About Me

My photo
Ansel Adams once said that a true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. He then went one to write volumes about his photographs, and he would apparently talk about them to anyone who would listen. So much for pithy quotes. Since this is my blog, I will ignore Ansel Adams, and I will use this space to share the stories behind some of my favorite photographs: what I saw when I created the images, how the photos came to be, and why they are important to me. Consider this a behind-the-scenes look at my creative process. If you like what you see here, please visit my photography website: RobertBurnsPhotography.com

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Fishtown - Leland, Michigan 9-12-2006

In the past year or so, I have been experimenting with High Dynamic Range photography. HDR is a technology that allows the photographer to capture the full dynamic range of a scene, including details in the darkest shadows and the brightest highlights. Currently this technique is employed by shooting two or more images at different exposures, then combining them into a single tone-mapped photo. The results can be quite amazing. It just so happens that I have at least four years of photos that were shot using exposure bracketing, consisting of one normal exposure and two or more underexposures and overexposures. I am currently revisiting these earlier photographs and subjecting them to HDR processing. This photograph of Fishtown is a surprising result of my efforts. HDR imaging has rendered eye-popping detail in the cedar shakes, the mossy docks, and the rusty boats. The skies would have been blown out in a regular photo, unless a graduated neutral density filter had been employed to hold back the brightness of the sky. The alleys and the space under the docks would have been rendered pure black in the typical situation. But HDR has captured so much detail in these areas, that the resulting depth draws the viewer into the image, inviting the eye to linger and explore. Canon 20D HDR image from three exposures processed and tone-mapped in Photomatix Pro. f/8 ISO 100 10-22mm lens @20mm RobertBurnsPhotography.com

2 comments:

Followers