Today’s post demonstrates my ongoing affair with HDR photography.  For those who don’t know, HDR is an acronym for “High Dynamic Range.”  (If you want to know more about HDR photography, my recommendation is visiting this site, The Golden Sieve, as Justin Kern presents a great explanation.)  My interest was piqued about this time last year when I first discovered this “dream-like” genre of imagery.  Since then, I have done some research, experimenting, and exploration into this new level of dynamic range (the high level).  Now, I would not consider myself “obsessed” nor would I suggest that I rely on HDR for the majority of my images, but I do believe that it adds a level of excitement to an image that may or may not have been possible otherwise.  Please see below.

Here is the original image – completely unprocessed.  It’s a nice picture, but I was looking for a little something more, due to my desire to produce some cool HDR imagery.  Two exposures and a lot of processing later, the second image was generated.

I have to admit – this was really only my second ever attempt at HDR, so the image is a little “gaudy” for my current tastes.  I was trying to create a WOW factor instead of refining/improving the photograph.  While I could have revisited the files last night and reprocessed to create a “better” picture, I think it’s only fair that I show you this image as I originally presented it.  Future posts will reveal my current “feel” for HDR so that you, the reader, can see my development as it relates to the purpose of HDR, in my opinion.

Instead of reprocessing last night, I did experiment with “black and whiting” the HDR image.  Just like any photograph, black and white doesn’t always “work.”  Sometimes, you NEED the color.  HDR is provides a greater amount light information resulting in better depth and a more complete image – like your eye actually saw it.  This usually requires color to set the HDR image apart from the “normal” image.  Although I don’t plan on turning many of my HDR pictures into black and white, I was happy with this result.