Photo Club

High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) can be both challenging and rewarding for the photographer. It can also be frustrating for the novice because it involves expertise in both the field as well as on the computer. This is because to do HDRI, you need to capture multiple shots of the same scene with some subtle differences in your exposure, then you have to put those images back together again on the computer to get the proper look.

The goal of Practical HDRI is to help you develop your eye with regard to this technology. While technically there is a lot of math potentially involved with HDRI, the author purposely stays away from it so that you will not be intimidated. Practical HDRI is 170 pages in length and covers eight chapters.

Chapter 1, "Cameras and Gear for High Dynamic Range Imaging," begins by talking about the kind of equipment that is needed for creating HDR images. Obviously, things like a DSLR camera and a tripod are recommended, as well as a large and fast memory card for recording the images. But also examined are the additional items such as the cable releases, lenses, and software that will help in image creation. Chapter 2, "Composition, Framing, and Exposure Basics," explains that HDRI is not a magic bullet that just fixes all problems. You still need to follow the basic rules of photography. Here you will learn about the basics of composition, framing and the rule of thirds.

Chapter 3, "Popular Breeds of Lenses for High Dynamic Range," now looks at the types of lenses that lend themselves to HDRI. Here you will see some of the breed specific tips for making the most of your lenses. Chapter 4, "Capturing Images for High Dynamic Range Imaging," now gets to the heart of HDRI; the exposure. In traditional photography, you would try to get the single best exposure, but now you will bracket your images to try to find a series of best exposures. In this chapter you will learn how to recognize the best opportunities for HDRI.

Chapter 5, "HDR Generation from your Bracketed Photos," takes on the challenge of, having bracketed your images, combining them into a HDRI image with the tonality and luminance range that is much greater than a traditional low-bit low, dynamic range image. Chapter 6, "Advance HDR Merging Techniques," will show you additional techniques to adjust to problems that you may encounter when working with HDRI. One of these problems is ghosting: where something gets into one of the bracketed images that should not have.