When we talk about dynamic range, we are referring to the ratio between dark and bright regions.  Our eyes are much more capable of adapting to different brightness levels than most cameras and computer monitors.  As photographers, we need to be creative when working with this limited dynamic range.  High dynamic range (HDR) images open up a world of possibilities because they can represent the entire dynamic range of the visible world.

When you think of HDR, your first thought may go to the over-the-top, or surreal looking, tone-mapped images that have become increasingly popular over the past few years.  However, that is only one type of HDR.  When I incorporate dynamic range into my photographs, I look to create an image that is as close to the scene I experienced as possible.  There are a number of different programs out there that will create HDR images from your files, one of them being Photoshop where the “Merge to HDR” command lets you create HDR images from multiple photographs.  Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I prefer not to let a program merge my files.  There are some great tutorials out there that will give you step-by-step instructions for these programs.  One good tutorial you can find at “Backing Winds” and another at “Luminous Landscape”.

Personally, I prefer to merge the photos myself using layers and layer masks.  That will be the process that I will share with you today.

Materials You’ll Need

• Digital camera with the ability to set exposure manually
• Tripod (always a must have)
• A subject that doesn’t move
• A computer with Photoshop

The Process

To begin, you will need to choose your subject.  Preferably something that doesn’t move.  Once you have set up the camera on the tripod and decided on the composition of the photo, you will take a number of differently exposed frames.  In my picture of the lighthouse, I took 3 differently exposed frames.  One exposure for the foreground of sand and grass, another exposure for the lighthouse itself, and finally an exposure for the sky.  You can see the difference in the screenshots below.

All the rest of the process is done in Photoshop.  I take the 3 frames I’ve shot and make them layers in my Photoshop document.  I begin with the middle exposure.  I then take the lighter exposure and layer it on top of the middle exposure.

Make sure it is aligned properly with the layer underneath.  I’m going to use this top layer to more accurately depict the foreground I saw at the time I took the picture.  At this point I will play around with the different blending modes of the lighter layer until I find one that works best.  For this particular picture I used the “overlay” blending mode.

Here is what our image looks like now.

The foreground is starting to look good.  This treatment does not work for the whole picture however, so we’re going to use a layer mask to only use this treatment for the foreground.  With the current layer active, click on layer mask at the bottom of the layers palette.  With a black brush you can hide the area that you do not want visible.

We are now going to repeat the same steps with our darker layer, instead this time we are going to be focusing on the sky.  Once I have finished all layers and am happy with the results, I will usually do a levels layer to adjust contrast and such.  At this point, your layers palette should look something like this.

The final image result:

Thank you for checking out our tutorial and hopefully it has helped you in your own endeavors to create realistic looking HDR images.  You can find this print, along with many others in our store for purchase.  If you have any questions about this tutorial or any other photography related question, please feel free to email me and ask away.

photog@drocphoto.com