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35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

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Applied carefully, High Dynamic Range-technique (HDR) can create incredibly beautiful pictures which blur our sense of the difference between reality and illusion. In graphics HDR imaging is a set of techniques that allow a far greater dynamic range of exposures than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to the deepest shadows. This is usually achieved by modifying photos with image processing software for tone-mapping. And the results can be really incredible; in fact, many artists and designers come up with some pretty fancy results.

This post covers 35 extremely beautiful and perfectly executed HDR-pictures. Some of them might look surreal, too colorful, even magic or fake, but they are not — keep in mind that they’ve all been developed out of usual photos, and not a single image is an illustration.

Please notice:

  • the selection isn’t supposed to be complete which is why we encourage you to post links to further excellent HDR images in the comments to this post;
  • there is no ranking, all pictures have been selected due to their outstanding quality and excellent execution;
  • you can explore further works of the designers and photographers we’ve featured below by browsing through their sets on Flickr;
  • all screenshots are clickable and lead to the pages from which they’ve been taken;
  • you might want to take a look at the article (Really) Stunning Desktop Wallpapers we’ve published earlier.

Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-10 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-76 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-11 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-49 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-6 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-96 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-103 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-115 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-67 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-9 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-99 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-38 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-46 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-105 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-44 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-68 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-82 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-101 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-20 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-59 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-102 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-29 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Bridge in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-75 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-12 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-19 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-22 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-64 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-112 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-27 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-13 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-31 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-47 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-8 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-17 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-57 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Hdr-32 in 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Sources and Further Resources

Vitaly Friedman, editor-in-chief of Smashing Magazine (www.smashingmagazine.com), an online magazine dedicated to designers and developers.

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  1. 251
    Deepak
    June 15th, 2009 9:19 pm

    this is really amazing..i just stumbled across this new way of photography…want to learn more abt this..this surely is a very nice collection

  2. 252
    Pratik
    June 16th, 2009 11:03 am

    JUST AMAZING !!!

  3. 253
    shah
    June 26th, 2009 4:22 am

    its good but ooooooovvvvvv v v v goood

  4. 254
    mereediiith
    June 27th, 2009 12:10 pm

    those are some of the most spectacular pictures i have ever seen. absolutly breath taking!

  5. 255
    Davius Max
    July 11th, 2009 4:43 pm

    You know, the “purists” complained when they brought sound to movies, color to films, digital to cameras, digital to sound (CD’s, mp3’s etc). Every new technique has it’s doomsday crowd.

    Truth is there is good and bad in every development, some will like it, some wont but at the end of the day, it’s called progress and if we didn’t have it, we’d still live in caves and club our dinner to death. You can guarantee that at least some positive progression will come from HDR and the like.

    Stop your friggin’ whining. If you love it, use it, if you don’t love it, don’t use it, but why not just live and let live?

  6. 256
    John
    August 4th, 2009 9:04 pm

    HDR seems to be something that people either love or hate. For those non-purists, hdr lovin’ people, check this out: Okinawa HDR photography group….or maybe it should be called “graphic arts group the way some people would view it.

  7. 257
    Tom
    August 5th, 2009 7:39 am

    HDR is a great technique but it doesn’t have to come from expensive fancy photoshop add-on’s. As much as i love photoshop why use it when you can do it for free!! Check out this link to a page explaining how to make professional HDR with free open source software.

    http://freehdr.blogspot.com/

  8. 258
    Lunarstudio
    August 18th, 2009 9:48 am

    HDR photography was a technique mostly developed for virtual lighting in 3d applications. One of the founders of the technique is Paul Debevec. His research and work can be seen at:
    http://www.debevec.org/

    Cameras by default shoot at one exposure leaving light areas either blown out or underprocessed. HDR by default mimics the changing human eye more closely by allowing for various exposure adjustments. Essentially, they are multiple photographs shot of the same scene at different exposures then blended together. The computer can then accurately dial up and down the intensities of various light sources within a scene and even “guess” what an object may look like beyond the initial exposures taken.

    For the 3d graphics world, this has huge implications in allowing 3d lighting artists to have greater control over illuminating their scenes. General photographers have taken this method and applied it to their still photography since Photoshop first popularized it by adding HDR in their CS releases – but keep in mind that it has it’s original roots within 3d itself.

    I have a few examples of HDR images being used to light 3d models and various backgrounds on my website. Please check out the following 3d renderings using HDR photography – and look at the bottom three rows for some examples of scenes lit using HDR panoramas.

    A well shot HDR will give the user an impression of what a scene actually looks like to the naked human eye. The examples that are shown on this page are often exaggerations of lighting conditions that are possible with tone-mapping software. Some of the results I think are brilliant. To others, these images may seem like an abomination and gross over-exaggeration of what “reality” really is. But needless to say, I think of this as an art form.

    Keep in mind that these are essentially photographs superimposed on top of one another. It takes a lot of skill to shoot these scenes as you have to be still (especially at lower exposures), be very wary of moving objects as to not introduce further blur, and also have an eye for composition as well. It takes a lot of patience and experimentation on the photographer’s part. HDRs by themselves (for the most part) serve very practical purposes in the 3d artist’s world and most do not look like “exaggerations,” although they do tend to produce more accurate lighting conditions as a whole if done properly.

