Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography

by Ferrell McCollough

It s the latest and hottest technique, made possible only through digital. High Dynamic Range photography is the process of taking several pictures of a scene at various exposures, then merging them... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1600591965
• ISBN13: 9781600591969
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Lark Books (NC)
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.6" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent HDR Instructions

I have been looking for a book that gets right to the heart of HDR photography. I have read several books on the subject or what was to have been on the subject only to find out there was very little actual HDR instructions in these books. I decided to try one more when I bought this book, and I wish I would have bought it first. This book in very informative on all aspects of HDR photography and is not an introduction to photography like some of the others I read. If your interested at all in this type of photography and you want full and complete instructions, this is the book to buy. Excellent study book, and the photos inside are really beautiful. This book has ignited a very very deep interest in me to get out and start using the techniques explained. Get this Book

Seeing More

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography presents an opportunity to capture pictures that look more like the real world. Even though this book is not perfect, the subject is important enough for serious photographers to take the time to read the book and experiment with the technique. Because the range of light that the human eye can see is far greater than what cameras can photograph, it's not uncommon for photographs to show impenetrable shadows or burnt out highlights where the human eye saw detail. Photographers have had some success ameliorating the condition with things like levels and merging and masking in Photoshop. Now HDR promises to extend the light range a great deal further. After an overview of HDR photography, the author discusses methods of capturing images for HDR processing. He next presents a discussion of two major tools of HDR photography, merging and tone mapping, and then describes the processing of an image in one of the HDR programs, Photomatix Pro. Next he describes the HDR programs available (including Photoshop's apparently second-rate facility) and compares the results of the different programs using several images. The book then discusses post processing of the HDR image, and provides additional tips on making the original capture. The author finishes up by describing special techniques like flash merging, panoramas and single image HDR processing. Sprinkled throughout the book are the portfolios of several HDR artists. Because I found it difficult to grasp the processing techniques just from the written word, I downloaded trial versions of some of the available HDR programs, and I prepared a set of photographs with different exposure values to use whenever McCollough suggested a particular technique. Even though I felt that McCollough could have given more explicit instructions on the use of the various converters, I was able to create images that demonstrated a far greater range of light then any individual image I had captured, or then images that I was able to adjust in Photoshop. Because our eyes have become accustomed to the limited range of standard photographs, many of the author's photographs appeared to be too vivid, although when I considered the sample HDR images I had created, I realized that they seemed to reflect the actual light values I had seen when taking the pictures. On the other hand McCollough has no objection to pushing the range of light beyond what the human eye can see to create surrealistic pictures for artistic impact. I wish that, rather then providing a step-by-step explanation of processing of an image in Photomatix Pro, the author had provided an actual tutorial that the reader could follow on his or her own computer, using downloaded images that the author provided. I guess I really want a book called "the Complete Guide to Photomatix Pro". On the other hand I would also have liked to see full demonstrations of the other available software, similar to the demonstration

A Few Steps Further

I have been trying to learn HDR for the past 6 months using mainly online tutorials. This is the first book I have purchased or read on the subject. Without going into too much scientific detail the author gives a great understanding on what HDR is all about. He gives great background info on why HDR is needed, what causes noise in digital photos and a lot of information you might or might not want before he ever gets into the how-to-do part of HDR. He also compares the different programs available for HDR processing and the strengths and weakness of each program. Once he gets into the actual HDR part, he gives you pretty much all the information you might need to produce great HDR photos. He shows examples and explains how to get both 'realistic' and 'artistic' photos. He also shows what kind of problems you might incur with different types of scenes and how to approach and correct the problems you might encounter. He also shows how to do HDR-type processing from single images(although he says it won't get you the same 'true' HDR results. He covers many areas in which you can use HDR, including interior home photography, or, color gels, and a new technique he developed called 'flash merging', which is shooting multiple images using your flash and making an HDR photo from that. I personally think learning this new 'flash merging' technique is worth the price of the book alone. There are also some samples from great HDR photographers (but those are mainly for inspiration on what can be done, and don't offer much in the way of how-to's). If you are new to HDR and want to learn how its done, from analyzing scenes before your first image is ever captured in the camera, all the way through to final image, of if you have been doing it for a while and want to learn how to approach problem areas that are keeping your HDR photos from looking like the pros (like noise in your clouds and dark areas) then this book would be a great investment....and it's at a great price. ByronT....Tulsa, Ok

HDR must have!

HDR photography solves one problem with digital photography, the inability to record an extended tonal range that captures detail in the shadows while preserving it in the highlights. Most fussing with histograms, contrast, and post-processing is simply a compromise. The techniques explored in this book can truly extend the dynamic range of your photographs, and the author provides solid advice on how to apply this tricky process. You'll find step by step instructions for capturing the dynamic range of any scene, using features found in virtually every digital camera. The photographs used as illustrations in this book are inspiring, too. I recommend this book highly.

Makes HDR attainable for everyone

Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book) is an easy to read guide that makes HDR understandable and do-able. Unlike other books on HDR that left me thinking maybe I shoud'be gone for that rocket scientist degree after all, this one works for me. McCollough takes a relatively difficult aspect of digital photography and puts it on a level that makes me feel like I really can take perfect HDR photographs. I know I will want to refer to its informative and well done illustrations many times to fully utilize all the aspects and possibilities of this phenomenal and relatively new phase of photography. I highly recommend it!