I captured this Fallen Farm on an overcast day southwest of Mandan. By snapping multiple exposures I was able to capture a bright exposure, a medium exposure, and a dark exposure of the same frame. That allowed the camera to acquire detail in the shadows of the dark house, the highlights of the sky, and everything in between. Then it was up to Photoshop to smack ’em together.

I’ve been slow to dabble in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography because I have seen so many examples of it done badly. HDR can be used to do some really cool, artistic things if you like…but in my opinion its best use is in capturing detail throughout a wide range of shadows and highlights (thus, high dynamic range). When I find a shot that works well with HDR to do so, then I play around with it.

This technique can also be used to make some artistic but not very appealing (to me, this is subjective) images. I’m more interested in the hyper-realistic qualities of HDR imagery, and a very few, well-planned shots lend themselves well to this technique. It sure is fun, though, when you come across such an opportunity. I hope to find more of these in the future and, of course, share them here.