Exploring HDR (high dynamic range) photos seems to be gaining momentum in photographic circles, both professional and amateur. HDR images present overall tone values that match the what the human eye records. Almost all digital and film cameras compromise when it comes to registering the overall tonal range of a particular scene. Until HDR anyone who has ever taken a photo understands that all cameras are limited in how much they can record. HDR breaks those barriers and present images that look very close to how they actually appeared in real life. Yes, it is an emerging artistic format, and yes, as more an more people begin to experiment with the process it will become easier for the average digital photographer to produce consistent HDR pictures.
Unfortunalty, to create an HDR photo requires specialized software, Photoshop CS2, which has a built-in HDR assembler and Photomatix a dedicated HDR software are two popular choices. There are those that believe that Photoshop is the superior HDR engine. One of the reasons is that Photoshop sophisticated tone-mapping capabilities creates more realistic looking images.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
i’ve taken a few HDR photographs with a simple point and shoot camera, and used photomatix to process the images. Although the images were no where near the quality of more professionally made HDRs out there, it was still a fun and interesting experience that i encourage any serious or hobby photographer out there.
As the sample picture shows, most people totally overdo it and create, not realistic photos, but images that look like they were rendered or copied out of a video game. HDR is an interesting technology, but it should stay in the background.
photoshop cs2 being superior to photomatix ? hahaha no way… not at all, photomatix is still even superior to cs5, photomatix is specified for HDR only, photoshop is not, photomatix has but a lot more thought and options and effort into it, it has much more sophisticated tonemapping…
I’m sorry but I just don’t see the appeal of HDR photos. Sure they are artistic but most look like comic book images.