HDR Photography: What is it?

Wikipedia defines HDR photography as “high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) and is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight.”

In a nutshell, it means taking a photograph, with three or four different exposures, and using Adobe Photoshop or special HDR software to layer them, giving you a far more vivid picture than you would have had with just one exposure of the same scene.

Above you see the four images at varying F-stops.

Here below is the compiled HDR image.

As you can see from this image, it is an almost magical effect, giving us a far more accurate scene than a simple single exposure image, and in fact I suspect it is far more detailed than our naked eyes can see.

To produce beautiful HDR images is quite a technique to perfect almost more science than art form, but if you can get it right, you will be rewarded with really special images that will take your photography to a whole different level.

Here is another example of HDR photography by someone who has mastered the art. Philip Johnson of Australia. You can view more of his artworks after the jump.

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