I’ve been curious to try experimenting with HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography for a long time now. The technique, which generally requires two or more photos of the same subject to be combined using photography software, can create some pretty surreal results.
To create an HDR photo, shots with different exposure levels are taken using a tripod to ensure that each picture has the exact same composition. Then, using software such as photomatix, each of the shots are combined and the “best” pixels from each of the exposures are used. In the overexposed shots the highlights (e.g., sky) will be washed out and white, but the shadows will have a wide range of contrast and color. Similarly, in the underexposed shots the shadows will be black and silhouetted, but the highlights will have a wide range of contrast and color. By combining the best pixels from a number of different exposures, you can achieve a result that would never be possible in a single shot using today’s camera technology.
So this summer I picked up a tripod, and tried putting together a few HDR shots on my road trip home. I used three exposures for each of these shots, and here’s what I came up with:
Zion National Park:
Great Smoky Mountain National Park:
Great Sand Dune National Park:
Rocky Mountain National Park:
