First attempt at HDR

EDL · Jul 16, 2013

It might help too if you treat the tone mapping portion as a separate process (you can tone map single exposures). I think folks new to HDR see it and are caught by the color pop tone mapping can provide (and is often used).

Although HDR is designed to produce a single photo with a wider dynamic range than can be captured in a single photo, the process also lends itself well to heavily textured subjects as well, like wood or gravel.

chuckeb · Jul 16, 2013

Now that I have an idea what it is... Well lets say I'll plan for it more. I tend to be more interested in contrast than color. Dunno how that'll effect when I do HDR.

And Zone system... *Eyes roll up in the back of my head*

Light Guru · Jul 16, 2013

chuckeb said:
Now that I have an idea what it is... Well lets say I'll plan for it more. I tend to be more interested in contrast than color. Dunno how that'll effect when I do HDR.

And Zone system... *Eyes roll up in the back of my head*

Your more interested in "contrast" and that is great understanding the zone system and how HDR can aid with that is perfect for that. Contrast has EVERYTHING to do with the zone scale! The zone system scale goes from 0-10 you have a high contrast when objects next to each other have a large difference in where they are on the zone scale.

The zone system is really not that hard to understand. It was defined to let you control where different parts of the scene you are photographing are going to end up on the zone scale in the final image. With film the control of the zone scale was partially controlled by altering development times. With digital you use multiple exposures, HDR and exposure blending to control the zone scale. But the important thing is being await of the tonal differences when shooting.