Category: Dynamic Range
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.
Preserving Highlights and Shadow Detail (Video)
Dynamic range is a topic that I have discussed here a lot. The reason for that is that it is really important to the outdoor photographer. You face the problem of a really bright sky and a dark foreground almost all the time. We’ve talked about dynamic range in the context of the camera, including… Continue reading Preserving Highlights and Shadow Detail (Video)
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
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
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
Creating Realistic HDR Photos Using Photomatix Pro
The idea of high dynamic range (HDR) photography is that you will take your set of bracketed photos and process them in a dedicated HDR program on your computer. When it comes time to do that processing, there is perhaps no more widely used program than Photomatix Pro. It costs $99 and operates as a… Continue reading Creating Realistic HDR Photos Using Photomatix Pro
An Introduction to HDR
Photographers have long struggled with how to include a broader range of tones in their photography. It has always been a huge issue – even going back to the film days – because the range of tones a camera can capture is much more limited than what our eye sees. We may see detail in… Continue reading An Introduction to HDR
The Quick Guide to Bracketing Your Photos
What is Bracketing? One of the ways to protect against a potential exposure problem or a dynamic range problem is by bracketing your photos. This is a photography technique where, instead of taking 1 picture, you take 3 or even 5 pictures of the exact same thing at different exposure levels. You start by taking… Continue reading The Quick Guide to Bracketing Your Photos
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)