Show the room in a wide shot (i.e. sufficiently wide angle to see a large part of it) with the window(s) open (i.e, not covered by shutters, blinds or curtains) and taken at the default exposure

Optionally: Show you (the photographer) with your camera in the hands

This is a nice room and the view is nice too, can you see it?

Well you can't! The video camera just can't show it with the default exposure. The dynamic range spanning the room plus the window is just too high to show everything in one exposure.

Now that I changed the video camera's exposure, you can see the view!

But you can's see the rest of the room anymore

The issue is the same for taking a photo of this room

You can see again the room's interior now, but the interior is still looking a bit dark

I need to change the exposure again to make it look better

So, what is the solution? You guessed: Combining exposures! And this is what I am going to show you

Pause a little bit

Let's talk about the equipment

First you need a camera. But you already know that of course

If your camera includes an Automatic Exposure Bracketing function, then this will certainly help.

Most DSLR's offer Automatic Exposure Bracketing and some compact cameras as well

If your camera doesn't offer Automatic Exposure Bracketing, then you will need a tripod to change the exposure manually.

If your camera does offer Automatic Exposure Bracketing, but with a limited EV range, then you may need a tripod as well. This will depend on how large the brightness difference between the view and the inside is.

If your camera offers Automatic Exposure Bracketing with large EV range, you may be lucky and not even need a tripod.

Now let's get to the meat of the matter, and learn how to set your camera to take the exposures

Screen containing the heading "Taking the exposures"

Then, an animation adds "1. Set ISO and Aperture Priority mode"

You will only change the Shutter Speed to change the exposure, ISO and Aperture will remain the same.

Set the ISO as low as possible. This will help keeping noise to a minimum.

Show your camera and how you set the ISO

Set the camera to Aperture Priority

Show your camera and how you set it to Aperture Priority

We are now going to measure the exposure required for the darkest and brightest parts of the room

Same screen as 10, with a "2. Spot metering" item added

To do that, switch your camera to spot metering mode

Show your camera and how you set it to spot metering mode

First, position the focus point over the darkest part of the room.

And read the shutter speed.

It reads Shutter1 sec.

Zoom in on a dark part of the interior and show the camera and its shutter speed reading

Then, go next to the window and position the focus point over the brightest part of the room.

And read the shutter speed.

It reads Shutter2 sec.

Zoom in on the window and show the camera and its shutter speed reading

You have now measured the exposure needed to see the room's interior well, and the exposure needed to see the view out of the window.

However, the difference in brightness between both is so large that you will need to take intermediary exposures to get a "smooth" image with the combined exposures.

It is easy to take the intermediary exposures if your camera offers Automatic Exposure Bracketing. However, it requires a bit of math to figure out how to set the normal exposure of the bracketed sets.

If you are like me and don't want to do the math, use the free online tool called HDR Exposure Calculator

Same screen as 10, with a "3. HDR Exposure Calculator" item added and below it "www.hdrsoft.com/ev" and presented it in a way that gives it a good visibility

You can access the tool by typing hdrsoft dot com slash ev in your browser

Show your iPhone and how you enter hdrsoft.com/ev in Safari

The exposure you measured for the darkest part of the room is Shutter1, so I enter that in the first field

Show the HDR Exposure Calculator and how you enter Shutter1

The exposure you measured for the window is Shutter2, so I enter Shutter2 in the second field

Show the HDR Exposure Calculator and how you enter Shutter2

As my camera can take up to AutoBracketedFrames, I set the Auto-bracketed Frames selection to AutoBracketedFrames

Then maximum number of auto-bracketed frames depends on your camera model

Show how you do that

As my camera can bracket exposures spaced by 2 EV, I leave the EV Spacing selection unchanged

The maximum EV spacing depends on your camera model. It is often 2 EV on Canon camera models, and often 1 EV on Nikon cameras

You can now tap on "Get Exposures"

Tap on "Get Exposures"

The sequences below assume that your camera can take 5 bracketed exposures spaced by 2 EV, AND that the measured shutter speeds only require one bracketed set of 5 photos at 2EV according to the HDR Exposure Calculator. If this assumption isn't possible, then the script will have to be adjusted accordingly.

