HDR (High Dynamic Range) + Sunsets = Wicked!
Written by 
timsdd on August 27th, 2008 in HDR - High Dynamic Range, Photography, Uncategorized.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) + Sunsets = Wicked!
HDR or High dynamic range imaging is a process whereby a photographer will take multiple exposures of the same image. They will expose that scene from the darkest to the lightest areas (anywhere from 1-7 exposures generally) and then combine all of those exposures into 1 HDR image. The results can be quite spectacular.
Have a look at the 7 HDR’s below I created from fairly ordinary sunsets. For comparision, at the very end of the post there is a contact sheet of 1 single image from each of the 7 HDR images.
I think you’ll agree that without HDR in most cases for the photos I took, these would be rather boring sunsets.
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom
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Stumble It!
| 3.1 (1 person) |
August 28th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
may I suggest you take a sunset picture every day, then put them in a 365 calender?
August 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
1) Great Idea
2) I would love to do it…
2a) BUT that would require 365 trips to a location as my house is certainly not that spot!
thanks for the idea
August 29th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
That is pretty impressive Tim. Is it my imagination or does their appear to be some overlapping of the clouds?
August 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
TY sir Sire.
Busted! You are exactly right, there is some cloud ghosting…therein lies the double-edged sword in regards to using multiple exposures for a scene that contains clouds like this. In the shor time it took for me to take 3-5 exposures, them clouds were movin’!!
There would be a couple ways around this,
1) use a single RAW file
2) blend the images by hand or at least the sky
Problems you’d incur,
1) using a single file, you’d introduce MUCH MORE noise into the photo. I heard the correlation whereby even if you shot the originals @ ISO100 – when you introduce the HDR it looks more like ISO400
2) you’d loose a lot for tonal range unless you were much more proficient in PS than I happen to be.
August 30th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
There is a simpler solution Tim, pick a day when the wind isn’t blowing, or I am just talking in the wind?
August 31st, 2008 at 7:25 pm
talking in the wind, blowing it out your A…ctually I just need to be faster taking the pics
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I reckon you have a few years ahead of you before you start slowing down mate.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
yes, not to mention the technology that is much faster today and to come!
September 9th, 2008 at 9:20 am
[...] is a follow up to HDR (High Dynamic Range) + Sunsets = Wicked!. Thanks to all the Stumblers, I got a good 300+ visits from S/U [...]
January 31st, 2009 at 8:26 am
Fantasic photos, I cant wait to have a go at some myself. It’s a bit cold in the UK at the moment and we have snow on the way so I might have to wait a while before I venture out with the camera.
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February 2nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
hey Jon thanks! I miss the snow for photos!! not all the other stuff associated with it though.
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