marilyn | Permalink

    Very HDR realistic. I love your Santa.

  14. Posted December 10, 2011 at 12:17 pm by Pat | Permalink

    Nice result!

  15. Posted December 10, 2011 at 1:24 pm by lisa | Permalink

    Mira, this is truly magnificent!
    Thank you so much for sharing what you did here.
    Sending you wishes for a beautiful weekend!

  16. Posted December 10, 2011 at 2:07 pm by Cedar | Permalink

    What a fun photo and really excellent edit!

  17. Posted December 10, 2011 at 7:06 pm by Unknown Mami | Permalink

    You are my editing guru and inspiration!

  18. Posted December 10, 2011 at 8:43 pm by kareninkenai | Permalink

    beautiful edit and wonderful post with lots to absorb. thank you. karen (visiting from PAF)

  19. Posted December 11, 2011 at 1:58 am by Nancy @ A Rural Journal | Permalink

    I always enjoy learning how others create their photos. Thanks so much for the information, Mira, and for sharing your beautiful Santa shot. :)

  20. Posted December 11, 2011 at 6:32 am by peggy gatto | Permalink

    thank you for this santa and for your tutorial!!!!!

  21. Posted December 11, 2011 at 6:49 am by Linda Trine | Permalink

    love the vintage effect of your processing…wonderful job!

  22. Posted December 12, 2011 at 6:02 am by Linneas Atelje | Permalink

    Thank you for visiting my blog. So many great articles you have in your blog!
    Linneas Atelje Photography

  23. Posted December 12, 2011 at 8:50 am by Nessa | Permalink

    Now that is some good stuff.

  24. Posted December 12, 2011 at 3:01 pm by Tricia | Permalink

    Thanks for sharing all your editing info, Mira. I need better software…I just have the basics.

  25. Posted December 12, 2011 at 4:55 pm by Tiffany | Permalink

    Beautiful edit…thanks for the tutorial and you kind comment.

    Tiffany

  26. Posted December 13, 2011 at 8:17 am by Bonnie | Permalink

    How kind of you to give us a fantastic tutorial along with that wonderful HDR image of Santa. Love it! Thank you so much for sharing with Photo Art Friday.

  27. Posted December 13, 2011 at 5:13 pm by Ida | Permalink

    Fabulous image and great tutorial.