The idea for this technique has been circling the photography world for a very long time. The fact is that Gustave Le Gray used two separate negatives, one with a short exposure and another with a longer one, to produce an equally illuminated seascape that shows the sea and the sky, as early as 1850.

HDR Photography Development

Some attribute the development of HDR photography to Charles Wykoff. He created a film that was capable of recording high dynamic images directly and used it to take the infamous nuclear explosion pictures that were featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1954. This film had three layers, each with a different ASA rating (an American Standards Association method of defining the exposure index) and it produced three differently coloured images.

Tone Mapping

Throughout the better part of the 20th century, HDR images were created by manually tone mapping the photograph via dodging and burning. These processes included directly manipulating the negative and increasing or decreasing exposure in certain areas because the negative has a much higher dynamic range than the print-out. An important example of this era is W. Eugene Smith’s Schweitzer at the Lamp – a photo that took 5 days to be produced. Ansel Adams, the famous photographer, was a great fan of the technique and spent hours in the darkroom manipulating his famous pictures.

HDR File Format

More recent advancements in the field of HDR imaging were made in 1985 when Gregory Ward came up with the RGBE file format – the first HDR file format. It allowed the colour information to be stored in separate pixels and thus manipulated if necessary. Tone mapping was then applied to video cameras by Prof. Y.Y.Zeevi – a member of the Technion in Israel. The patent was filed in 1988. 1993 saw the introduction of the first medical camera that could capture multiple differently exposed images in real time and produce HDR video.

Global HDR

A more modern method of HDR imaging was introduced in 1993 – Global HDR. It essentially makes a light map of the entire image which then allows tone mapping wherever needed. This method allows the combined use of digital cameras and computer software which makes it accessible and desirable to the general population. The method was patented in 1995 by Steve Mann.

Differently Exposed Photos

Paul Debevec presented the most modern definition of HDR imaging we know today in 1997. His work on producing a single image from several differently exposed ones was widely acknowledged and lead to him working on movies like Avatar, The Matrix, King Kong and Spider Man 2 and 3.

Abiding by that definition, Adobe’s Photoshop series first introduced their Merge to HDR function in 2005 and have been improving it ever since.

HDR photography is becoming more and more popular now that cameras and image processing software are available to literally everyone. Probably the most important reason for its rise, though, is that it allows for the production of breathtakingly beautiful images.

Rita Rova is a lover of photography and writes about her passion on behalf of LoveMyVouchers.co.uk – the voucher code website that lists the latest discounts for top UK photography stores.

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Digital cameras do not use film rolls to capture images as they are electronically operated. Though they are more expensive than Polaroid cameras, they do not involve any costs for processing the images or for purchasing film rolls. They give the opportunity to view the images and delete them directly from the camera. You can upload the images, print them at home and edit them on computers as well as send them to people via email. Some types of digital cameras are point and shoot cameras, interchangeable lens camera, Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) and mobile cameras. There are various brands and price ranges that you can choose from. They are available at electronic stores and showrooms as well as at various online shopping portals.

Point and shoot cameras – They are the best suited for amateur photographers as they do not require technical knowledge for taking good photographs. As the name indicates, the camera is pointed towards the object whose photo is to be taken and then shot to capture the image. Point and shoot cameras are one of the cameras that are in great demand now.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) – Unlike the Point and Shoot cameras, they use the optical view finder to capture images. They have only one lens. They are an advanced version of the digital camera as they offer various unique features, like focus, shutter speed and white balance. They are apt for professional photographers or for people who are passionate about photography.

Interchangeable lens camera – They offer more than one lens, unlike DSLR. As the name suggests, the lenses can be changed to suit the requirements of the camera-user. Some of the types of lenses are prime lens, wide angle lens, zoom lens and a macro lens for shooting micro objects. While the prime lens ensures excellent image quality, the wide angle lens is ideal for landscapes.

If you want to take up photography as your profession, you should go for a high-end Digital SLR camera as they are versatile. If you are a resident of Middlesex, there are many camera stores that you can choose your Digital SLR Camera from. Research on internet or take the assistance of a person who is knowledgeable about cameras to zero in on the camera whose features best suit your interests.

Alicia Hodkins is a renowned author. She is passionate about photography and is in the habit of writing for blogs on various topics, especially travel and photography. In this article, she has focused on some of the types of digital cameras.

