Maximum Dynamic Range of 7D

[andythefilmer]

First time posting in this thread! I do lots of photography, and one thing I have always had a bit of trouble with is dynamic range. I do almost all my photography on my 7D with a 24-105 f4 lens. I run my RAW workflow through Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 followed by any other tweaks in PS CS5. What are some of the best ways to bring clipped highlights down and boost the shadows? I try bracketing if a shot is very drastic, but I like to be true and do single exposure when possible. Here are two shots I took today in Mammoth, CA. First one was HDR'd with three shots ±3 ev. Second was single exposure. Thanks for any help in advance!

Shot 1: http://bit.ly/pZi7le

Shot 2: http://bit.ly/qPphqv

 

[egproductions]

Multiple Shot HDRs aside, the best way to get the most out of your camera's dynamic range is in the camera:

Shoot at low ISOs to maximize dynamic range
Shoot RAW so you have more room to edit in post
Don't photography a blown out sky (against the sun) but rather shoot with the sun
If shooting against the sun, expose for it (the sky around it) and fill the foreground or you subject with flash
Try not to shoot mid day on a bright day. aside from this being very flat lighting, the sun doesn't have much atmosphere to go through and is at it's brightest causing very harsh contrast.

Essentially what you are trying to do is exposing for highlights and painting/balancing in shadows. When it's not possible to expose for both properly, shoot RAW and expose for the shadows and allow for the highlights to go 1 stop over exposed at most. Then in post you will bring down the master exposure until your highlights are perfection and then use a fill adjustment to open up the shadows. If you really want to get exteme with RAW adjustments, you can bring the exposure all the way down, bring the fill all the way up and then bring the brightness controls to where it looks good (you might then have to adjust the fill, exposure or contrast to make it look right)