Light, Shadow, Form, and Texture

Those of you who received my newsletter a few days ago received the information about my upcoming High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) workshop coming up in September. Details on the workshop including online registration is on my web site.

High dynamic range imaging is not just another special effect technique. It allows the photographer to capture and display the full range of luminance in a scene. The latest software tools allow you to process the images to look completely natural, yet reproducing full detail in shadow areas without blowing out the highlights. It’s not about altering reality (unless you want to) but it’s actually about reproducing a scene in the full range of luminance that you can see with your eyes. On the other hand, you can introduce a great variety of different looks to an image. It’s really only limited by your imagination.

For those who are not all that familiar with HDR, I’ve assembled a group of images on my new SmugMug gallery that illustrate the range of treatments that are possible with HDR Imaging.

You can see that there is a range of effects from very natural – no real indication that it is HDR – to a “painterly” effect to a highly processed “grunge” effect. In some cases the goal was a natural look with a slightly “painterly” feel. In other cases the “painterly” effect is more pronounced. The point is that the HDR software along with Photoshop gives a wide range of control over how your image will ultimately look.

After taking my workshop, you will be able to capture HDR images and process them to whatever level of effect is right for your particular images. Please contact me at sterlingimageswv (at) gmail (dot) com if you are interested in the workshop but have questions.

~ by Rsmith on August 23, 2009.

Posted in Photography, Upcoming Events