Backpacking Discussions

What is this HDR photography that I've been hearing about? Is it a special camera you need or software or what?

High dynamic range imaging (HDRI) is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range of exposures, the range of values between light and dark areas, than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDRI is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to shadows. HDRI was originally developed for use with purely computer-generated images. Later, methods were developed to produce a high dynamic range image from a set of photographs taken with a range of exposures. With the rising popularity of digital cameras and easy-to-use desktop software, the term "HDR" is now popularly used to refer to the process of tone mapping together with bracketed exposures of normal digital images, giving the end result a high, often exaggerated dynamic range. This composite technique is different from, and generally of lower quality than, the production of an image from a single exposure of a sensor that has a native high dynamic range. Tone mapping is also used to display HDR images on devices with a low native dynamic range, such as a computer screen. ~~Wikipedia

Thats pretty cool. So how do you do it? Special software or cameras?

Honestly I don't know, like I mentioned, I just copied that right from Wikipedia Gotta love it! But I do love looking at the photos. You can go to Flickr and check out thier HDR Pool and see hundreds of them. Some aren't that great, but others are spectacular. I really don't understand how it works. How can it be so much more detailed from another picture if we are looking through the same moniter with the same pixel sizes.... don't get it, but gotta love it.

haha well I'd love to learn more about it. The photos are amazing!