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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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Adjusting Levels and Curves with Photoshop

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When I was working with this photo of the sunset over the Grand Canyon last night, I realized that it was a perfect photo to demonstrate the power of the two quick Photoshop adjustments that improve almost any photo. They are adjusting the levels and curves. Almost all photos benefit from an adjustment to both of these elements. I opened the photo of the sunset which I shot using Canon's raw format (CR2). A "raw" file is actually not an image file; it's a data file that has to be opened with a program that can read it and process it as an image file. Photoshop has plug-ins for handling the raw files for all the common brands of cameras. Here's the before and after of the image: The original unadjusted photo has an orange cast. A lot of photos have casts, and especially wide-angle landscape photos. You can think of the cast as something like a colored mesh or filter over the entire surface of the photo. Adjusting levels will remove the color cast. So let's sta...
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Samoan Youth

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This young man was preparing with his friends for his moment of fame on the stage at the Samoan Village at the Polynesian dance festival called Pasifika in Auckland in March this year. Samoan Youth Canon EOS 20D 1/30sec at f/20 ISO 200 Canon 70-300mm lens at 300mm
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Taking Photos in RAW DNG Format with Mobile Devices

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Note: This post was originally published on January 16, 2017, as the second part of a three-part series on RAW format mobile photography. Some details — particularly the apps' feature sets, Android versions, and the state of mobile RAW photography — have changed considerably since then. I've left the original text in place as a record of where things stood at the time. Following on from yesterday's post ( What is RAW photography format? ), today I am going to share with you some ways you can take RAW DNG (digital negative) files using an Android device such as a smartphone or tablet. Currently I am using a Google Pixel XL smartphone running on Android 7.1.1 (Nougat). If you haven't yet read yesterday's post, I recommend that you take the time to do so to give you an understanding of the advantages of taking your photos in RAW format. Android Apps That Allow You to Take Photos in RAW Format Currently, these are the two apps I use on my Google Pixel XL ...
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