HDR photography is nothing but a set of techniques which is used in photography, computer graphics and image processing. The technique permits a greater range of luminance between the darkest and lightest areas of an image than the general digital imaging technique and other photographic methods. HDR images are characterized with broader dynamic range and are thus enabled to represent accurately the wide and varied range of intensity which is found in real scenes. Direct sunlight or faint starlight is captured the way they are with this technique.
The HDR history (High Dynamic Range) dates back to the 1850s, when Gustave Le Gray attempted to render seascapes showing both the sky and the sea. Gray made it possible by using one negative for the sky, and another one with a longer exposure for the sea. He there by combined two pictures.
The next remarkable activity in HDR photography took place in the 1930s and 1940s, when by Charles Wyckoff presented a detailed image of nuclear explosions. The picture appeared on the cover of Life magazine in the mid 1940s. Wyckoff had used tone remapping to blend differently exposed film layers into one single image.
Subsequently, tone remapping started being used for decreasing and increasing the various regions of a photograph to produce better tonal quality. A milestone example of photography in HDR is "Schweitzer at the Lamp" by W. Eugene Smith. HDR photography found wide usage in recent times due to the limitations in computer processing power. The technology is also being made use of in the movie industry. Today HDR photography can be done with video cameras too.
In HDR photography the images taken at different exposures are merged through tone remapping. Tone remapping makes the details in highlights and shadows present in the original HDR image visible. The HDR image with 32 bits is converted into 16 bits mode through tone mapping. The converted image can be saved as a JPEG.
For HDR photography, it is recommended to use a tripod. This will ensure an image free of the undesired shaky look. You should however keep one thing in mind that if the original image contains any noise, you are likely to get 3 times as much noise, when you layer them. To prevent noise take the snaps at ISO low speed.
After you finish taking the HDR images, it is time to merge them. You can use the Photoshop CS4 to do this. It has the automated script that will enable you to do the merge. However, the Photoshop's HDR capabilities are very slim. You can opt for Photomatix, which is quirt handy and effective to merge HDR images.
HDR technology is now being used in vector arts. Vector art is digital art which is created out of geometrical primitives like curves, lines, points, shapes and polygons through mathematical algorithms On the other hand vector packs are a collection of vector shapes that are generally based on a single unique theme like nature, floral, geometrical etc. They are generally used by designers to ease the design flow, creativity and speed of creation of an image. Vector art is very much similar to the imaging used in creation of cartoon characters found in comic strips. Generally vector art is used in creation of business signs and logos.
Author Resource:
Cip Ionel is the author of this article on HDR Images .
Find more information about Vector Art here.
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