How To Edit Natural Looking HDR Photography For Real Estate

If you are just getting into real estate photography you have probably tried HDR photography and wanted to learn how you can edit them quickly and easily so they look natural. Today I will show you my workflow and how I edited this recent shoot to look as natural as possible. We will be using Lightroom, Photoshop, and a few plug-ins to achieve our look.
00:00 Intro
00:12 Lightroom
01:15 Enfuse Settings
05:07 Photoshop
13:16 Sky Replacement
14:52 Nik Effects
15:55 Final Lightroom Adjustments
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[@WillGayPhoto]

Since this has had such a good response I will be starting a series soon where I edit photos from start to finishing with you guys in both HDR and flambient styles. Look for more coming out later this week. 👍

[@The_EmLoto]

Thank you Will, Great tutorial

[@johnramirez4217]

Good to see other guys put up videos showing their process. By the way, I recently learned make all your paths first then do shortcut Ctrl+Enter to make entire selection (saves a little time). Ctrl+Alt+Enter to subtract any areas. Also to save time, instead of going into camera raw to adjust smart layer, I just add a curves adjustment clipped to the window repair layer to make it look more natural. A reverse S-curves has same effect of upping shadows and bring down highlights. Hopefully I'll get around to making a video too. Thank you!

[@WillGayPhoto]

I have tried that method and for me and how my brain works, the step I use keep me from making mistakes. But its great tips for other who might not have stupid fingers like myself! The only thing about using adjustment layers is they are not the same as camera RAW. And thats not coming from me that comes straight from adobe. adjustment layers affect the RGB encoded gamma for the colorspace you are in, Camera RAW is manipulating the action liner RAW data. You will only get 8 stops in either direction of dynamic range with any adjustment layer where as with camera RAW you are getting up to 14 stops depending on the sensor. To your point it would best to adopt a hybrid workflow and utalize both. Because theoretically you'd have 14 stops from the liner RAW data and then another 8ish stops ontop of the from adjustment layers. Its not exactly how it works in practice because there are limits in 8/16bit workflows but this is why I use adjustment layers as the final polish after using Camera RAW because it will end up with a more realistic tone gradation and more dynamic range. All you are doing with a curves layer is pushing and pulling compressed RGB data. Hopefully that makes sense. Appreciaite the tips!

[@mikestewart4733]

Very helpful. Would be interested in seeing how to purchase/install Enfuse.

[@WillGayPhoto]

Sounds good I will make a video on. Its pretty easy and if I remember right its priced quite affordably.

[@JoshDyePhoto]

Hey this is great content man. Honestly thought you had thousands of subs based on how professional this is. I’d love to see a tutorial on how you do flash photography inside a house if that’s possible. Keep it up!

[@WillGayPhoto]

Thank you! Absolutely. I have quite a few things planned and I will add your suggestion to the list. Been a slower March for my market with lots of snow so I have not been shooting as much. Thanks for the comment!

[@greenlightstudios3469]

I didn't understand when you said "You need it stacked before you use this". Maybe I'll need to check out how to stack

[@WillGayPhoto]

In order for Enfuse to understand which set of brackets to use you need to "Stack" them in lightroom. You do this by being in the library panel, select the set number of photos (in my case 5), right click one of the selected photos, Find "stacking" in the menu and hover your mouse over it, then select "group into stack" from the sub menu. While in the library panel you can also press Ctrl + G when you have your set number of photos selected to stack them.

[@mikestewart4733]

What's the difference between an "HDR client" and a "Flambient client"? (do you have different service levels?)

[@WillGayPhoto]

So I work with a company out of Denver that has a deal with the Coldwell Banker Brokerage up here. Basically their agents wanted a set price for 36 photos and floorplan. They asked for options on price etc and at the end of the day chose HDR over flash ambient because the cost per shoot was cheaper and the time on site was less. So they know what their marketing costs are from me, and I know what work is required each time. Hope that makes sense. I don't have an option for this in my ordering etc however since I am solo and don't have any employees it is something I do offer to some agents if they are stuck on a price point.

[@mikestewart4733]

@@WillGayPhoto. that makes sense. Your standard service for most clients is flambient? Would be great to see a video that goes over how/why you made that decision.

[@WillGayPhoto]

Yea my business is built around personalizing my services to each of my clients. Its something that alot of businesses cannot do because it gets quite complicated. I have a base set of services that everyone is offered, its what they can order off my site. But a lot of my clients are particular and like certain things. Some are discount listing agents who want X amount of photos and a floorplan for 1 price everytime. Some just want the best 40 photos, other want me to include everything and let them choose and want me to charge whatever that costs. I can defintely talk more about it.

[@likeris2]

who understand that?

[@amitrajnaik68]

Exactly my point