HDR Photos
Out of context: Reply #24
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- monospaced0
What we need to do is clarify what HDR photography actually is. Firstly, it is a way of creating an image that is closer to what the eye sees, which is a much Higher Dynamic Range than a monitor or film can produce.
When you take a traditional back lit photograph of your friend, then you exposure issues resulting in either a) silhouette of your friend with the background exposed or b) your friend well exposed with a blown out white background. The trick with HDR is to use the best of both situations.
If you manage to take multiple exposures—usually 3 or more, far exposures apart—of the same scene without moving the camera, you can merge them to create an image that seems to be a Higher Dynamic Range than would normally be possible. Of course, the final image falls within the range of what a monitor is capable of and the result can often look fake, which it is, kinda.
A good HDR image is subtle and looks great. So many people have no idea what it means at all and have gone through great lengths with Photoshop to create faux HDR images and have tarnished the technique's street cred.
The best way to spot these fakes is to look for a moving object. It's already hard enough to get three images of the same thing without the smallest movement (wind in the trees, etc) making them slightly different, but a bird in flight just won't happen. When merging the images it's very important that they line up pixel for pixel.
So, knowing this you'll quickly notice that most of what people post as HDR is usually just a blurry Overlay and this and that filter applied to a cheesy photo. RAW images capture a wide range allowing for exposure corrections, but not usually far enough apart to create a true HDR image either.
Sorry for ranting.
- i've done motion at distance with ok results. also depends on how fast your camera can fire off 3 shotsacescence
- More about how fast you can change your shutter speed, without moving the camera, before taking the next shot.monospaced