Top 10 Tips For Summer - HDR Photography

5. Try HDR Photography - High Dynamic Range

The contrasting lighting conditions of the summer provide the perfect opportunity to try High Dynamic Range photography, or HDR as it is more commonly known.

Dynamic range is defined as the ratio between brightest and darkest areas of a scene. In strong sunlight this ratio is much greater and it’s impossible to record detail at both ends of the scale with a standard exposure. With HDR photography, you shoot three or more shots at different exposures, before merging them together via Photoshop or HDR-specific software, such as Photomatix.

To begin you’ll need a tripod to ensure that the camera doesn’t move between exposures. Shooting in Raw will give you more control over the images at a later date, and will also allow you to capture the maximum amount of data. To determine what range of exposures to use, meter for both the lightest and darkest areas of the proposed shot, then find the average. Shoot your sequence at this setting and either side of it, in one or two stop steps, using either Auto Exposure Bracketing or manually.