Fotoviva Art Prints

You may have heard of HDR images before but what exactly are they and what purpose do they serve? Well let’s start with what it stands for – High Dynamic Range. Basically this is a technique that allows for a far greater dynamic range of exposures (i.e. a large range of values between light and dark areas) than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDR is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to the deepest shadows.

This effect is made by blending a minimum of 3 differently exposed images together to create the ideal exposure, which is more like the human eye would see it. There are various programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Photomatix which will help you automate the process as it can be quite difficult and time consuming doing it by hand using blending layers. There is still a lot of tweaking required as every picture requires different settings to achieve the desired result, so practice makes perfect.

With the rising popularity of digital cameras and easy to use desktop software, the term ‘HDR’ is now popularly used to refer to the process of tone mapping together with bracketed exposures of normal digital images, giving the end result a high, often exaggerated dynamic range. It is necessary to use a tripod for your bracketed exposures to ensure alignment and sharpness.

Searching through the net you will find wildly differing styles of HDR use with some images looking totally unrealistic with crazy colours and toning. On the other hand there are the serious photographers who use HDR to subtley enhance their pictures to create an image more akin to how the human eye would see the scene, rather than have to rely on filters to help improve the limitations of digital cameras’ sensors.

This HDR image of a sunset over a field of haybales was generated from 3 exposures using Photomatix Pro. It was then enhanced further with various Photoshop techniques. I have kept the HDR changes to a minimum to preserve the authentic appearance. Sunset images are a great topic for HDR as they have such a wide tonal range. Try attempting to create a similar result with one exposure and you will no doubt either end up with a washed out sky with a good exposed foreground or a nice sunset but no detail in the shadow areas such as the haybales. This hdr picture can be bought as a poster or canvas print from the Fotoviva Art Store.