What Is Your Favorite HDR Method & Post-Processing Software?

[DroneOnNDP]

Curious what everyone's favorite HDR method is:

• Camera settings: 3 shot / 5 shot / manual?
• How you set up your AC in the air: anything specific you do etc. to rock the shot?
• What's your favorite post-processing software?
• Anyone have an awesome workflow they'd like to share?

I typically like to shoot a 5 shot AEB, and have grown to really love Aurora HDR 2017. Sometimes the HDR processing inside of Lightroom works well too, but Aurora is much more customizable and powerful, though sort of overkill cuz you can spend an hour on a shot if you want to.

FWIW I personally loathe that the AEB on the Phantoms in the DJI Go 4 app only brackets by 0.7EV (1EV by default (and option to customize like a DSLR) would of course be ideal, and it's also annoying the ridiculous order they are taken in and show up in Photo Mechanic, Lightroom, etc (not darkest to lightest or vice versa). I'm used to bracketing a more useful +/- 1.0EV with 3-5 shots on my Nikon D810 and seeing the 0EV image in the middle in the software where it belongs.

Curious what everyone else is doing with their HDRs?!

 

[With The Birds]

I share your experience and find the .7EV bracketing limitation to be an seemingly unnecessary limitation and useless feature.

Where the dynamic range available exceeds the sensor capabilities I will manually shoot 2 or more frames and manually blend in photoshop. In rare occasions I will use the HDR capabilities of Lightroom, photomatix or photoshop and where that is my intent will acquire a three shot bracket at +/- 2 EV of 5 shot at +/- 1.5 EV. I have a preference to avoid the obvious HDR effect and almostb without exception can arrive at a more natural looking outcome with manual blending techniques.