A brief intro to HDR photography

What is HDR? A high definition range photo is computed out of a set of regular photos with different exposure rates. In an optimal case, you have taken a series of 3 to 5 photos with different aperture value directly with you camera. When I took most of my photos, I was neither aware of HDR, nor about this feature of my camera.But even if you start with just two source images, one too dark

the other too light

then the combination can be an impressive new image as shown in the header above.

I use Apple Aperture as the host application for the Nik Collection. Its filter HDR Efex Pro 2 does the job of combining the images. It offers plenty of tuning sliders to create images from hyper-realistic to artistic.

> See more of my HDR image experiments

> Bremen at night

Nora – Snapseed Portraits by mprove

I am convinced that the Medium is the Message. For me it means that you perceive the world in terms of the tools and media you know, and what you have experienced until then. When we take photography for instance, your skills, the camera, the film, the objective have a fundamental influence on the subjective way how you take photos.

The darkrooms of the analog era have been replaced by Photoshop and recently by all the filter apps on mobile devices. It is quite remarkable that a quite banal photo can be turned into something special with a twist of a finger. In fact I prefer filter apps that offer more than just a set of predefined effects. I want to be in control, sort of. I want to have the options to express a certain mood while pushing the virtual buttons and slide the virtual throttles. And I want results that are still surprising and unique.

Now we’ve gone full circle. Because the images that resulted from prior use of the filters have an impact on the photos that you will take in the future.

Blue Harbor – Popsicolor Gallery by mprove

Red Nose – Snapseed Gallery by mprove

enjoy your life
– mprove photography