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SSI-HDR, as I call it, stands for - Single Shot Interpolated High Dynamic Range.

There are many good reasons to want a single shot HDR method. One of the best is for shooting moving subjects.

There are several undesired possibilities when shooting HDR that can be avoided by shooting single RAW frames and processing them individually as Interpolated HDR. On most cameras, when shooting motion, setting a bracketing sequence can cause moving subjects to be exposed incorrectly as each exposure will be different throughout the sequence. This also means that the moving subject will become a ghosted multiple in the scene when processed as a normal HDR.

In most cases when shooting moving subjects, it is better to shoot single RAW images without a bracketed sequence. In other words, shoot as though you were not actually producing HDR exposures at all. This means you can concentrate on the subject and capture the movements instantly in single shots.

SSI-HDR or Single Shot Interpolated HDR is a way to create images that will appear to have an extended dynamic range by utilizing the full range of a single RAW image file. It is also possible to create a number of different HDR looks. I prefer to have mine look as natural as possible with a bump in contrast.

In order to make SSI-HDR work to its full potential, it is important to have an exposure that does not have noise of any great consequence. Because underexposure usually results in increased noise, it is advised that your exposures be slightly overexposed.   

Here is how I usually handle SSI-HDR.

A single exposure is duplicated as many times as required. In this case, I have made four copies.

The files are imported into Photomatix Pro.

Because the files are the same exposure, this window pops up and tells you that the image exposure information is missing. This is where you can interpolate the images to what you think will work. Experimentation may be your best option in order to learn how your images will play out. 

For this image, I used a 1 1/2 stop EV difference which is rounded to the nearest integer. In this case the EV spread is  - 2, 0, 2, 3.

Because the files are the same, there is no need to Align Source Images or Remove Ghosts. It is probably a good thing to Reduce Noise as any noise present in the shadows could also be interpolated.

Here you can see in the 32 bit render that there is detail in the brightest areas. The window on the left shows the details within what looks like blown highlights in the area on the right. You should also notice the shadows seem to be blocked here as well. However, if you use the detail viewer, you will see that they are not. 

In Preview, the highlight and shadow detail is more than acceptable. I usually work to make the image as normal as possible, making sure to have as much detail as achievable, with good blacks, good highlights and a reasonable color balance. Most of the dramatic work is done during post processing using Photoshop.

© John Neel

This is the final SSI HDR after processing and additional dodging, burning,color correction and saturation tweaking in Photoshop.

The image above, was processed as a SSI HDR using the technique discussed above. However, the windows on the left were without detail because the brightness was beyond the capacity of a single RAW exposure for this scene. Fortunately in this case, I was able to use a second underexposed image from the original bracketed sequence to produce the detail which was processed as a layer in Photoshop.

Here are the two files used:

In this version, the window detials are missing. I find this to be acceptable, however, the addition of the detail adds tremendously to the final outcome of the image.

Here is the render used for the window detail.

NOTICE:    THIS POSTING AS WELL AS ALL PHOTOGRAPHS AND GALLERY IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT - © JOHN NEEL AND ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY PUPOSE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE WRITER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR PIXIQ. THE IDEAS EXPRESSED ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE AUTHOR.

You might also be interested in the following HDR posts:

Multi-dipped HDR

HDR - Multiple WB

HDR - Painted with Light

SS HDR - My Way - Part 1

Single Shot HDR

Please read more of my posts regarding Digital and Analog Photography on Pixiq. 

"Rethinking Digital Photography - Making & Using Traditional & Contemporary Photo Tools"