GIMP HDR Tutorial – How to Merge Different Exposures With One Click (Video)

In this tutorial, we’ll be learning how to merge or blend different exposures to form a HDR (High Dynamic Range) shot in GIMP.

This will be done without using or having to download any plugin or script.

Link to the full online course on GIMP:

GIMP Photo Editing for Beginners

Here is the video:

Video Summary

This tutorial from Creative Pad Media demonstrates how to perform Exposure Blending (HDR) in GIMP to merge multiple exposures and achieve a balanced final image, especially for challenging scenes like real estate photography.

The Problem: Blown Highlights

Even with RAW files, it is often impossible to recover detail from heavily overblown highlights, such as the view through a window (“window pull”) or bright interior lights [01:19, 03:32].

The Solution: Merging Exposures

1. Preparation: Use a tripod to ensure two or more shots (one Overexposed for shadows and one Underexposed for highlights) are perfectly aligned [05:01, 05:34].
2. Layer Setup: Place the Underexposed (dark) image as a layer on top of the Overexposed (bright) image [04:50].
3. The One-Click Method (Luminosity Mask): * Right-click the top layer and select “Add Layer Mask”.
   • Choose the option “Grayscale copy of layer” [07:47].
   • GIMP automatically generates a mask based on the image’s brightness. White areas (the bright highlights) reveal the detail from the top layer, while black areas hide it to show the bright shadows from the bottom layer [08:21, 08:53].

Refining the Result

• Manual Painting: You can use a Paintbrush with white color on the layer mask to manually bring out more detail in specific areas, like lamps or window frames, that the automatic mask might have missed [09:24].
• New From Visible: Once satisfied with the blend, right-click and select “New from Visible” to merge the result into a single new layer for further editing, such as adjusting overall shadow and highlight levels [10:06, 10:24].