  9. 259
    ForestWander Nature Photography
    August 27th, 2009 10:59 am

    These are all great.

    I will certainly have to try doing this with 1 shot images.

    These are real works of art.

  10. 260
    Chris
    August 29th, 2009 7:16 am

    LOL at all the snobby dips#!tz posting comments. Anyone who thinks their subjective opinion is canon is an ass by definition. Love ‘em, hate ‘em, its just an opinion and you aren’t the arbiter of all that is right and proper in this world. Perhaps the haters just lack imagination, or have never experienced “enhanced” modes of consciousness. Sometimes the world does look that this, and more.

  11. 261
    Mike Criss
    August 29th, 2009 7:48 am

    I really like the realistic HDR. I have lots of examples of not overdoing it.
    http://www.akphotograph.com/Alaska%20Blog/

  12. 262
    Patrick
    September 27th, 2009 11:18 am

    REALLY BAD ;
    One cann’t admire the photo’s for the simple reason that the site is working too slowly, sooo sloowlyy ….. At a snail’s peace !!

  13. 263
    Jay
    September 30th, 2009 9:18 pm

    Apart from 4-5 pictures, most of them look terrible – pastel like and grossly overcooked. Very few photographers can cook up a decent HDR image without those exaggerated halos. The problem is not so much with HDR images as with the people who ‘mix’ them. They always get a little carried away. Instead of keeping the HDR effect subtle, they max out all the settings.

  14. 264
    John Neel
    October 3rd, 2009 7:53 am

    I think HDR is very rarely done right. There’s too many cartoonish-looking images out there that give HDR a bad name. Here is an example of what HDR images should look like:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/42823328@N08/

  15. 265
    deng
    October 6th, 2009 10:49 pm

    good~~~~!

  16. 266
    natasya
    October 18th, 2009 6:07 am

    i swear, that’s picture is really really good.
    love it.. :)

  17. 267
    Steve
    October 21st, 2009 4:19 am

    Those results of the HDR-Photographies here are incredible. If you need some Links with informations ( Tutorials, Software, Books, etc. ) and of course some inspiration, don’t miss Best of High-Dynamic-Range – Fotos, Weblogs, Tutorials, Software, Books.

  18. 268
    Theodor
    October 21st, 2009 10:41 am

    How on earth did they take those bird pics in HDR? And how did they take that moving boat in HDR?

    Did they use a different process or are they fake?

  19. 269
    Ivan
    October 21st, 2009 11:55 pm

    Awfull pictures.
    KItch 100%

  20. 270
    Peggy
    October 25th, 2009 7:42 pm

    HDR is a technique. How long does it take to work a “photograph” and get it tone mapped, etc. I realize it takes usually 3+ photographs and appears to work best with a tripod. I am interested in how long from start to finish the amount of time it takes to make one of these photographs.

  21. 271
    creativebrain
    November 2nd, 2009 2:25 am

    great photograph taking.. just awesome

  22. 272
    Baba
    November 5th, 2009 9:18 am

    Please check out this pic here…. http://www.flickr.com/photos/justbaba/4072091400/

  23. 273
    steve
    November 10th, 2009 1:24 am

    I beg to differ. I find these pictures not fantastic but eye-hurtingly, stomach-churningly ugly. It takes a total lack of visual culture to think a good photo is one with its color saturation and contrast pushed to extremes and nothing like the real world. They are garish and vulgar. They are batch-produced, software-automated kitsch. I really think this “HDR”-craze is a new form of visual pollution that involves no-one but the most conformist and unimaginative people out there, the kind that dances to every new macarena without an iota of doubt if he sees other people doing just the same.

  24. 274
    David Macdonald
    November 10th, 2009 4:34 am

    Like all new techniques, people will go bananas over it for a while, some will rave, some will froth at the mouth. Right now it’s being completely overdone, used simply for its own sake instead of being needed or suitable. But once the dust has settled we will be the beneficiaries of another tool that, properly used when it’s needed or appropriate, will have its place and special uses and further expand our medium.

    I remember, in my business (movies) when the “Steadicam” was invented. Suddenly camera work was going crazy, rushing headlong up and down stairs, along twisting corridors, getting on and off moving vehicles, and all manner of crazy self conscious showy gimmicks that, for most part, added nothing except “cleverness” to either narrative or photography. Now, a good few years on, we have a wonderfully useful tool that, used in proper context, has made many a remarkable shot possible and enriched the spectator’s experience without, in most cases, them even being aware that a remarkable piece of technology has made possible the previously unthinkable.

    But right now HDR is being turned into a young fad that I think I can happily wait out ’till it matures a bit. On the other hand I am already starting to borrow some of the techniques and avenues it has opened up ….. and that, for me, is how it should be ….. never close a door ………

  25. 275
    Martin
    November 18th, 2009 1:59 pm

    Its funny how much controversy there is on HDR. Just like David Macdonald said. It’s a new technique that takes photographs to a different level. Of course it’s not the end all of photography. But why go all against it?
    90% of the people aren’t photographers, they don’t care how the photo is done as long as it leaves behind an emotional impact.
    Just like color photography didn’t end black and white, neither will HDR end standard photos.
    I’ve launched my own photoblog which has lots of HDR but also some non HDR.
    http://martinsoler.wordpress.com/


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