Sunrise in Austin - HDR Style

I have found a new favorite thing with photography. HDR. I've been snapping pictures for a LONG time for my relatively short life and I have always enjoyed the amazing things that could be done in a darkroom. Being a black & white fan, multiple filtration always made me gawk in wonder at the results of some careful planning. But....

The things that can be done now with digital photography simply blow me away. Take this shot for example. This is the very same shot which I posted this morning, except this is done with HDR. For those of you who don't know what HDR is, (and I didn't know until about a week ago) it is the combining of photographs of different exposures to gain a wider tonal range in a single photograph. It's simply amazing stuff.

This particular photograph is the combination of three separate pictures: one shot spot on, one overexposed and one underexposed. To me, it reminds me somewhat of infrared photography. At this point, I'm overwhelmed at the ideas which are flowing through my head. The shots I've taken in the past. The things I've seen in the last week. The places I want to travel.

I am so influenced at this point by what I see can be done, that I've set my camera up to take three shots of everything... simply for the adventure of seeing what the shot will look like as an HDR.

Maybe you'll enjoy this as much as I. Well wishes for all over the Christmas holidays.