First off, I’m no photographer. I own a cheap-ish point and shoot digital camera. But I also want to make some cool looking photos, or at least try.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range of luminances between light and dark areas of a scene than normal digital imaging techniques. It makes really cool looking photos.
Here’s how I did it using HDRsoft’s Photomatix.
Take three pictures using a tripod. I took one picture at EV (exposure value) +2, one at EV 0, and a third at EV -2. If you don’t know how to change your EV, look for the +/- symbol. Here is an example picture of the EV button.
Once you have your three pictures, open up Photomatix. Click Generate HDR. Click Browse and select the three photos you just took.
Use these options:
If you have moving water in your shot, change the option to Background movements otherwise leave Moving objects/people selected.
Click OK, wait for it to generate the HDR image. It will normally be too dark, now click Tone Mapping. Then play with the settings to get whatever effect you want.
Once you have found the effects and like what you have done, click Process. Then File -> Save As to save as a JPG. All done!
Here is a photo I did with my cheap point and shoot:
Images from http://abduzeedo.com
