Cynematik

It has finally happened. I finally have the desire and the justification to purchase a high-end, high-quality digital camera. I have several traditional 35mm SLR cameras with a boatload of lenses — both fixed and zoom — but, heck, who can afford that hobby anymore? The film, the processing. Unless one is a total Luddite, digital is where photography it has come to be. Add the sophistication and ease of the digital darkroom available in Photoshop and it is no wonder the world has gone digital.

As a filmmaker, I have always loved, loved, loved film more than digital but, if film is cost-prohibitive in rolls of 36 images, then burning through 24 of those frames per second is the equivalent of stepping into financial quicksand. So, it was to be avoided … even though we all knew our images were falling into a compressed tonal range with serious compromises in the toe and shoulder of our contrast curve.

Now, thanks to an inquisitive phone call from Alec in New York, I find myself getting very excited about HDR (high dynamic range digital photography) and wanting to try it out. According to all of the sites I’m reading, expanding the dynamic range is a matter of taking multiple exposures with f-stops set to capture detail in highlight, midtone and shadow areas … and then compositing them together (using Photoshop CS3’s Merge to HDR automate command) to assemble the images into a 32-bit file that captures the detail in all of the areas.

If you want to give it a shot …
1. Set your tripod up on a scene that won’t change for about two (2) minutes.
2. Take an initial shot in the darkest area.
3. Open the f-stop to make the shot three (3) times brighter.
4. Open the f-stop to make the shot five (5) times brighter.
5. Open Photoshop.
6. File Menu —> Automate —> Merge to HDR.
7. Browse to your images.
8. Follow the dialog boxes.
9. Admire the detail in the highlights, midtones and shadows of your digital HDR image.