HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a term used when speaking of images and image processing. In simple terms, it makes images look like they would if viewed through 3D glasses. The film industry uses HDR to create special effects. An HDR image has noticeable differences between the detail in the brightest or lightest area, and the detail in the shadow or darkest area. When Adobe incorporated the HDR capability into their flagship product, Photoshop, it opened up new doors for graphic artists, and film and video professionals.

Prior to the HDR feature in Photoshop, the recording capability of a camera limited a photographer's ability to capture, with one shot, the entire range of a scene's brightness details. The HDR Merge feature in Photoshop combines multiple exposure brackets into a single image to create an overall higher range of tonal detail. Photos produced using HDR have amazing detail in all areas of the image regardless of light and darkness, sometimes making them look surreal.

The two main sources of HDR imagery are computer renderings and merging of multiple photographs, the latter of which in turn are individually referred to as low dynamic range (LDR) or standard dynamic range (SDR) photographs.

Tone mapping techniques, which reduce overall contrast to facilitate display of HDR images on devices with lower dynamic range, can be applied to produce images with preserved or exaggerated local contrast for artistic effect.

Below are some examples of HDR found on the internet by un-named photographers...