High Dynamic Range. Cameras 'see', and can cope with, a far more limited range of light than the human eye/brain, so cannot process extremes of lightness (which it tends to burn out) and darkness (so details get lost in the shadows) at the same time. HDR software enables you to use both ends of the range and combine them into one picture. This means that you can see all the details in the dark areas and the light areas. It can also be used 'artistically', as you'll see by some of the photos in this thread and elsewhere in this forum. Normally, you would use two or more photos, taken at different exposures, then combine the best of both. However, a 'cheat' can be done, by manipulating RAW images (which are effectively digital negatives that haven't been processed in the camera) but are only normally available with digital SLR cameras, and not little compacts.
I took this one in last weeks snow, it was a great scene for a HDR shot because of the sheer range of light levels in the frame. It's made of 3 seperate shots.
looking good, was that 3 separate photos and then made HDR? or one photo and then the EV levels adjusted?
That photo has been getting lots of good publicity on Flickr! I keep getting all the nice comments people make in my news thing I always find with HDR photos in Photomatix, everything light or white coloured comes out tinged yellow, regardless of the tweaking you do..
Yeh people on there seem to like it! It's 3 totally seperate captures combined using Photomatix, then tweaked (a fair bit) with Photoshop. I also find that Photomatix gives a bit of a yellow hue sometimes. Sliding the colour temperature a bit cooler will usually sort it. Or you can just leave it and pull the satuation out of the yellow range using Photoshop or something like that.
