High Dynamic Range

HDR means ‘High Dynamic Range’. Using software you can create images with a more detail in the highlights and shadows than you can with a normal photo from today’s digital cameras.

One of the first things we learn as photographers is that our camera sees the world in a different way to us, especially in terms of its ability to capture the full tonal range of a scene. For example, we know that if we want to take a backlit portrait we will most likely need to overexpose the shot or risk our subject’s face being lost in shadow. We also know that this will blow out the highlight details in the background. Likewise, if we wish to photograph the same subject against the backdrop of a glorious sunset, we will probably need to reconcile ourselves to the subject appearing as nothing more than a silhouette.

It’s similar to the old technique of exposure blending. Taking the same photo with variable exposures – overexposed, correctly exposed and underexposed then merging them together.