Above, using an HDR teqnique and stitching 16 of said HDR images together,
I was able to capture this beautiful moon-rising over the canyon.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Location, Location, Location!
Here, one of my favorite spots in America. This is actually the view I had from my tent that night as the moon rose over the valley. Monument Valley, Utah has got to be one of the most amazing, breathtaking views ever-- other than maybe the Grand Canyon. If you'd like to see the actual view I had from inside my tent, please go to the 'Pic of the Week' archive. Can't wait to get back to this beautiful spot of American countryside!!!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
When discussing HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging), it's probably best to start out with what the term 'Dynamic' means. 'Dynamic' - pertaining to or characterized by energy or effective action; vigorously active or forceful; energetic. So, you may translate this into the realm of photography by comparing the 'dynamic range' to how much the shadows and highlight areas of a given image can yield visible and quality information-- so the more shadow, mid-tone and highlight detail a photograph has, the more 'range' of information it shows, thus the higher 'dynamic range' it yields.
The common misconception most people have to HDR is they think, the only way to achieve such a shot is to take three or more separately exposed images and layer them. Once layered, you and your software can begin to decide how much from each exposure you choose to show, thus eventually bringing about a visual of extreme shadows and blown-out highlights with perfect detail and a more balanced exposure. The problem here is this: we as humans already see the world in HDR and 3D, so when a photograph is transferred to HDR, it usually is going to look fake and most people who try HDR always overdue it anyways. My problem with the layering style of HDR is, well, it is fake... In many cases it just seems like a cheat to not lighting your subject correctly or waiting for the right time of day.
When we speak of dynamic range in the realm of digital cameras we are talking about how much shadow to highlight information a digital sensor will capture. A 1.4crop Nikon sensor isn't a bad sensor, as it captures just as many megapixels as all the others. Were in comparison it lacks quality is the 'stops' of light it captures, where a full frame sensor would do a little better. A big reason why top-of-the-line photographers shoot with medium format digital camera isn't just because of the megapixels-- the sensors are much larger and thus can capture far better range of info between shadows and highlights.
So, to put everything into context: HDR can be a well-balanced-flash lit image, correctly balanced daylight (e.g. right time of day) for even lighting, multiple images layered together... or an extremely expensive and awesome medium/large format digital sensor. All these styles of photography yield a higher dynamic range of information than most standard snap-shots and thus constitute a HDRI (high-dynamic-range-image.)
The common misconception most people have to HDR is they think, the only way to achieve such a shot is to take three or more separately exposed images and layer them. Once layered, you and your software can begin to decide how much from each exposure you choose to show, thus eventually bringing about a visual of extreme shadows and blown-out highlights with perfect detail and a more balanced exposure. The problem here is this: we as humans already see the world in HDR and 3D, so when a photograph is transferred to HDR, it usually is going to look fake and most people who try HDR always overdue it anyways. My problem with the layering style of HDR is, well, it is fake... In many cases it just seems like a cheat to not lighting your subject correctly or waiting for the right time of day.
When we speak of dynamic range in the realm of digital cameras we are talking about how much shadow to highlight information a digital sensor will capture. A 1.4crop Nikon sensor isn't a bad sensor, as it captures just as many megapixels as all the others. Were in comparison it lacks quality is the 'stops' of light it captures, where a full frame sensor would do a little better. A big reason why top-of-the-line photographers shoot with medium format digital camera isn't just because of the megapixels-- the sensors are much larger and thus can capture far better range of info between shadows and highlights.
So, to put everything into context: HDR can be a well-balanced-flash lit image, correctly balanced daylight (e.g. right time of day) for even lighting, multiple images layered together... or an extremely expensive and awesome medium/large format digital sensor. All these styles of photography yield a higher dynamic range of information than most standard snap-shots and thus constitute a HDRI (high-dynamic-range-image.)
Yellowstone National Park
6:10am-- September 28, 2011
Nikon D90, 100 ISO, f/16
3 layered images each 2stops apart using shutter-speeds
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