Back in September, I briefly talked about HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. Just to reiterate on what HDR photography is, it's basically taking photos at different exposures and combining/merging them into one image. The end result is an image that is often exagerated and surreal. Here are examples of some beautiful images I found that use HDR techniques:
Aren't these pictures incredible? HDR makes all of the bright and dark colors stand out more. When doing HDR, I think that if you capture a photo with clouds present, it tends to make your picture look 10 times better. There are many programs that make it easy for you to produce HDR photos. I am almost certain that all versions of Adobe Photoshop (CS2 or later) has features that allow you to create such images. Personally, I have never used the features in Photoshop to create HDR images. However, I have used a program called Photomatix. Photomatix is a simple program that is actually designed specifically to create HDR images. I highly recommend this program if you are just learning. Here is my first attempt at creating an HDR image using Photomatix:
Obviously it's not as fine tuned as the pictures above. However, you can definitely tell that it's not a photograph taken from a regular camera. In this photo, I took a total of 5 photos at different exposures ranging from lowest to highest. The challenge is to change the exposure settings on the camera without moving the actual camera. You want the position of the images to all be identical. Ideally, you will need a tripod and a remote to control the camera, which I did not have. The cool thing about Photomatix is that if your photos aren't aligned correctly, it will automatically align it for you. I'm pretty sure you can do this in photoshop as well but I haven't had the chance to test it. That may be my next project. Not bad for my first attempt right?
I personally love HDR photography. However, there are those that hate the whole idea. The hardcore photographers who love doing things the old fashion way will say that all that is needed to get a good photograph is to adjust the sharpness, contrast, and brightness. Personally, I think you cannot compare HDR photography to traditional photography. They both require different techniques to achieve results. I think traditional photography is capturing an image exactly the way it looks in reality. HDR is an abstract image that looks surreal and almost cartoonish. They are two different animals.
Obviously it's not as fine tuned as the pictures above. However, you can definitely tell that it's not a photograph taken from a regular camera. In this photo, I took a total of 5 photos at different exposures ranging from lowest to highest. The challenge is to change the exposure settings on the camera without moving the actual camera. You want the position of the images to all be identical. Ideally, you will need a tripod and a remote to control the camera, which I did not have. The cool thing about Photomatix is that if your photos aren't aligned correctly, it will automatically align it for you. I'm pretty sure you can do this in photoshop as well but I haven't had the chance to test it. That may be my next project. Not bad for my first attempt right?
I personally love HDR photography. However, there are those that hate the whole idea. The hardcore photographers who love doing things the old fashion way will say that all that is needed to get a good photograph is to adjust the sharpness, contrast, and brightness. Personally, I think you cannot compare HDR photography to traditional photography. They both require different techniques to achieve results. I think traditional photography is capturing an image exactly the way it looks in reality. HDR is an abstract image that looks surreal and almost cartoonish. They are two different animals.
