HDR(High Dynamic Range) 101

HDR, or high dynamic range, is able to combine several images of one scene into one image to deliver a a lot higher level of detail.

Did you ever see a image of a landscape that seemed to incredibly realistic to be real? By this, we mean a photograph with an incredible amount of detail in various aspects, for example the shadows, highlights and midtones.

While it could be that there were ideal shooting conditions that day, it is much more likely that it is an HDR, or high dynamic range, image. HDR is usually described to layman as seeing more similar to the human eye. HDR imaging will combine several images of a single scene to try to overcome the limitations of exposure range of regular 1 shot photography. The final resulting image will probably have a whole lot more detail in its shadows, highlights and every other area of the image in between.

HDR imaging is become way more popular, and there are actually all types of software and websites specifically for this new technology. On Flickr, you will find more than 5,100 HDR members, and you can view about 25,000 HDR images now.

To make your own personal HDR images, you'll need the very popular HDR software from Photomatix, or you can work with the HDR features that are in Photoshop CS2 as well as Bridge.

You make an HDR picture by merging numerous exposures of a shot into an HDR source file that has 32 bits. You then tone map the results to give you an image where the light and contrast adjustments are employed on the HDR source image. This would give you a picture with tons of detail all through the tonal range. It is going to capture highlights and many shadows that would not be visible in a regular LDR shot.

Much depends on the source images for your HDR shot. However, you can achieve some remarkable results with HDR images that have remarkable detail.

You should know that when you are implementing HDR images, you are dealing with some very big files and plenty of time for processing. You are going to want a PC which is fast with a lot of RAM.

Doing HDR imaging means you have to use a bunch of files, do a bunch of steps and do a many things to the images. A lot of people will find it frustrating and confusing but it is well worth it to stick with it. The HDR images at the end can be stunning.