341. HDR

So I have been interested in creating some HDR (high dynamic range) images for some time. The basic principle is this. Using a tripod you take about 5 or so photographs that are exactly the same composition, but the exposures ranges from too dark to too light. The HDR software creates a composite - an image out of several images - using the details in the best of all exposures. So consider a sunset image. When you create an exposure that favors the colors rendered in the sky, the foreground is black, a total silhouette. Because the photographer makes several exposures in HDR for both the details in the shadows and the highlights, the composite combines the best of both worlds to construct an image of more range than a single image.

I have experimented with the HDR software a bunch of times and always ended up feeling let down. I thought I didn't expose the source photographs properly. In Death Valley I was careful to make the correct range of exposures, but again, crappy outcome with the Photoshop HDR software. In the end I created a simple composite of two images by hand and the result isn't half bad. I have seen some really outstanding images and just have to figure this out.