HDR meets the Zone

Check out these amazing High Dynamic Range photos:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/10/35-fantastic-hdr-pictures/

HDR images are created with multiple captures of the same subject but with optimum exposure for each dynamic range in the scene. The captures are then combined into one image using stitching software like Photoshop. This gives you perfect shadow detail in the same frame as perfect highlight detail.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice similarities between HDR and the Zone System. Ansel Adams and Fred Archer created the Zone System for processing B/W sheet film in the 1940’s. The system was based on the need for a systematic method of bringing exposure times, development and the photographer’s vision together. The process became Adam’s trademark and his name became linked to B/W nature photography. In theory, the Zone works for color too…except that exposure changes affect color shifts in film. HDR gives us the power to practice the Zone with color imagery and still easily control the color.

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