The Realistic HDR Image

A program, an image, or a technique?

Let’s begin with the phrase ”dynamic range.” Dynamic range refers to the amount of separation between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene. A scene low in dynamic range would have a limited range of brightness tones, as seen in Figure 1.01. Here you see tones that are almost all the same brightness; the entire scene is made up of midtones. A scene high in dynamic range would have a large range of brightness values, as seen in Figure 1.02. Here the image consists of midtones, shadows, and highlights. There is a huge difference between the highlight values and the shadow values. This huge difference between values is what makes this scene high in dynamic range. High contrast is a more commonly used phrase ...