Dynamic imagery
Get to grips with all the HDR options in your Canon camera, plus HDR software advice
High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography often gets a hard time. Although popular 10 years ago, you’re just as likely to find photographers rolling their eyes at the mention of those three letters, as you are to find enthusiasts of HDR techniques. The problem is that HDR, when taken to extremes or used with subjects that don’t benefit from the effect, can be at best distracting, and at worst, ugly.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. HDR can be used to enhance images in ways that non-photographers wouldn’t be able to tell. And, with the rise of HDR TVS, there’s been renewed interest in this art.
So what is HDR? It’s a technique for capturing more tonal detail throughout a shot, from the shadows to the highlights. The sensor inside your camera has a fixed dynamic range – let’s say 10 stops for example. Each stop is equivalent to double or half the light. So, as long as the difference in brightness between the darkest and brightest parts of the scene that you’re photographing falls within 10 stops, you can capture a full range of detail in one image.
If the dynamic range of the scene is wider than dynamic range of the sensor, then you’ll lose detail in the highlights or the shadows – or both. However, using HDR, you can create an image that captures a wider dynamic range of the scene. The technique requires a sequence of shots to be taken at different exposures in order to record details in all areas of the image, with the source images being blended together by the camera or in post.