Like the Ocean

Couple of days back, while enjoying the lovely shots @ Flickr, I came across this. It really got me locked, to know more about, making this kind of shot.

In layman terms, HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a post processing method, by which it is possible to get the different lighting levels together, in a single shot (which other wise is not possible with a normal camera).

It is interesting to note that this technique is getting mainstream, though it was predominantly created for Computer Graphics and Digital Games.

HDR In Action

Consider the below three shots, that were taken @ different exposure. All three shots had the below EXIF (Only the Exposure was different)
Exposure time 1/60 s + F-number f/2.7 + Max. aperture value f/2.7

Exposure value 0.00 eV In this shot with normal exposure, one could see the things inside the room and also, though a bit washed out, could slightly see what is out side

Exposure value -2.00 eV This one with a -2 eV captures the outside scene, higher lighting) but the room gets more darker, one could not make out the things on the table

Exposure value +2.00 eV This one with a higher eV clearly captures the room, but the higher intense (out side) is totally washed out

The beauty of HDR is that using the above three different exposures, one could build (post process) to arrive at a shot like below.

It is interesting to note that the final (single) shot had clearly captured the coolness in the room (u could even note the table lamp glowing, the reflections on the shiny teak table, the crystal clear glasses, the details on the wall hanging) and the detail in the outside view (the construction happening, the river, mountains, buildings etc)

Click here to look at more of my HDR Samples
The Flickr HDR Group too has a great collection too.
Look out for further posts talking about the Tools required and the Actual Techniques of HDR and other Related Resources

Update :
Refer to this Post for Tools & Techniques on HDR
This one page summary on HDR is quiet informative

EDIT : U can access my Photography @ LikeTheOcean

Added a new static page that links invites you to login in to Flickr to have a look / comment and criticise on my photos.

I felt a pain in the neck whenever, I wanted to invite all my friends using Flickr’s inbuilt Invite Script, which incidentally allows only 3 invites at a time. I had always wanted a work around for this and Flickr did not seem to help on it (after posting on their forums). They are not ready to open this up, to avoid spamming on Flickr.

Anyways this is what I came up with. If you look at the arts section, clicking the photos / signup link would take you to Yahoo login page. Once you login with ur Yahoo ID (which eventually is the Yahoo ID, don’t u know Yahoo bought Flickr), you will be redirected to my photostream.

Then you can manually add me as you contact as you wish … If all this sounds complex, ignore it & Just Click This.

UR Comments / Criticisms / Feedbacks are very valuable, do leave a couple of them (either here or on the Flickr Site) :)

Note : Since this is not the normal way to invite ppl to Flickr, leave a comment here if there are any issues … like u get a ‘page not found’ sort of thing when u click on the link.