Nerve Endings Firing Away

Lately, I have been experimenting with HDR photography. High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI or HDR) is a post-processing photography technique that allows for “a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques” [source]. This technique works great in bringing out the details and can be used in variety of light conditions. It best works on streetscapes and landscapes; you wouldn’t want to HDR people if you wish to still remain friends with them. HDR images do not always appear realistic but assume a surrealistic artistic feel yet look believable. The technique in creating an HDR image is first actually creating the HDR version which is kind of like, a negative for the final image, and then tone mapping that image to get the final result.

Although it sounds complex and makes you believe you need an illuminating engineering degree to create a HDR image, it is anything but. The basic steps are shooting three images with different exposures; one perfectly exposed, another underexposed, and another overexposed and merging the three. It is preferable to shoot in manual mode and shoot +/- 2 f-stops to acquire three images. If your camera is equipped with auto bracketing, this is done easily otherwise you’ve to manually adjust the exposures.

Thanks to Supremus who has been doing this much long than I have, I learned that you can do the over/under-exposure shots within Lightroom/Aperture/Photoshop instead of doing it in the field. I would still recommend using both techniques to see which results you like best although theoretically they should be the same. If you are shooting three images with a manual setting, use a tripod to avoid misaligned images and adjust exposure settings quickly to keep all three images as similar as possible with the exception of exposure. Supremus also pointed me out to an awesome stand-alone HDR & Tone Mapping tool that makes creating HDR images a walk in the park – PhotoMatix Pro – that imports your images and does the grunt work for you.

Whatever technique you use, once you start creating HDR images, you’ll be hooked and tempted to look at every landscape or streetscape photo through the HDR lens. Use it judiciously. Check out the HDR groups on Flickr for well executed ideas. I’m sharing the first attempts of my HDR foray below. The first two used three images I shot in the field and the other two are using one image with exposures adjusted in Aperture:

I hope to see your HDR photos if you go out and shoot some. If you’ve already been dabbling in HDR, feel free to offer any tips or better still, flaunt your photos.