Experimenting with HDR Photos

In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.

I love taking pictures and more pictures and more pictures.

Obviously, I have quite a collection of them. I’ve “played” with editing the photos in all kinds of ways using many different software programs. However, I had forgotten all about the HDR method until we visited with the folks at Joshua Tree National Park. Julie mentioned that Mike needed a camera that he could take pictures in brackets because he enjoyed processing them in HDR. A couple years ago Dave (Shadowtracks) was experimenting with HDR and showed me a few photos he had worked with. After that I played with it for a while and then forgot all about it until a couple days ago.

HDR stands for “high dynamic range” imaging. Basically it requires bracketing a minimum of three photos of the same subject using different exposures and luminating between the dark and the lightest exposures. Several software programs are available for actually merging the layers and enhancing the photos into one very unique photo. Some are pretty complex and others only require a few little tweaks.

Check out the differences in the following I took of our current campsite and the area around the London Bridge. The lighting effects almost make the photo look like it was drawn instead of an actual photo.

I’ve had a lot of fun with the photos and now my camera’s default is set to bracket so you may be seeing a lot more of these photos. Other than that we moved into Lake Havasu and had intended on going to Oatman tomorrow. However, Duchess has been pretty sick today so we’ll probably put that trip off for a day or two until we’re sure she’s better.