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.

We found a useful independent website called Photoshop Tutorials which has a range of resources available if you are looking to improve your post processing technique. They have interesting tutorials on working with Photoshop to improve your pictures and create special effects for backgrounds, as well as showing how to create those professional looking shots that the real pros seem to make.

There is also a section on Photography skills which provides handy ideas for generating great photography before you throw it into Photoshop. In fact there is a whole wealth of information for the photographer who is looking to improve their work or find new resources. Speaking of which, head on over to the Photoshop Plugin Download area which has lots of hard to find additions to integrate into Photoshop.

They also have a new forum that is growing all the time, so if you are looking for a new place to discuss everything Photoshop sign up and start learning new skills.

UV Filters

Many photographers always use a UV Filter on their cameras, wherever they go. The reason being that not only do they absorb ultraviolet rays from the sun, give cleaner, sharper pictures with less haze, but it also protects the lens from dust, moisture, scratches, and breakage.

UV filters can be bought from shops such as Jessops for as little as £12.99. Well worth the cost considering without one to protect your lens you could end up paying hundreds of pounds for a brand new lens if you scratch it!

Shoot in RAW
One of the best things I have come across to help perfect your photos is to shoot in the RAW format rather than JPG. Some photographers would disagree and say you should get the shot right first time in camera without post processing on the computer, but I disagree. With RAW you can either make minor adjustments to make it perfect or drastic changes to give your image a different ‘feel’. Most of the pictures on fotoviva are taken in RAW mode.

If you have a point and click camera, chances are you won’t have the RAW option, but if you have a DSLR or bridge camera you should find it under your settings. You will also need a program such as Adobe Photoshop or some other image software that supports RAW files. Photoshop is one of the best and has some great features in the program.

So what is so good about RAW?
When shooting in standard JPG format your camera takes the settings and creates a jpg with them. With RAW your camera takes the settings but does not embed them into a file. It simply says “these are the settings you used, but feel free to change them to suit before finalising to jpg.

You can change the white balance, exposure, contrast, and many more settings. It’s well worth it to get that perfect result. But remember, it’s always best to try and get it as near to perfect as you can in the first place, rather than relying on with RAW settings.

You can find a great tutorial by Adobe here.