Solsisters Studio Artisan Handmade Purses: Experiments in Photoshop CS5 HDR Toning

10:29 PM

Experiments in Photoshop CS5 HDR Toning

I was busy being pretty awed by my friend Steve Campbell's HDR images last night. He uses Adobe Camera Raw and Nik software to turn a photo into a surreal cross between the pixels the camera stored and imagination run rampant.

Mere mortals such as ourselves could only hope to have the mastery over light that he wields. But .... we can try out HDR for fun and profit, thanks to the new HDR toning adjustment in Photoshop CS5. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and wikipedia defines it thusly:

In image processing, computer graphics, and photography, high dynamic range imagingHDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminance ( between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide
range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight
to faint starlight.

So, here's a few before and after images from a complete HDR novice. I've never used this tool. I really didn't understand what I was doing in any meaningful way. I just moved the sliders in the Local Adaptation mode around to get these. No science, no other filters, layers or brushes .... and certainly a lot of luck. These were all taken with my little hand held Canon camera. Just random snapshots.

My little neice Ashley making faces at the Adventuredome.