If you hate playing the
ping-pong exposure
game with your digital
camera, learn to create
images with a high
dynamic range
Take your camera, tripod, and butt to
a favorite location that offers a good
amount of shadows and bright areas,
so you can truly see the merits of this
technique. We recommend a dimly lit
room with sunlight streaming through
a window or a favorite spot to watch
the sunset. Mount your camera on
the tripod, set your camera’s meter-
ing mode to spot metering (the iconlooks like this: [ • ]), set the camera
to capture RAW or TIFF images,
set the ISO to the lowest setting (to
avoid noise), and set your preferred
white balance—don’t use auto
modes or fl ash. Then determine how
you want to compose your frame,
switch your camera to Aperture
Priority mode, and set an aperture to
complement your subject.T
he tabloids do an unbelievable job of exposing every detail of their target
subject’s image—too bad digital cameras can’t do the same. Under various
lighting conditions, digital cameras tend to expose their limitations when
it comes to dynamic range —the scope of an image’s shadow to highlight detail.
Therefore, that sunny blue sky in your photo may look nice, but your intended Elvis-
inhaling-a-Krispy-Kreme masterpiece is nothing but a silhouette—try exposing him
in Photoshop and your sky turns into a white, overblown mess. Thankfully, you can
do something to attain maximum exposure without turning to B-list celebrity antics.
It’s called high dynamic range (HDR) photography.Expose the Details with
HDR Photography
1 Define Your Composition
WHAT YOU NEED
DIGITAL SLR OR POINT-AND-
SHOOT CAMERA WITH
MANUAL CONTROLS
TRIPOD
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS2
(or later version)
$650, http://www.adobe.com
or
HDRSOFT PHOTOMATIX PRO
$100, http://www.hdrsoft.com
(Download a trial if you don’t have
either app)BY KRIS FONG56 MAXIMUMPC july 2007
how (^2) IMPROVING YOUR PC EXPERIENCE, ONE STEP AT A TIME
Our composition features high contrast, and
this is how our camera captured it to prop-
erly expose the dragon and then optimally
expose the lamp.
Tired of getting
pics like this from
your digital camera
(left)? Employ HDR
photography prin-
ciples and expose
every precious
detail (right).