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Designed exclusively for Nikon digital SLR cameras capable of wide-angle photography, the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 lens is a powerful tool for landscape photography and other wide-angle applications. The lens offers an ultra-wide angle of view of 94.5 to 56.8 degrees, with three special low dispersion (SLD) glass elements and three aspherical lenses providing optimum image quality throughout the entire zoom range. The lens also incorporates a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) to ensure quiet, high-speed autofocusing in addition to full-time manual focusing. Other features include a close focusing distance of 9.4 inches, a non-rotating lens barrel that perfectly suits the petal-shaped lens hood (included), and a one-year warranty.

Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens Specifications

Focal length: 10-20mm
Maximum aperture: f/4-5.6
Lens construction: 14 elements in 10 groups
Angle of view: 94.5 to 56.8 degrees
Number of diaphragm blades: 6
Minimum aperture: f/22
Minimum focusing distance: 9.4 inches
Maximum magnification: 1:6.7
Mount: Nikon
Filter size: 77mm
Filter size: Petal-type hood
Dimensions: 3.3 inches in diameter and 3.4 inches long
Weight: 17.5 ounces
Warranty: 1 year

Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens Description

Sigma provides the new ultra-wide angle zoom lens from 15mm and this lens is the first of its kind in the world. It can be useful for images of landscapes, large buildings, group photographs or even more. The perspective that changes with the angle-of-view gives picture an extraordinary feeling. Delicate compositions can be adjusted by lens zooming and this is helpful for close-up photography. Provides deep depth of field with its short focal length for amazing photographic expressions. This ultra-wide zoom lens covers a large wide-angle range from 15 mm to 30 mm. With a minimum focusing distance of 30 cm(11.8 inches) throughout the entire zoom range, it is an ideal lens for Digital SLR Cameras. It incorporates hybrid aspherical lens in the front lens group to minimize distortion and astigmatism, and molded glass aspherical lens in the rear lens group to minimize spherical aberration. Minimization of the distortion is a most important issue for zoom lens, but Sigma has succeeded, to provide image quality with minimal distortion by employing aspherical lenses. This lens in corporates an internal focusing system, which eliminates front lens rotation. Since focusing do not change its overall length, this lens is easy to hold and use. Also it is allowing the use of a Petal-type Hood. The lens also incorporates Dual-Focus (DF) mechanism. It is easy to hold the lens, since the focusing ring does not rotate during auto-focus, yet it provides adequate focusing torque of the focusing ring during manual focusing of the lens.

Excellent value. Fantastic lens too – delivered quickly and in perfect condition. Will definitely buy from this site again – keep up the great work and excellent prices!!

Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens Package Contents:

• Angle of View: 102.4 – 63.8 degrees
• Number of Diaphragm Blades: 7 Blades
• Minimum Aperture: F22
• Minimum Focusing Distance: 24cm / 9.4 in.
• Maximum Magnification: 1:6.6
• Filter Size: Diameter 77mm
• Lens Hood: Petal-type Hood
• Dimensions: Diameter 87.3mm X Length 88.2mm/3.4 in. X 3.5 in.
• Weight: 520g / 18.3 oz.

Buy Now

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I’m going to use very basic equipment to keep it simple and to allow people that only have simple camera equipment to use this HDR tutorial. I will advise of some tricks, tips and advanced methods to get the best HDR photo.

Equipment used for this HDR Photo Tutorial:

• Camera – Nikon D300
• Camera Lens – Nikon DX AFS VR Nikkor 18 200 G ED
• Nikon Lens Hood
• Tripod

We want to use a tripod, mainly to keep the images aligned as the camera should have no movement when shooting otherwise when they are aligned in the software the final image will be blurry. It is possible to also shoot HDR hand-held without a tripod but you must have the camera shutter speed set very high and your Aperture fStop set on a low setting of 4 to 5. We want the shutter speed high up in the mid thousands so that the camera will take the frames as fast as possible in hand-held mode. This tutorial will be based on someone shooting with a tripod but if you are using hand-held mode then the following instructions should basically be the same.

In the Camera we would like to set it up to use Auto Bracketing. Bracketing is a method to shoot several exposures at different settings.

With D300 we will be shooing in Aperture Priority Mode which is what you should set your camera to if it has this mode otherwise you could use Manual Mode. With the D300 we will go into the Menu and select the Bracketing Features we want to use. First we will go to CSM (Custom Settings Menu) and select e5 (Auto Bracketing Set) > Flash Only and press OK. We have now set the type of bracketing we want. You might like to also setup a new Shooting Menu Bank and a Custom Settings Bank. Remember that you must use the Flash to trigger the bracketing otherwise you will take 5 shots of the same exposure. If you don’t want to use a flash then choose another Auto Bracketing Set option.

