HDR PHOTOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC BLOG: 1. Create a blogpost explaining what the term HDR in photography means and ways to achieve successful results.2. After you explain term, read this article and post about one image that impresses you and why? (in the SAME blog)

ACADEMIC TARGET: Photograph 5 different exposures of a landscape (on Manual)

I. One at the perfect exposure, plus one and two stops underexposed and one and two stops

overexposed.

USE A TRIPOD for this! ♥♥

II.Save images in a folder and open Photoshop>File>Automate>Merge to HDR Pro

III.Select your five landscape images and press ok. Photoshop will compile your images into

one HDR image.

IV. You will probably need to do more adjustments to make it more vibrant and saturated.

You should bring in cool clouds from the Internet to blend into your sky.

V. Upload to Digital Portfolio with a list of the 5 exposures you used to create the image.

Explain how you manipulated and edited the image to get your final image.

WHAT IS HDR PHOTOGRAPHY?

HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a post-processing task of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed.

An HDR image is commonly made by taking three photos of the same scene, each at different shutter speeds. The result is a bright, medium, and dark photo, based on the amount of light that got through the lens. A software process then combines all the

photos to bring details to the shadows and highlights both. This helps to achieve the same task in the final photograph that the human eye can accomplish on the scene.

Your images can have a greater impact on the viewer using HDR, if you are new to it, then you may notice a slightly different “look and feel” to the photographs.

You might consider that the way the human brain keeps track of imagery is not the same way your computer keeps track of picture files. There is not one aperture, shutter speed, etc. In fact, sometimes when you are in a beautiful place and you take photos — have you ever noticed when you get back and show them to people you have to say, “Well, you really had to be there.” Even great photographers with amazing cameras can only very rarely grab the scene exactly as they saw it. Cameras, by their basic-machine-nature, are very good at capturing “images”, lines, shadows, shapes — but they are not good at capturing a scene the way the mind remembers and maps it. When you are actually there on the scene, your eye travels back and forth, letting in more light in some areas, less light in others, and you create a “patchwork-quilt” of the scene. Furthermore, you will tie in many emotions and feelings into the imagery as well, and those get associated right there beside the scene. Now, you will find that as you explore the HDR process, that photos can start to evoke those deep memories and emotions in a more tangible way. It’s really a wonderful way of “tricking” your brain into experiencing much more than a normal photograph.

A List of The Best HDR Photographers and Photo Bloggers

HDR definitely falls into the category of “easy to do, difficult to master,” and this is made apparent by the abundance of bad HDR out there.

BEST HDR Photographers

Tim Clarke – Tim Clarke HDR. I stumbled upon Tim’s site through an HDR Spotting image, and was really impressed by the diversity of his photos, and intelligent use of HDR.  It never seemed like he went too overboard with it, but used it enough to make you give each photo a second look.

Ken Kaminesky – Ken Kaminesky Photography. When this post first went live, we had a few responses noting that we should check out this guy Ken. Extremely glad we did, because he has some of the most beautiful travel HDR photography we’ve come across. His images are extremely clear, and some of the most realistic HDR I’ve ever seen. Personally, I like that style much more than a lot of the surreal “HDR-looking” HDR shots, if that makes sense.  Anyway, highly recommend you take a look at Ken’s site.

HDR from Ken Kaminesky

Brian Matiash – Brian Matiash Photography. Brian was one of the first HDR photographers that really had an impact on me.  He has a gritty urban feel with a lot of his images, and he uses focus and depth of field in ways that are truly inspiring. Brian is also an editor for HDR Spotting (mentioned below) which is in my mind the best HDR community on the internet.  Be sure to take a look at his blog for a unique, and extremely impressive take on HDR.

Christopher Schoenbohm – Lost Man Project.  Christopher started this site document his travels in HDR.  He has some pretty spectacular photos utilizing color to it’s fullest, and shooting some really unique scenes from all over the world.  I particularly like the way he blends unique colors and night scenes, it’s very unique and highly effective.  Many of his latest posts have been from Colombia, which shed some light on a destination that many people overlook when thinking about their next exotic vacation.

Elia Locardi – Blame the Monkey: We first found out about Eli through our research for our HDR Tutorials post, and have been impressed with his skills ever since.  He has a good variety of styles, from a lot of very unique locations around the world.

Sean Ogle – Daily HDR was started as an amateurs guide to HDR photography.  There are a lot of professionals out there who are approaching the subject from a pretty intellectual level, that can be overwhelming for people who are just getting started.  Sean Ogle over at Daily HDR has put together a very simple ebook called Make Your Photos Not Suck: 50 Ways to Improve Your HDR Photography. It’s much less intense than some of the other products out there, but still provides some excellent information, and is well worth the cost of admission.