Photography Lesson-HDR

.
Have you heard of HDR?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range Imaging, and supposedly, it's a way to allow you to manipulate a photo to give you a more realistic looking image. The idea is that you can see into the shadows (as the eye does) and colors are more lifelike.

That said, most HDR images that I see are pretty unrealistic looking, but not in a bad way. I like the look, and that has led me to play around with it a bit.

I really like to shoot straight into the sun. I know this is a no no. I know I'll get all kinds of artifacts, but I don't care. I like the effect.

This shot was taken outside of Capitol Reef.
The aspens were glorious,
as was the entire day.
Prior to working on it in the computer,
the whole shot was washed out,
but HDR takes the shot to a whole new level.

This was taken later the same day.
HDR brings out the details in the clouds.

Again, Capitol Reef.
This is the kind of shot that's perfect for HDR.
When you get back in these canyons,
the cliffs are bright as day
but in photographs,
the shadows are black as night.
HDR allows you to see the entire image.

Another example
of HDR and shadows.

This is a different kind of shot entirely.
Here, HDR intensifies the whole scene

Here, thanks to HDR,
you not only see the background,
but the detail in the tree
that frames the shot.

Another similar shot.

So now you can at least say you sort of know what someone is talking about when they mention HDR. It doesn't always look realistic, but I think it's an interesting artistic choice.

*__*__*__*__*__*__*__*__*

On another note, today, as I was going through the mountains of stuff in the house, I found my very first digital camera. Wow, what a trip that was.

It's a Kodak DC40, purchased sometime around 1995 for, I believe, something like $800. And it was a true miracle machine. It weighed a full pound and held a whopping 48 pictures. It still seems to be working, but you need to connect it to a computer with a serial port, which has sort of gone the way of the dodo bird.

Now, I do have 4 or 5 old computers lying around, and if I wanted to spend days trying to get them up and running, and find the proper software, and all the cables, I might take it out for a few shots.

Or maybe not.

As to Thanksgiving, we've about decided to have a small dinner with just the two of us. Then, weather permitting, we'll take a drive down to the beach, take a long walk and try to take a few pictures.