High Dynamic RangeBrowsing Flickr recently, I came across some high dynamic range images and was completely stunned. This is a techniques in which several photographs of the same scene are taken at different exposures to capture the fine detail in both the light and dark regions. Then using software such as Photomatix, these images are combined and tone-mapped to create one image. The new image contains perfect detail in both the light and dark areas (something your camera can't do on its own). It may sound simple, but the results can be stunning. I'm not sure how to explain it, but when you look at some of these images, they seem almost surreal. It's like your mind knows that something is amiss but can't quite pinpoint it. The image above is my first try at HDR. It's a shot of downtown Sacramento from across the river on the West Sacramento Riverwalk. I think it came out nice, though not quite surreal. If you really want to see some impressive HDR, check out these Flickr groups here, here and here.

Posted by Hey Paul   |   Wednesday, March 29, 2006