A couple of years ago, I met a lovely young couple at
an arts & crafts show while back home. They have their own successful photography business, ArtPhotoSoul, and they quite beautifully capture the personalities of their clients creating wonderful memories for them.
They were very instrumental in encouraging me to pursue my love of photography and told me about the fairly new form (back then) of HDR imaging.
I had no idea what 'HDR photography' was so I did a little research and found out that it stands for High-Dynamic Range imagery.
What does that mean? In a nutshell, it basically means that you shoot a
series of three images, one is over-exposed, one normal and one is
under-exposed. Once you have your three shots then you merge or combine
the three images using special software therefore creating an image
that gives you all the tonal ranges that the naked eye can see but that a camera is limited in creating
in just one shot.
Which brings me to today.
I am currently living in land of many photo ops.
I don't know how long I'll be living in this area so I want to make the most of the photos that I shoot. But,there are so few picture perfect days, so to speak, for getting the best shots and since the shot I'm taking may be a once-in-a lifetime-shot I want it to be memorable.
The sun is very harsh here and the mountains appear to be shrouded in a constant haze making it difficult to get anything more than a silhouette of the mountains let alone any details of the mountain itself.
Anyhoo, I did some more research today and actually figured out how to set up the three consecutive shots with my camera so, of course, I had to try it to see if it worked!
I headed out back with my camera and tripod just before noon. It was windy with very few clouds in the sky and the mountains were a bit hazy.
I took my three shots and came back in to merge them in a free trial software program I found online. I had a lot of fun playing around with the settings and here are the results...
I'm really lovin' it!
The possibilities are endless. You can process your final image anywhere from realistic to surreal, from black & white to grungy!
I'm totally hooked and can't wait to play around with HDR photography some more!
Till next time,
6 comments:
Your photo is very dramatic, using your advanced techniques. I am a point and shoot gal myself :)
That does look good! After you make the HDR photo, then go back into Photoshop and play around with saturations. Try bringing up the blues and purples in the mountains and see if you can give them even more dramatic depth. Awesome - can't wait to play!
You really did well! Many people who attempt this technique over-process but not here. I have not tried HDR yet, but I will get around to it eventually.
I've not tried HDR (and don't have photoshop) but do enjoy experimenting with editing anyway. PicMonkey might be another option you would enjoy too. Whatever helps you capture the essence of what you see in your minds eye is worth a try.
Great picture and post. You have my curiosity and creative interest piqued! Thanks!
I am enjoying your blog.. wonderful photo editing..I'll be back..
Hugs
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