Issue merging CR3 files into HDR

[Alexey_Ustinov]

Hello dear experts

I have an issue merging three .CR3 files bracketed with plus and minus 1 and 2/3 stops each into HDR on Windows 10 (10.0.19044) PC. The issue happened on both LR 9.3 and on recently upgraded to 12.2.1.1. The resulting preview and generated .DNG image looks wrong. It looks like the LR mostly used only two images: normally exposed (0EV) and under exposed (-1 2/3). The overexposed (+1 2/3) image where the mid tones and shadows are well exposed and covering most of the frame, was not used. Instead, it was used for small part of the frame for the part of the sun reflections on the water. So, overall the resulting image looks completely unnatural. Tried with different de-ghosting settings without much success. The source images and the exported HDR can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o1Aib7jp_GS_l2ldaCzMApHFwKWcaY_V?usp=share_link

Thanks in advance for your comments

[GoldingD]

bracketed with plus and minus 1 and 2/3 stops each 

LrC likes the bracket to be even

so, you took:

-1, -2/3, 0, 2/3, 1

try:

-4/3, -2/3, 0, 2/3, 4/3 (that is 2/3 steps, each bracket )

and, consider your cameras dynamic range, is a 2/3 step well within the range?.  Maybe something like 2 stops is called for

-2,0,2

[Alexey_Ustinov]

Hello GolingD

Thanks for teh quick reply and suggestions. Today I took series of bracketed photos with different steping. But even with -2, 0, +2 I see the same issue. Please see the "Example 3" in the folder.

Any other ideas?

[Ian Lyons]

The JPEG results is due to the clouds moving between shots. Therefore, you'll need to alter the the 'Ghosting' setting. I found that 'Low' was sufficient to avoid the ghosting, but may feel that a higher amount is better.

You'll find that the shots taken with sea will also require Ghosting correction.