Next Level Bracketing (Video)

Bracketing is one of the most useful tools in digital photography.  In this video we go beyond auto exposure bracketing (AEB) to see how you can take control of the process to make your pictures even better.    

Uncompromising HDR

After using different kinds of HDR software over the years, I found that they all have certain strengths and weaknesses. Some of the software tends to produce a certain look in the picture, which I might not want. I have also found that how well the software performs varies from picture to picture. I might love the… Continue reading Uncompromising HDR

Solving Dynamic Range Problems In-Camera: The Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Other articles have addressed the common problem of the limited dynamic range of your camera and how to deal with it. This is a pervasive problem in outdoor photography because the sky is almost always brighter than the ground. The sun creates harsh shadows and contrasts. Your camera cannot handle the difference in tones. Other articles have… Continue reading Solving Dynamic Range Problems In-Camera: The Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Lightroom HDR

Example of a Lightroom HDR photo, using the same photos as used for our other HDR processing. It gets points for realism, but it is the worst HDR processing of any used.

If you already have Lightroom and you are not going to buy any other HDR software, you can still apply some HDR processing to your photos. Lightroom has a built in HDR feature. It is not talked about much because: it is not very good, and you have little control over the result. In fact,… Continue reading Lightroom HDR

Creating Realistic HDR Photos Using Photoshop

This is the same photo used in other HDR tutorials. This example shows it after it was tone mapped using Photoshop and a basic Lightroom edit.

You should not overlook using Photoshop to create HDR photos. First of all, it is software you likely already have,so it costs you nothing. Further, it does a really good job of tone mapping your pictures. In fact, perhaps the most realistic HDR photos are created using Photoshop. Tone mapping with Photoshop is extremely simple.… Continue reading Creating Realistic HDR Photos Using Photoshop

Understanding Dynamic Range (and Avoiding Blown Highlights and Black Shadows)

In digital photography, the concept of dynamic range refers to the difference in light intensities in the scene you are photographing. Think of a scale with something super-bright (like the sun) on one side and something very dark (like a closet with the lights off) on the other. Dynamic range refers to how much of this scale… Continue reading Understanding Dynamic Range (and Avoiding Blown Highlights and Black Shadows)