This is just a teaser on the subject to elicit your responses. . . .

I've just "Discovered" HDR and I'm having a ball learning when to and when not to use HDR as well as how to process it to full advantage.

For those not already familiar with HDR, it is the process of expanding the ability of the photographic process to capture and to present both the shadow and highlight detail in a highly illuminated and high contrast scene. This is usually accomplihed by taking more than one image at different exposure settings and combining the best of them into a single image.

Our eyes can adapt to the widely dynamic scene as presented by nature but our cameras, be they film or digital cannot. . . excpet for Dottie's B&W . . which is by its non linear nature already well on its way to full HDR.

Checkout our site for special offers on HDR software as we can get a 20% discount on the most mature package on the market. It will function as a stand alone application on both the MAC and the PC as well as  a plug-in to PhotoShop.

I'd also recommend taking a look at "Mastering HDR Photgraphy" by Michael Freeman published by Amphoto, 2008. It can be had online for as low as $14.95 plus shipping. It is well worth the price as it covers both the theory and the application via five of the most popular HDR applications. Need I say that he seems to favour the appication that we can buy at discount.

He provides excellent examples throughout the book and you will learn something about your sensor, your eye and the nature of HDR as seen by each of them. Not too technical but enough to satisfy even Geren or better yet . . .  Rob!

Try your hand at HDR. It can be accomplished without a specific application by using layers in Photoshop and blending them as desired before flattening the image. Sue had successfully shown her go at it at our June meeting.

If you look into your menu structure in PhotoShop you will find a menu option under File > Automate > Merge to HDR. I'm not sure when this option appears in PS, but Geren assures us it is there as does Mr. Freeman as it is one of the five applications covered.

If you visit the members galleries and select mine you will see 22 HDR images that were shot during our last event at Swallow Falls. these are my first attempts so allow for that.

Two things are impportant to note about multi-image HDR capture. A tripod is required as scene motion will be a problem during processing leading to image blur. take note of the moving water in my images, they were not hurt by my taking them over three images . . +2 , 0 and -2 about the nominal exposure. The motion adds to the image of water flowing over the rocks. however had I wanted to capture a crisp image of water in motion, I'd had been up the creek without a paddle. I have taken a shot of a person walking slowly down a path. What I got was an HDR image with a person and a ghost image of them trailing behind. Hey, this just might work for you. Just know that this is what will happening during HDR processing. . . .unless you go the way that Sue went and process in a fully manual environment.

If you get the feeling that this is too complex for you to handle, PLEASE DON"T! The software is easily used in full default mode and will produce very good results. It is easy to use in its "manual" mode with the use of preview screens and sliders. . . all of which we are familar with from our use of most image processing software.

Try HDR . . . it is fun and easy to do. The results can be spectacular.