Why HDR?

So why HDR?  You can ask yourself all day….. but instead I’ll tell you why, and give you a blaring example of…WHY!

When I first joined Redbubble.com I was floored by the amazing photographers I was surrounded by.  It was frustrating, here I was with my camera and no idea how everyone had such great pictures… where were mine?  12 years of photography, 10 years of Photoshop experience, and a Bachelor’s in Fine Art… where were my epic pictures?  I needed to know how they did it and what I was doing wrong.

After scanning a couple of Redbubblers, I found the three letters that would change my life forever….HDR!!! No three letters go so well together, HDR, High Dynamic Range.  I ordered three books off of amazon.com and read, and read, and read, until my brain was a sponge sopping wet with HDR knowledge.  I grabbed my camera and said, “Let’s Do This!”

Auto Bracket…Check, Tripod….Check, Cable Shutter Release….Check, Beautiful California Landscape…. Check! I processed the images in Photomatix Pro, and there it was, love at first sight.  HDR has become a way of life for me.  I want you to experience it like I did, and more importantly, I want you to have the ability to do it too.  I will give you all of the knowledge necessary to do it.  Get yourself an HDR toolbox, I am going to help you fill it!

Here are 5 quick reasons of WHY HDR? and an example!  We will get into more reasons at greater length later.  Let this soak in!

  1. Precise Detail
  2. Impeccable Light
  3. Life-like Texture
  4. Capture what YOU see, not what your sensor sees
  5. and the most technical reason, it just looks so cool!

Why HDR?