High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography has gained a lot of interest in photography. HDR Photography is where you take multiple exposures of a image and then stack them on top of one another to create one picture. By doing this you create an image that often times is very similar to what our eyes see. Most digital cameras can do this by using the auto bracketing function. For best results you need to use at least 3 exposures. If you are shooting in very bright or low light then you often times need to use 5, 7, or 9 exposures. Unfortunately, you typically need a semi-pro or pro dSLR to do this.
After you take the pictures, you then need software to stack the pictures on one another. The best way I’ve found is using Photomatix or you can use Photoshop CS 5. If you want to see some great HDR pictures you need to check out Trey Ratcliff at Stuck in Customs. He does phenomenal work and has many tutorials.
My wife grew up outside a very small town in Southern Illinois called St. Francisville (well known for the scariest bridge to cross in Southern Illinois/Indiana). In March, we were there for my wife’s baby shower. There is a very old Catholic church that sits down town. I decided to take a 7 exposure HDR pic using my Leica M9. Most of the time when shooting in HDR you want to create a color image, I think in this case monochrome works very well.
Great pic!