This photo may seem like a nighttime scene, but it’s actually taken during the day. The sunlight streams through our living room window, yet the short exposure time lends a darker tone to the image.
To experiment a bit, I played around with creating an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. This involved taking six different exposures.
These six exposures merged together looks like this in Photomatix 7:
HDR photography has this unique ability to balance all the tones in an image, eliminating any dark shadows. This technique really brings out details throughout the photo, from edge to edge.
However, there’s something special about the original single exposure. The way it gradually fades to darkness around the edges creates a more atmospheric and moody feel. It’s like nature’s own version of a vignette, adding a touch of mystery to the everyday beauty of frost patterns on our window.
Which do you like?
Option A: the single exposure
or
Option B: the multiple exposures merged into one HDR?
For those who like to pixel-peep and look at the close details. Here’s one tiny square from the same spot in both photos.
As typical with HDR. There’s more tonality in the HDR version. But some of the detail is lost.