As stated before, High Dynamic Range really means that the photograph has “more” to it that what a single photograph has. It’s a process that lets the photograph function more like the human eye than a camera. For example, a single photograph taken a fixed f-stop and shutter speed  will only expose a certain amount of light. Ever taken a photograph of someone outside where they are all dark but the background came out perfect? Or the person is perfect, but the background is all blown out? That’s because you camera chose to expose one or the other perfectly. It can’t do both. Camera lenses and sensor/film don’t perceive light like humans who, to an extent, can see both light and dark area at the same time (and no it’s not because we have to eyes).

What HDR does is allow us to take the same photograph taken at different exposure levels and merge them into one. Some are underexposed to bring detail into area that are normally blown out. And some are over exposed to bring detail out of areas that are usually too dark. Thus it allow a more “even” photo across the board with greater detail that may have otherwise been lost in a single photograph. This is the explanation of HDR in it’s simplest form, so if there are any Negative Nacies out there, I really don’t care if it’s “more complicated than that.” I’m not writing a book on it, which I’m sure there are.

Either way, I used a program called Photomatrix Pro (you can buy it online) to combine my photographs taken at different exposures. Usually this means you will need a tripod and your subjects need not be moving quickly. This usually mean taken 3-5 bracketed exposures. 5 exposures for example would be:  -2 e.v. , -1 e.v. , 0 , +1 e.v. +2 e.v.

I however, cheat. Most hard-core HDR enthusiast would probably not condone this, but I’m pretty sick of stuck-up photographers saying what is and isn’t right.

I take a single photograph shot in RAW (if you have a DSLR, you should definitely always use this as long as you have a program to handle and convert the files i.e. Photoshop or Lightroom. Why you ask? That’s another post.) I then create 2 additional copies of it. I brighten one (exposing it more) and darken the other (underexposing it). I then feed the three photographs into Photomatrix and start playing. I use Lightroom 2 for all of that and Photomatrix has a plug-in for Lightroom to export photos right to it. It’s awesome.

While the photographs below were really made more for fun and some are very intense, I’ve been using the process to an extent for some interior and exterior building photographs I’ve been doing for a client and it works wonders to really showcase the spaces.

That was probably more information than most people reading this wanted. Oh well! If you are interested in it or have any questions about HDR photography then leave a message in the comments or shoot me an email. There are also a billion websites out there that explain it and have cool examples to look at. Enjoy.

Also, I apologize for putting “watermarks” (or watermarx?!) on the photos. But my web analytics continue show me that people downloading them (which is flattering no doubt and I’m happy to let them) but no one except a few people leave me any comments. That sounds really lame- like I want attention, but it’s more along the lines that I need to protect what is mine. It’s a sticky and sensitive subject and even my photography friends have mixed feeling about putting a little watermark on their photos. But my website doesn’t allow me to disable downloading, and while Flickr allows me to disable downloading, I like to put my photographs up on my own website first rather than Flickr alone to showcase my photos.

I think on my next post I’ll do some HDR photos with my Photomatrix 4 software. Any interest in that?

This warmer weather has gotten me a bit excited for the things to come. Like flowers in the garden and butterflies. Here are some more photos from my vast collection. These were taken during the summer of 2008.

One other thing- feel free to download these photos if you’d like for your own personal enjoyment. However, I ask that you leave a comment or shoot me a tweet/wallpost in return. Either to comment on the photos and post, or just say Hi. I hate to be a butthead, but I see people download my photos a lot (I keep webstats and it tells me what files are downloaded) but no one ever says anything! They just get taken- sadness. So I hope you’ll leave a comment on this or other posts. It gets lonely on this side of the internets! Thanks.

I took these photos a few years ago at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum. Well, I guess it used to be a museum- and in a way it still is I suppose. However it felt more like a grave yard. A place where old streetcars go to die as the newer train engines pass on the track overhead. A place where memories of a golden age where steel giants ruled the streets.