Now we will assign the Function button to the camera bracketing by going into Menu Control Features – Go to CSM #f4 and select the first line of Assign Function Button > FUNC. button press > BKT (Bracketing Burst) and press OK. Now select again the “Assign Function Button” > (the 2nd option) FUNC. button + dials > BKT (Auto Bracketing).

Now that we have the camera bracketing setup we will use 5 shots and 1 intervals. On the Nikon D300 we use the Function button that we just assigned to Auto Bracketing which is located at the front of the camera and is the lower button on the right side.

Press the function button in and hold it down while you rotate the main command dial to select the number of shots you wish to use in the sequence. We will select 5 for this tutorial although you could use only 3 or as high as 9. Now we will keep the function button pressed down and will now rotate the sub-command dial to select the exposure increment. We would like to choose “1″ (1 EV) for this tutorial. You could also change the exposure increment in the Camera Menu CSM #b2.

So we now have the camera setup to take 5 exposures, 2 below the metered exposure, one at the metered exposure and 2 exposures over the metered exposure.

Now we will select the Camera Release Mode. You don’t have to worry too much here but I think it’s better to use either Continuous High Speed mode CH or CL (Continuous Low Speed). The reason is to ensure you have all 5 shots taken consecutively once you have triggered the shutter release button and to help you avoid forgetting that you are shooting in bracketing mode. We will be using the Interval Timer Shooting feature of the Nikon D300 in this tutorial anyway but you can also shoot at random once you have the Function Button assigned and the camera setup to trigger the number of frames in continuous release mode.

If you have a remote release cable then it is definitely the better option to set off the shutter but we will assume you don’t in this tutorial. I think there is a remote made by Hahnel that works well with the D300 or the Nikon MC-30. Another option is a cable shutter release like the Nikon MC-20 that will do just a good a job.

So you now have your basic camera setting for HDR and will have set it up on the tripod. You have selected Aperture Priority mode. You should now make sure to have focused the subject and have the focus feature of the camera and lens on manual.

Focus Selector Lock: We should be focusing the camera manually or you may auto focus and then turn the focus to manual before shooting. I would suggest to use the focus selector lock that is on the edge of the D300 Multi Selector Button. When it is pointed to the “L” then it is locked. Rotate it anti-clockwise to unlock it and then setup your focus points manually and then lock it again by rotating it back to point at the “L”.

Image Quality: For best results select RAW, you get the best possible image quality and processing features. With Raw we can get 16 bit high dynamic range images. You could use jpg or tiff but you will find RAW is the better option overall. In the Nikon D300 you can select Image Quality by pressing the QUAL button down on the top left side of the camera and rotating the Command dial to select your preferred option.

ISO Settings: Use the lowest ISO setting that your camera offers to ensure you have as little graining as possible for your HDR photo.

Exposure Delay Mode: In the Nikon D300 there is a feature called “Exposure Dela Mode”. What this does is when you press the shutter release button, the mirror pops up and waits for a split second before taking the photo which eliminates any vibration in the mirror.

Exposure Compensation Button: Make sure your Exposure Compensation Button (if your camera has one) is dialed to “0″. Often this is changed to over expose or under expose your photos to -3 or +3 etc but it should be on 0 as the bracketing will give us the exposure range. On the D300 the button is visible on the top right next to the “Mode” button.

Now we will go into the D300 Shooting menu and select the last option called Interval Timer shooting. Select “Now” and press enter > select the amount of time the photo sequence will start after you press the button. We will select 5 so we have enough time for the camera to be free of any vibrations. If you are using a remote then 1 second would be fine. So it should look like this:

00:00 ‘ 05

Now you will press Enter and will come into a second set of numbers. These will define the amount of exposures taken so these should be the same as you have selected earlier in your Bracketing setup so this will be 5 exposures. So now we will have this second set of numbers to read:

001×5=0005 which means we will have 1 set of 5 shots.

So that’s it, now continue to press the button to the right until you get an option of “Off” or “On”. Select “On” and when you are ready press the “OK” button and your images will start to shoot. The next time you want to shoot you only have to select the “Interval Timer shooting” option and press the button left to get the “Off” or “On” option so you can shoot without going through the options.

Additional Resources:

Easy HDR Bracketing on Nikon D300 – Video Tutorial

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