HDR Photography

HDR Photography is a technique for creating images which preserve detail in a greater range of lighting conditions than can be achieved using traditional means.

In the large HDR photograph below you can see how impressive the exposure range is as a result of using HDR photography – the central image at the top shows how a “normal” exposure might look in a scene like this – the sky has come out OK, if a little bright, and the trees are a little dark. By combining three pictures together with HDR Photography techniques, we end up with an image greater than the sum of its parts.

how a HDR picture is produced

With HDR Photography, by taking a darker picture and a lighter picture as well as the normal exposure and then combining them in software, you can create a composite image with the best of both worlds – see the vibrancy and detail produced in the final image, ending up with a photograph that really stands out.

Why HDR Photography comes in handy

If you have a scene with a greater range of bright and dark areas than your camera can faithfully reproduce, such as the example above, you basically have four options – three traditional methods, and HDR Photography:

  1. Choose the exposure time more carefully, so that the part of the scene you most care about is perfectly exposed (which will lead to a natural look, but probably either dark trees or a blown out sky)
  2. Use graduated filters to darken the sky so you can bring out the detail in the trees (normally this needs some editing afterwards to tweak brightness levels, as the horizon is rarely uniformly straight)
  3. Choose the location and time of day so that the light levels allow you to find an exposure that renders the scene in a pleasant way – usually around the “golden hour” in the evening or morning when the light is less harsh and contrasts lower (obviously dependant on time, direction of light etc)
  4. Use the techniques of HDR Photography to create a composite image – with these methods, you can end up with a natural looking image, or a highly stylized one, or anything in between, depending on the process and settings you use.

If you want to give HDR Photography a go, I’d recommend getting hold of Photomatix Pro. You can get 15% off using the code ‘DanNorcott’, or download a free trial.

A highly stylized, “Extreme” HDR Photograph:

This can be an amazing effect if you pull it off – but you run the danger of people saying “Hey! Nice HDR!” rather than “Hey! Nice photo!”

Extreme HDR Photograph of Holy Trinity Church, Barrow upon Soar

A softer, more natural example of HDR Photography

This wouldn’t obviously stand out as HDR photography, but would not have been possible without the technique (without a lot of tedious work in Photoshop)

Gentler HDR Photograph of Holy Trinity Church, Barrow upon Soar

Read around the pages in the nav to discover more about the different techniques of HDR Photography. Or jump straight to my HDR Software Tutorial site to learn my preferred method. Click here to read our HDR Press release.