Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book) by Ferrell McCollough (PDF)

Description

It’s the latest and hottest technique, made possible only through digital. High Dynamic Range photography is the process of taking several pictures of a scene at various exposures, then merging them into one file. So the entire photo can look crisp and detailed, from highlights to midtones to shadows—and photographers needn’t sacrifice any part of their image. And the best way to master this exciting technology is with this thorough, easy-to-follow, and visually spectacular guide. No other title does justice to these cutting-edge techniques, which actually take the viewer into worlds far beyond normal photography—sometimes even beyond normal human perception. Ferrell McCollough, a widely respected photographer, pushes the boundaries and inspires others to pursue their artistic vision, too. The amazing results simply can’t be achieved any other way.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐First of all, this book is dated. Much has improved in HDRI since 2008.Artistically I didn’t care for it. Several artists are featured, but throughout the book photographs appear garish, almost painfully bright, plastic, excessively detailed, supersaturated with color, like some overused psychedelic photo cliche from the 1960’s: I expected to find portraits of Timothy Leary or the Beatles. An occasional photo like this might still be amazing- or at least novel and OK- but there is much more to HDRI. Your own HDRI images don’t have to look like this unless you want them to.The almost painful “super colors” could be a printing error; I don’t know.The author recommends and uses an expensive software package (Photomatrix Pro) without identifying a free open-source alternative equal in power and readily available (Hugin- I believe this was available in 2008; it certainly is today.). He compared Photomatrix Pro with some alternatives. These would be obsolescent, revised, or extinct by now.I am not saying anything against Photomatrix Pro; it gets excellent reviews elsewhere and you probably get what you pay for.On the positive side, the author of the present book did identify and compare different stepwise procedures for reaching the final result, and showed examples of each. He also compared the results using different software packages.I don’t mind having this book as a backup reference, but I don’t recommend it as a definitive “complete guide” or “how to.”Alternatives:A much better book is: The HDRI Handbook, by Christian Bloch. He knows all of the tricks and then some; excellent comparative software reviews. He writes well and he is a good teacher. The newest edition of this book is available on Kindle for about $11.00 or new in hardback for about $35.00. I bought the first edition on Amazon for 13 cents plus shipping There is also a rich and very active companion website.Another helpful, though more technical book HDRI is “Mastering Digital Exposure” by Chris Weston. It is also an older book, but still a good reference.If you want to learn, keep reading, and most importantly, keep shooting. I hope this is helpful.

⭐I actually bought this book partly to improve my HDR skills and partly based on the high ratings it has recieved. If you are looking to read a book about HDR, you probably have tried a few things using either photoshop or free software downloads. You are competitive enough to play with the available sliders, options and other enhancement tools available for each step during the workflow. If you already own an HDR software, like, Photomatix Pro, you probably are looking for a comprehensive guide / tutorial to make your photos look like the ones you have seen on the web, photo books or youtube tutorials. Unfortunately, this book is not of great help in this regard unless you are a total novice to HDR. It explains the basics very well. That’s a whole lot of theory probably makes you better informed but not necessarily makes your images stand out. Printing some high quality images (illustrations) in the book with relevant technical information is helpful. But this book has well over 150 images, of which, many are totally irrelevant to what was being discussed in those sections. No doubt, those images are very pleasing and definitely the work of art, however, most of them are in no way help you improve your skills. In other words, they kind a distract you from your reading. The book does not really provide many more useful information than the Photomatix Pro Tips menu that is built in to the program and is readily available for almost every action that you perform using the software. For Photomatix Pro users, whom this book is supposedly a tutorial, there is a bigger disappointment. I guess this was written for older versions of Photomatix. The menu options, as described in step by step tutorial in this book simply do not exist in the current version of Photomatrix Pro. It shouldn’t bother readers who are familiar with the recent version of Photomatix Pro, but the learners are the ones who need step by step tutorial! I really was reluctant to write such a critical review. It takes a lot of knowledge, hard work and dedication to bring out a book such as this, while criticizing is very easy. Book has several eye-catching high quality HDR images and explains the fundamentals of HDR very well. At least from my personal experience, it fell short of what I wanted out of this – an in-depth tutorial/guide to make quality HDR images using Photomatix Pro.

⭐I’ve been pretty much serious about photography for a good long time now, but my interest in it was beginning to dissipate. Couple of months ago I ran into a picture of one of the cars on the Angels Flight railway that stymied me. I couldn’t tell whether it was a touched up photograph or a photographically real painting done in the style of the Renaissance. I tracked down the photographer and how he did it, and that’s where I first learned about HDR (high dynamic range) photography. This technique goosed my flagging interest in photography again!The human eye can only see so much detail. The digital camera sensor can see much less, and the now-almost-extinct medium of film even less. So how do you take a picture where you have bright highlights and deep shadows, and show all of it? Well ideally, you mount your DSLR camera on a tripod, connect a cable release to it, set it to Aperture mode. Then you set the Bracket feature, and you take at least three shots of the same subject. One will be properly exposed, another underexposed and still another overexposed. Then you put them into your computer using special software (see my review on Photomatix Pro) and the software blends them all into one photo. Presto, you have an HDR image that pretty much mimics the detail that the human eye sees. You can do all sorts of combinations from “real” to “surreal.”This book is the perfect one for newcomers to HDR photography. It is well written and beautifully illustrated: gorgeous colors made even more brilliant and sharp because printed on slick stock. If the photos in it don’t inspire you to try this technique yourself, then HDR photography probably isn’t for you.

⭐First the negatives:This book appears to be dated, published in 2008 it references Photoshop CS3. The HDR software has also moved on too.It follows a standard pattern adopted by many HDR books, lots of wow images and general guidance on how to create them.I was disappointed in the area I struggle with, movement in merged images. This is covered with bullet point suggestions and a small paragraph. In general, the content is not difficult to comprehend, but I could not absorb the information without the software up and running so I could refer to the program. My eyes just glazed over trying to read it on the train.The plus: It did give me creative ideas, I had not thought of some techniques such as the merging multiple flash images together. It also pointed me in the right direction on how to assess images and a better workflow with PhotoMatix Pro.To sum up: Not a complete guide, if you don’t mind reading off a screen then others have posted the same sort of guidance online for free. A nice book to browse and dip into whilst using the software. If you ever spot it on sale for £7.99 ish then snap it up. At £15 if I had seen it in a retail outlet and flicked through it, I would possibly not have purchased.

⭐This book is very cleverly put together. The information you need is presented concisely with plenty of illustrations from the author’s catalogue. Your knowledge creeps up on you and suddenly, you have the equipment to go out and try it. The book regularly compares 4 to 5 different software packages along the way and reassured me that it wasn’t just me that couldn’t get the desired effect in Photoshop. So expenditure, as usual, doesn’t stop with the book. I purchased Photomatix Pro and the difference is remarkable. I thoroughly recommend the book as an introduction and developer of HDR techniques. It’s also a lot of fun to see your results.

⭐This book is remarkable value for money. The pictures are superb and inspire efforts towards similar results. However, those looking for a complete reference work for HDR should look elsewhere.The author is clear in the areas covered and his enthusiasm for the subject comes across well. There are some good ideas to get you started and is a worthy introduction to the subject and a little beyond. Ultimately though it left me wishing for just a little more depth – hence a rating of one star short of the five.

⭐well written and is a good introduction to hdr principles and techniques

⭐Great book just what I was looking for,great price and very good condition for a used copy

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