High Dynamic Range (HDR) effect in Photoshop CS4/CS5
Posted By Mike Bender / 23rd August 2010
In this article I will be presenting a simple technique for producing results similar to High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI or just HDR) techniques but with a single photograph. While this technique is not a replacement for true HDR techniques using bracketing, it can yield very impressive results.
What is High Dynamic Range Imaging? HDR is a set of techniques that allow a great dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods.[1] Huh? What this means is that shadows will be darker, highlights brighter and overall color composition fuller. Typical photography methods usually involve 2 or more photographs at multiple exposures that are combined into a single composition. For example you might take a properly exposed shot and two additional shots at -2 stops and +2 stops then through software such as Photoshop you would merge these 3 photographs into a single image. See below an example of HDR at work.
Example High Dynamic Range Image
Now that we all know what effect we are trying to create let’s start.
