Ever seen a beautiful sunset and grad the camera to capture the award winning shot, only to find disappointment at the photo lab counter, or in front of the computer screen??
Or maybe a dark storm was rolling in over a bright afternoon sunshine, and the dark contrasting with the bright moved you to snap a shot, but felt like you were a terrible photographer because your exposure sucked? Or maybe you just blamed it on your point and shoot camera?
Well its frustrating finding the perfect exposure in photography.
And unfortunately cameras meter for light in such a way that in some cases is very difficult almost impossible to represent the scene you actually experience with your eyes. Simply, a mechanical lens is just not capable of adapting to wide ranges of light, the way an eye can.
Hi-Dynamic Range photography is a way to collage multiple photographs into a more realistic atmosphere. The key is to "bracket", or take sequential photographs using various exposure settings. If you expose for the darkest shadow for one photograph, and expose for the brightest highlight in another, and perhaps a third or fourth image taken somewhere in between, you can collage the tones and construct an image with a much wider tonal range.
Often times you will see examples of HDR images pushed to the max, and the images seem surreal, almost fake and color saturated. Although HDR photos can have a stunning and electrifying effect, they can also be a very practical method for shooting in any mixed light.
For instance, Taking a portrait in front of a window, which is usually a nightmare if it is sunny outside.
So i've know about the process for a long time, and today I have finally sat down, devoted the time and put one together. It takes some time and a decent knowledge of photography, but I am convinced it is something anyone can learn how to do within a few hours.
Check out my results:
Click the image to enlarge. The top three are the original source photos, and as you can see no exposure captures the whole scene, the bottom image is the Collaged HDR image!
NEAT! huh?
