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.
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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.