High Dynamic Range

The human eye can see about 12 different exposures of light:

What is HDR?

But a camera only sees about 5 exposures:

What is HDR?

These 5 exposures are set by you (or the camera’s Auto mode!):

What is HDR?

These 5 exposures are set by you (or the camera’s Auto mode!):

What is HDR?

You can’t pick up the extreme detail in the shadows and highlights:

The Problem

You can’t pick up the extreme detail in the shadows and highlights:

The Problem

Too Far Apart!

Take three photos at different exposures:

The Solution

Take two or more photos at different exposures:

The Solution

Take two or more photos at different exposures:

The Solution

Take two or more photos at different exposures:

The Solution

Take two or more photos at different exposures:

The Solution

All 12 ‘Exposures’ Covered

Take two or more photos at different exposures:

The Solution

There is a way to get the same result using a single RAW photo – but that’s for

another day

Then Photoshop them together

Then Photoshop them together

Dead Easy!

BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM…

True HDR needs to use 281 trillion colours (16 bit)

To discourage professional photographers using PSE, Adobe limits it to a mere 16 million colours (8 bit)!

But luckily it can be faked…

Photoshop Elements GEEKALERT!

There’s free (and paid for) software that will do the job for you:

HDR Photomatix HDR Fusion …and others

…or use layers and blending modes in Photoshop…

Free HDR Software