Realistic HDR Images

The winter can give us some excellent photographic opportunities; Dramatic sunrises and sunset, long shadows and lots of contrast. However, recently we have had a lot of what is referred to as flat light. That is the grey, dull daylight that seems to fade in and out quickly with very little inspiration to take pictures. That's not to say that flat light is a no-go, far from it. Using it correctly can add atmosphere and draw the viewer in. Having said that, I'm getting the winter blues and rather than sitting around waiting for some if the spring sunshine to arrive, I've been experimenting with High Dynamic Range photography in order to put some colour back into my world! I wanted to keep the images looking natural and taken in generally, good light levels. To the untrained eye you'd be forgiven for thinking they were the result of only one shutter release.

The images here have all been captured using a 'traditional' HDR method. That is, one under-exposed, one over-exposed and one at standard exposure. I have used a -1ev +1ev and 0ev setup in bracketing mode for these images. There are many (probably limitless) set-ups you can use to create an HDR image. Some people use up to 9 different exposures and various filters on top of that. It can create dramatic results but I wanted to keep these natural and just try and make the initial dull, flat, image into one that the viewer can connect with.

The morning light on the steeple was all the original single image had to offer. By using HDR it has improved the colour and contrast.

So what is the purpose of HDR? As our eyes move over a scene, they quite often make many adjustments. If you're looking toward the sun for instance, objects near to you will be very dark and not very detailed. But if you move your attention away from the direction of the sunlight and to the darker areas, your eye adjusts and then you can see the details in dark areas. HDR allows the full range of highlights and shadows to be displayed to the viewer at the same time. (see bottom image for an example of this) This quite often gives the photograph an 'other-worldly' feel. This is one of the reasons it has become so popular. Images can be created quite quickly and with fairly basic equipment and technical know-how.

I could see potential in this shot but even with a 'vivid' setting on the camera it lacked the impact the morning light commanded!

I'm currently using Lightroom for general processing and Photomatix for HDR. I like the way I can control the highlights and shadows detail in Photomatix and can generate, natural HDR or go for a more 'painted' feel with something that at first glance, does not look like a photograph at all (examples of extreme HDR to follow in another blog!) There are many other pieces of software and each has their strengths. It really depends on your personal preference.

The original image was quite nice but using HDR has allowed me to show you the scene as I 'saw' it.

I hope you enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of HDR. If you'd like more info, or have any questions, please get in touch. Comments are more than welcome. Check back soon for more blogs!

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