You're intelligent people, you can probably see where I'm going with this, but I'll set out my stall from the outset - I'm not the biggest fan of HDR photography.
It didn't take me long on google to find the image above - I have no idea who's work it is and I'm not singling it out at all - it's just a good example of the kind of imagery that's becoming more and more popular, particularly on the web based social sites like 500px and flickr.
A while back I was watching a video blog where the author described the process of HDR photography as "puking colour all over his sensor" - it's pretty funny, but also hits the nail on the head. If I was walking on that farm trail I'd be soiling myself - it looks like the end of days!
For those who are unfamiliar, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Dynamic range describes the range of lighting conditions that a camera sensor (or film?) is capable of recording before sending the extremes to solid black of blowing out the highlights to white. If you shoot into the sun, you're going to be struggling with dynamic range and either the sky will blow out or your foreground will be black. Adding an ND grad is a way of compensating for this and stretching out the dynamic range to get a more pleasing image.
The HDR process takes a set of images - say 3 - one overexposed, one in the middle and one under exposed (as you would do bracketing a shot) and combines them using a proprietory HDR software title, into one image where you get the extremes of highlight, shadow and contrast available in one image. Great right! What's not to like?
Well, the problems start to creep in with the application of this process. There are, as with everything, varying degrees of subtlety that can be employed when making an HDR composite. Used in a subtle way, HDR images can look fantastic and there will always be a place for this. The popularity of the online social sites combined with popular tastes and the "flavour of the moment" factor, means that this kind of imagery is starting to dominate. When your uploaded images are shown in a 30mm square on screen, only the super saturated images pop out, so this has understandably led to these kind of images getting more views. They're eye catching, there's no denying it.
I find myself coming more certain that this approach is not for me. I'm not at a stage where any definitive style is asserting itself in my work, but the super saturated fakery of this kind of work is not for me. There are ways of achieving greater range without going down the HDR route, by hand-blending a couple of exposures for instance, that gives a much more pleasing result. I've meen checking out the work of Fran Halshall and Dav Thomas lately (google them up - their work is beautiful) - who are producing the exact opposite kind of image - beautifully lit, subtle muted light that celebrates the landscape.
If you're into shooting machinery or cars, part of the growing urbex movement that seems to love HDR, or just like the retina searing colour saturation that makes all your landscapes look like your on the way to throw a ring into a volcano - then stick with it! I'll be taking it easier with the saturation and contrast sliders to try and celebrate the natural beauty in the landscape - it's what drew me to pick up a camera after all!
If you agree or disagree with any of the above - why not leave me some feedback? I'd love to hear from you and keep shooting!
