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Bodie HDR Interpretation

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HDR Photo of Bodie State Historic Park CA HDR (high dynamic range) imaging is a fun thing to play around with. You are meant to start with a set of photos of the same shot taken at different exposures, but I find that I get nice effects as in the photo to the left by just taking one photo, using Photoshop RAW processor to create two new copies of the image with a -2 and a +2 exposure value, and then using them and the original image as a set of three to process as an HDR image. You have to use software such as Photoshop or other software programs available for sale to combine the images into one. The highlights of the image are formed using the highlights in the underexposed image, the shadows are formed using the shadows in the overexposed image, and then blended with the correctly exposed image. The outcome is greater detail across the entire dynamic range: shadows, through midtones, to highlights.

In this photo the distant mountains and clouds give a great effect, almost like "sumi-e" or ink drawings.

This and other photos of Bodie can be viewed in the Bodie slideshow gallery or the static html Bodie gallery.

Update: Michael Ziegler who keeps an eye on my photoblog posts, added a comment below asking if I could post the original photo which I thought was a great idea, so here it is:

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Comments

Michael Ziegler said…
Hi John,
I am just beginning to learn about HDR photography, and I appreciate your explanations here. (I always wondered how they got those beautiful effects!)
Just for comparison, do you have a "regular" photo of the same scene? I would be curious as to how the original correctly exposed photo would look by comparison.
Really enjoying your weblog. Thanks for sharing with us!

Mike Z
http://myphotomemries.blogspot.com
June 7, 2008 at 6:18 AM
John Corney said…
Hi Mike,

Nice to hear from you again.

You know when I originally did this post I had thought of posting the original as well! It's a great idea, and I will do it as soon as I get a chance..

John
June 7, 2008 at 8:04 PM
John Corney said…
Hi Mike,

I presume you requested emails for follow-up comments. I have posted the original photo of this HDR version from Bodie.

Thanks,

John
June 10, 2008 at 9:29 PM
Michael Ziegler said…
Thanks for posting the original photo. It makes a great comparison of the technique. I just got back from a road trip from Washington state to Texas, and I took some photos that would do well with this idea. Can't wait to try my hand at it!
Mike Z
http://myphotomemries.blogspot.com
June 14, 2008 at 5:05 PM
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