Easy HDR Effect in GIMP

First, You Have to Take Three Photos

• One Properly Exposed Photo
• One Very Under Exposed Photo - too Dark by at least One Stop
• One Very Over Exposed Photo - too Bright by at least One Stop

Don't worry, the over exposed and under exposed photos are supposed to look bad!

***TIPS*** When you take the pictures, set your camera to Aperture Priority (AV) mode to keep the aperture constant for all three shots. Manually focus or lock your auto focus to make sure the focus is the same for all three photos. It's best to take the pictures on a tripod to make sure the composition doesn't change at all.

Install the Auto HDR  Add-On for GIMP

• Get Auto HDR with easy installation for Windows from Software Pantry (it's just $1.99 - well worth it if you don't like installing GIMP ad-ons the yourself)

Or

• Download and Install Exposure Blend plugin for GIMP. GIMP plugin instillation instructions are here. This version will work on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers.

Start GIMP, or if it's already running, Refresh Scripts by going to Filters > Script-Fu > Refresh Scripts in the Main Menu to make GIMP recognize the new add-on.

Run Auto HDR

If you...

• Downloaded from Software Pantry -The Auto HDR add-on will install iteself under a new Menu heading called Pantry. Just go to Pantry > Auto HDR > Auto Blend.  The  Auto Blend Window will pop up.

• Installed yourself from GIMP.org- Find the add-on under Filters > Exposure Blend > Blend. The Auto Blend window will pop up.

From the Auto Blend window, choose the three images you took with different exposures and click OK. GIMP will do it's magic and blend the three exposures to give you a good range of highlights, mid-tones, and shadows.

You can easily tweak the look by adjusting the Opacity sliders on each layer to make each range more or less prominent. Duplicating a layer exaggerates it's effects even more.