5D Mk IV – EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II – 1/250, f/6.3 (AV Priority), ISO 100 – HDR Art Vivid setting

Today was a test day – kind of like yesterday – but less artsy. Like the Multiple Exposure setting, the 5D’s creative button also has a High Dynamic Range functionality where a user can take photos across a selected number of exposure values and have the camera do the work in processing and merging into one image. Dynamic range refers to the range of light in a scene from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. A scene that has a high dynamic range simply means that there is an extremely broad range from the darkest shadow to the brightest highlight. In order to get this in camera, a number of photos are taken, with different exposures, and then merged.

For the selected Photo of the Day, I set the camera to take 3 exposures, one at a normal exposure, one at 2 stops above, and another at 2 stops below. They were merged within the camera and I set it up to create an ‘Art Vivid’ photo. To compare, I took another photo and set it to create an ‘Art Bold’ photo that would look like an oil painting (see below).

Lastly, I compared these settings with a series of 5 photos I took and merged into one photo in Lightroom. I set up the camera to auto-exposure bracket (AEB) 5 photos: 2 stops below – 1 stop below – normal – 1 stop above – 2 stops above. I did minimal post processing in Lightroom other than merge them into one HDR photo. I could have gotten more creative, but wanted you to decide.