HDR (known also HDRI - High Dynamic Range Imaging) is a technique to get extraordinary photo in natural way. This technique allows to get a wider range of luminance between light and dark areas than a normal picture by the performance of a great range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to shadow. The most important point is “patience” !!! Because it consists to take pictures in the same position at the same place meanwhile the time is slipping away so you can create one unique photo with different lights of the day. Of course, you will have to work in post production after to get the final result. It means that after a shooting day, you will have to spend some times in front of your computer. |
One of the most important accessory to practice the HDR is a tripod. Like you can guess, staying on the same position during 5h, 8h... without it, it is not human !!!
Firstly because you need to shot the same spot all day.
Secondly you need to rest your arm, imagine staying like a statue and the only movement is your finger to press the shot button.
Thirdly pictures have to be taken without a single tremor, at least the less possible.
The other important thing is the food because spending either half day (morning to afternoon or afternoon to evening) or all day, I can guarantee you that boring won’t be your preoccupation but more the fact to be hungry.
When you have those main 3 factors (patience, tripod and food), it can only mean that you are ready. The next step is to choose the place you want to shot (avenue of big streets, a place of big buildings...) and the day time (morning, afternoon, evening...).
If you choose the morning, try to be before the sunrise because at this early time, you will have very nice colors and like you can guess, for the evening before the sunset. I will counsel you to be between 30min or 1h before so you will have time to settle yourself and configure your camera quietly. Take many shots as you can so during the post production, you will have a lot of choices. Each time there is a major changing light or if the sky has a particular effect, take the picture.
When done and you have enough photos with different times of the day from morning to afternoon, afternoon to evening, morning to evening or evening to morning, then it is time to go home and start to work in front of your computer to get the final result.
The morning and evening have a lot of variances of colors and many times, the sky is very beautiful but buildings are badly lighted by its natural light, that is why some pictures have to be taken during afternoon or very late in the morning or evening when the sunset or sunrise is not anymore. It will allow you to get this great range of luminance.
Using a photography program, select for example 2 pictures - you can choose more to work, there is no limit all depend of you and what you want to create. Picture 1 where the sky is very impressive with its colors, clouds... normally the sunrise or sunset one. Picture 2 where buildings are well lighted so that all details can be seen including the tiny ones... normally the afternoon one.
Now what are you going to do it is to copy (or cut) and paste... well first you have to select the element of course. If you don’t want to work with the original photos, I counsel you to do a copy or to create a new file where you are going to paste those copied elements – the sky from the picture 1 and the buildings from the picture 2 (if you work with the original or the copy, just replace the selected element).
This new file will have the final result with something particular – the intense and beautiful colors of the sky with the details of the urban environment, a great picture !!!
I counsel you to work with a copy of the originals because if you do something you don’t like or something wrong, you don’t loss them.
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