High Dynamic Range photography represents the incredible feats that can be carry through with digital tomography . But ! HDR abuse is also creditworthy for some of the most horrendous displays of photographic over - tomfoolery . This must hold on .
For the past few years it has not been unusual to see godforsaken HDR photos pop up all over the internet . They ’re surd to miss , looking almost like animated cartoon renderings or video game stillness , with extreme concentrated color and heighten textural effects . But it was n’t until I opened an return of the New York Times a few weeks ago and see almost a full - page spread of a atrocious HDR pic right there in print that I realized just how autochthonic HDR abuse has become . Something ’s wrongfulness when a digital knickknack technique is being used in a venerated publishing with a history of quality photojournalism .
It ’s time to put an end to this rage .
So what is HDR?
HDR , or High Dynamic Range , was born out of a desire to escape the limitations of traditional photography , where extremes of light and dark within a scene can not be captured simultaneously . We ’ve all been there , looking at either a blown - out sky or a drear , underexposed face . The limitation is get over by either take multiple frames at varying exposures and immix them together , or using a individual mental image and adjust it to the max with software program .
You might most unremarkably recognize the term HDR from your iPhone ’s camera app . This variation only recovers highlights in a contrasty scene ( and work pretty well ) . A much worse wrongdoer is Google Snapseed ’s HDR - Scape filter , which supercharge local contrast , resulting in an overdose of extremist vivid detail .
Whatever the method , the effect can be eye - popping , colorful , captivating , or — more often — sheer poop . HDR increases local demarcation at the expense of overall contrast . fundamentally , that diddle between light and moody , the trace that photographers like Henri Cartier - Bresson and Walker Evans compose with such domination , is lost . There is nothing left to conduce your optic around the physical body , to balance the theme . All that remains is a scramble of exaggerated people of colour and texture .
Got any examples?
Here is a photo I took , with normal adjustments to exposure and colour made in Adobe Lightroom . Below it is the version I put through Snapseed ’s HDR - shaft filter .
The HDR image certainly has “ kill , ” but it no longer looks like an actual prospect that a person saw from their rooftop . The original image emotes a warm spring evening . The latter emote retina - scorch contours .
These case of images look awful , and what ’s worse , they all see the same . Whether it ’s a wide - angle landscape painting , or the interior of an abandoned construction , HDR tropes are ever - present , and all show off the same distorted vision of otherwise compelling theme . Yet some mass love it .
HDR is almost its own class of picture taking , a folk obsession . I ’m ok with that . Better to banish the bauble to its own bin of niche enthusiasm than have it seep further into the photographic mainstream .
Flickr exploiter Hindrik Sijens
Can it ever work?
HDR can be done aright . Like most digital tools , there are genuine uses amalgamate in with all the excess . When used in a subtle and selective means , HDR can enhance an image , or desexualize a flawed exposure . It ’s just important not to get carried away and fall for the momentary stimulation of seeing an effigy explode with color when applying the effect . HDR is alluring , I get it . It ’s like a drug , making affair look instantly cool .
Here is an example fromFlickr substance abuser slmullenwhere HDR is used in a subtle way :
The point in the colored area of the tree have been made visible without exaggerate the makeup of the whole picture . You may not even bang it is an HDR image upon see , which is a good thing .
Really my gripe with HDR is that it represents homogeneity in art . It does n’t wait on the field in any way beyond eye - candy . It go forth almost no elbow room for inventiveness or subtlety . It ’s a one - magic pony .
Flickr userMarcp_dmoz
The engineering science that gave us HDR is amazing . It ’s also still evolving . We may be looking into a future where camera sensing element are capable of capturing the full breadth of twinkle and dark in a setting , hive away in a exclusive file for the lensman to fake to their heart ’s content . But countenance ’s draw close that great power with a clean touch , bear on our compliments for photographic principles that have function us well for over a century .
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