How to capture and compose an HDR shot

Moose

I was talking with a fellow D3100 owner over on my Facebook page and she was wondering how to capture and compose an HDR shot. I thought it would be beneficial to share our conversation with all of you...

Claudio's Question: I bought a D3100. Great camera but it doesn't have an auto bracketing for HDR photos. How can I perform HDR photos on it? Just on manual bracketing? Is there any other way?

Moose's Answer: You're correct, the D3100 doesn't have auto exposure bracketing. There are a couple other ways to capture and compose an HDR shot:

1) You can take a single RAW file and process it through Photomatix Pro which creates a nice looking HDR shot.

2) You can use Exposure Compensation (see page 81 of the manual) when shooting in Aperture Priority to take 3 to 5 pictures at varying levels of exposure (most common: -2, -1, 0, +1, +2). Then take these five images and process them through your favorite HDR program (like Photomatix). This is the best way to capture a truly dynamic HDR shot.