Out of curiosity and in an effort to continue forward movement regarding my creative efforts I have been doing a little research and decided to learn some new technology regarding HDR photography.
HDR or High Dynamic Range photography is a post processing activity that combines a number of images with different contrast ratios that are unfeasible to complete with just one exposure. Usually you take three photos of the same scene at different shutter speeds and then combine them into one image. I have also tried this simply by bracketing, adjusting the exposure settings to plus one stop your normal exposure and minus one stop.
So you get three images, one overexposed, one for midtones and then one underexposed. These are combined with software, I used Photoshop CS3. This process gives you details in both highlights and shadows that are joined with the medium or normal exposure giving you results that seem to be more accurate to what your eyes actually perceived at the scene.
What I found in working out the process is that it can work great for some images and not so much for others. My first attempts looked fake and artificial. The colors were exaggerated to the point that the scenic landscape I was working on looked gaudy.
However, when the HDR process really worked the image was much more suggestive of what I actually saw when I tripped the shutter on location. Shadow details were crisp and clear and the highlight information was bright and smooth. The final print represented what was much closer to actually being there and what I saw.
I have included a couple of examples of what I found in this post for your review.
Normal range image – Blackeyed Susans
High Dynamic Range image – Blackeyed Susans
Normal range image – Elephant Brothers
High Dynamic Range image – Elephant Brothers
There are many HDR software applications out there along with numerous books and tutorials on how to apply the process. Like most things, this is just another tool that you can apply to your visual interpretations. It is always good to learn and experiment. See what works for your style of photography.
I like the distinguishing details HDR portrays and as long as the colors are not overstated I’ll continue to have this method in my arsenal and use it to interpret different scenes and express my creativity. I encourage you to take a look at the HDR practice. It is definitely worth the time and effort.
(All photographs used in this entry are copyrighted by Wayne Scherr, Range of Vision Photography, 2011, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any kind is prohibited. Images are available for purchase, go to website below)
