Using HDR on a hay rake and house.


HDR stands for high dynamic range.  It is a method of capturing details in an image that would otherwise be lost due to there being too much or too little light.  HDR employs bracketed photos of a specific scene.  There are a number of ways to create an HDR image, but so far the best way is to do so manually rather than using a built-in camera function.

The above photo resulted from combining 5 images, each separated by a full stop.  The first was shot at 1/500th of a second and the last at 1/8000th of a second.  I altered the shutter speed and not the aperture to keep the depth of field the same.  The photos were done on a tripod to prevent ghosting.  It is possible to shoot such images handheld, but the end result is generally not as good.

There are a number of applications that can do this.  I have used Photomatix and Photoshop CC.  There are many sliders that you can adjust to alter the way the image looks.  The image can be processed to look relatively normal or incredibly alien with all possibilities in between.  I often like to make them look a little unusual, usually with some dramatic flare.  

Truthfully, I don't do these very often and I have a collection of images meant to be merged but never got to.  Mostly, I do it out of fun as I enjoy the process and often am pleased with the end result.  I find that I prefer a scene captured the way I saw it rather than through some creative software.  Once in a while, though, it is cool.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com




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