The HDR Exposure Calculator tells that I need one bracketed set with NormalExposure as shutter speed.

Show the results generated by the HDR Exposure Calculator.

To use Automatic Exposure Bracketing, switch the camera to Manual Mode first

Show your camera and how you do that

Set the Shutter Speed to NormalExposure as given by the HDR Exposure Calculator

Show your camera and how you do that

Set your camera to Auto Exposure Bracketing

This camera is a YourCameraModel. [Describe what you do to set AEB on your camera]

Show your camera and how you do that

Set the EV spacing to +/- 2 EV if your camera supports it, otherwise to the highest EV spacing it supports.

[Describe what you do to set 2EV on your camera]

Show your camera and how you do that

Lastly, select the Continuous Shooting mode

Show your camera and how you do that

Everything is set up now, and you just need to press the shutter button

[Click sound from camera]

That was it! But I am a lucky guy because my camera only needed one bracketed set to capture this room

Show your camera and that you press the shutter button

If your camera cannot bracket more than 3 exposures at 2 EV, then the HDR Exposure Calculator will tell you to shoot two bracketed sets to capture this room.

For that, use a tripod to shoot the first bracketed set.

Once you have shot the first bracket, keep the camera on the tripod to set the shutter speed for the second bracketed set and to press the shutter button a second time.

Show your camera on a tripod and how you set and shoot the two bracketed sets

You have now taken the exposures necessary to capture both the room interior and the view

The rest is easy. Transfer the photos to your computer, and let Photomatix do its magic

Show your computer (Windows OS) and that you are inserting your camera drive

Then show your computer screen and that you open Photomatix Pro

If you shot both in JPEG and RAWs, then it is better to load the JPEG photos, as it produces more pleasant images in the natural style.

Show Photomatix Pro, zoom in on the Workflow Shortcuts, show that you click on 'Load Bracketed Photos', browse to the photos and click 'OK'

Check the alignment option, even if you used a tripod

Don't check the deghosting option

If you loaded RAW files, then check the noise reduction option

Show the Merge to HDR Options dialog, that you click on the Merge button and briefly show the progress bar (less than 1 sec)

Here is the merged HDR image. To make it easier to find presets intended for interior real estate photos, click the combo-box on top of the thumbnails list and select Architecture.

The Interior and Interior2 presets are particularly good at rendering the view out of the window while keeping a natural look.

Note that if you use Photomatix with photos of exterior, then use the preset named Natural, as the Interior preset doesn't work well for exterior shots.

Show the tonemapping/fusion windows with the Default preset selected and with the thumbnails listed on two columns

Zoom in on the preset panel and show that you select the Architecture category

Choose the Interior 2 preset and zoom out so that the preview shows

Once you have found a preset you like, you can use the settings on the left to further adjust the image

Zoom in on the Settings panel and change the Brightness slider, and/or the Saturation one, then zoom out so that the preview shows again

Once you have satisfied with your image, click on the Apply button on the bottom left

Zoom in on the Apply button, show that you click on it, then show the progress bar (around 1 sec) and then the final image with Finishing Touch panel.

You can use the Finishing Touch panel to add contrast or sharpening

Zoom in on the Finishing Touch panel, click on Sharpen and choose "Mild"

Click on the "Save Image" button to save your image

Show that you click on "Save Image" and that you save the image

If you haven't tried Photomatix Pro yet, you can download it from HDRsoft dot com

The trial is fully functional and doesn't expire. A watermark is added to the final image when Photomatix is in trial mode

Show the HDRsoft.com homepage, then that you click on Download, then on "More Info & Download", then on the download link and that it gets downloaded.