My first High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography Try

After reading some tutorials and trying different options I came up with my first basic HDR photo. In order to produce HDR image, you need to take multiple shots for the same scene with different exposure to capture the different level of lights of the scene as much as possible. usually three shots at (+2. 0, -2) stops are enough but taking more samples may produce better tones (but not sure) I took 5 shots (+2,+1,0,-1,-2) stops.

I followed below basic steps to come up with the final HDR image (although they can be extended to more advanced and detailed steps) but this is what I did in my first try:

1. You definitely need a Tripod with DSLR to take the photos as multiple shots for the scene are needed in different Exposures. Any movement can blur one of the shots and may cause problems later on in the post processing (although some software can correct that by using Alignments).
2. Set the Camera to Manual Mode. This is needed in order to fix the Aperture to get the preferred depth of field. F8 works fine but I set it to F22 to achieve greater DOF
3. Using different shutter speeds to achieve different Exposure. As you move the dial that change the shutter speed look at the exposure meter in the view finder or the LCD. Start with the correct exposure shot which means the meter should read 0 "center of the scale" then take the shot (remote control is preferred).
4. Repeat step (3) for the same aperture with different shutter speeds that results in Exposure stops of (+2, +1,-1,-2). below are the shots that I took they shows clearly the difference in exposure

5. Now the fun begins. After you transfer the pictures from the Camera you need to convert it to JPEG format (better than letting the HDR convert it automatically).
6. in order to produce HDR image you need a software, after searching the Internet and read reviews it seems the standard application for that is Photomatix Pro. Once you launch the application click on "Generate HDR Image" and drag the 5 images into the opened pop up screen then proceed (keep the default settings).
7. It will do the processing and produce the default image which looks way much better than the original without even any further tweaking. this is the first time I use the application so I tired to play withe slides and also tried the predefined presets and come up with the below HDR photos which looks nice as first time using this application. I LOVE IT. I'm using the trial version of Photomatix so the image contains watermark. for $99 definitely this software worth investing.