thanks a lot!

So kitsch :p

Nice pics! Link [www.hdr-photogallery.com] should have a place here too!

Niiice…

Wouwww, these are really gorgeous!!!

I can safely say that, these aren’t the one the best HDR pics. I am great fan of HDR pics and have seen really great of them. I am not blaming though, as you have already explained that in your disclosure. Some are really great, though. Keep it up!!

this hdr trend is really annoying. it’s just pimping boring photos that lack of content. i wouldn’t even call it photography at all, sorry.

I totally agree with that! I think it is becoming the “Bob Ross technique” of the photography.

@Henrik

Sorry but some of those pictures are really good. They have good motives, moods and perspective and would still be good shots if they where B&W. And to “not even call it photography at all” is kind of stupid. A photo doesnt always have to tell a heartbreaking to be good. At least show us something that you would call good photography.

Being Singaporean, its nice to see 3 photos of Singapore in the collection. :)

I am starting to really get into HDR photography and this post has given me such inspiration - what an absolutely fantastic post - thanks!

The pics are lovely… but what is the equipment you need to shoot them? Is this an expensive technique?

For the last link, use this for the photo page: Link [flickr.com]

Wow, what a collection …

Would be good to see a ‘(Really) Stunning Desktop HDR Wallpapers’. These are stunning, but I want ‘em bigger!

Gorgeous pictures, thank you!

Amazing collection!
kuldeep, please post the links to better images, I’d love to see them!

some good pics here, but i’m afraid HDR is one of the techniques that you can screw up most… and i promise to those of you who are stunned by all of the pictures up here cause it’s the first time you see hdr-pictures: it won’t be long, and you’ll start to hate these unnaturally overstructured skies on the photos of e.g. the golden gate bridge or that greek temple. these are some better examples of how NOT to apply the HDR-technique. golden rule as always: keep it natural…
and btw: there are some “fake” HDRs on this list. a real HDR is composed of several pictures with different exposure time, and i guess it might be difficult to get these birds to stay in the same position for several shots… not that anyone cared, just wanted to be the smart-ass…:P

Fantastical and fun. I would love to publish a poetry book with such pics…..

And another Photoshop filter becomes trendy. The HDR “look” to images (#2, #3, #5, #8) will come and go, and the faster this look goes, that better.

There is good reason to use HDR photography techniques: to capture a wider dynamic range. See #1, #13, #18, and maybe #35 - wide dynamic range, no Photoshop filter look (oh, sorry - I suppose you think these images have “style”? You don’t get style out of a Photoshop filter).

@dharma: no equipment except for a $69 Photoshop filter. Just take a bracketed exposure (+/- 2 stops, generally) and let Photoshop do the work. You will need a camera that you can control manually, though.

These are so beautiful. I’m in love.

Very very nice, it looks so amazing

I like the disclaimer you posted for all the elitist ass hats.

Another HDR post. As im a image passionate this techniques are just a wonderfull way to improve may pictures. you can see my photographic portfolio at Link [www.eyefragments.com]

Wow! and 2 pics are my country :)

you claim the intention (of hdr-technique) is to “accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes”, then you post 30-odd tone-mapped-to-hell examples of hdr photography at its absolute worst. nice one!

This stuff is so incredible. True HDR or not, it’s a great looking effect and these images really “pop”. I’m glad this effect is not something easily obtainable otherwise you’d start seeing it all over.

damn it, its really fantastic!

I absolutely agree with shasta. There are some good pictures over here, but (to me, of course) many of them sucks - Golden Gate’s and greek temple’s being probably the worst, sure… wanna see some beautiful examples of HDR photography?

Link [www.cambridgeincolour.com]

Nice. There are more here Link [mintywhite.com]

I second shasta, chus and others who comment on the “unreality” of many of these photos. Some of them look like they belong on the cover of cheesy fantasy novels. And I will second Chus’ link to Link []. THAT is some beautiful HDR work!

terrible! Nuff said, these all are tone mapped way beyond….

If this was digg I would give you -1

Pictures are quite nice but they also suffer from to much contrast. The eye is naturally attracted by contrast and this is the main reason for the appreciation these images get.
They are from a pictorial point of view different but
after a few pictures I seem to look at something that is all the same.

No doubt. Hallucination - maybe. Nice photos - definitely not.

Beautiful pictures, very crisp and clean!

$69 dollar filter? Some of the best HDR software is free. Just started using it this weekend. Equipment needed/recommended would be a camera that allows either Auto Bracketing or manual control and a nice, stable tripod. Another good item to have is a cable release, but not needed. And the most important thing, is an eye for photography. Doesn’t matter how much PP you do, with out the initial vision, you still get garbage.

Hard to believe that everyone of these pictures was originally a photograph.

Awesome eye candy!

Applied carefully, High Dynamic Range-technique (HDR) can create incredibly beautiful pictures

Unfortunately a lot of these are over the top with the HDR, which I personally dont like. but too each his own… if it’s the photographers/artists intent to create a surreal, and sometimes ugly (hahah personal opinion sneeking in again) image… then more power to you.

Wow, these are beautiful - although some of them look unreal and almost like computer generated like the SF bridge.
Nice collection.

You have a LOT to learn about HDR. These all look like Photomatix jobs with the dial set to “11″ (Spinal Tap reference). If it no longer LOOKS like a photograph, then the HDR has not been done correctly. If it still looks like a photograph, but somehow better (like Ansel Adams zone system shots did for B&W), then you’ve got a well done HDR job.

If you want to see HDR done right, check out this guy’s work: BackingWinds. He’s a professional photoshopper and also a budding pro photographer and I think you’ll see some stuff that doesn’t look like such an obvious CGI.

Someone of these look incredible — I especially like the upward shot of the skyscrapers. However, it should be noted that these all more or less have the same look and feel: overprocessed and unreal. You can, however, create much more realistic results using Photoshop CS2 or CS3’s built in HDR function. I have a Photoshop HDR Tutorial on my blog; Photoshop can lead to some stunning results.

Terrible.

Reminds me of a new photoshop user - uses every gimmicky filter he can get his hands on to create …err *cough* …’art’

The original use of HDR photography was to accurately light computer generated 3d scenes…why don’t we let it stay that way.

This a fad that will date, die and decay just as quickly as snow washed jeans!

abicim muhteşem bunlar be. insanın hepsini arkaplan yapıp sabah akşam karşısında dalıp gidesi geliyo. yapanlara helal olsun…

I think a few of the photos are a bit too HDR. I love HDR when it is simple like the one of the skyscrapers looking up towards the sky or the picture of the lake in Norway. Great article anyways though.

UtahLuxury.com

Very nice collection, however, i hate black clouds in the sky, they just aren’t natural

Whatever happened to just taking a really well composed and properly exposed photograph? For example, Ansel Adams achieved dramatic effects without Photomatix.

Reminds me of when the Matrix came out, and everywhere you looked, even Subaru commercials, they all used that same freeze/surround effect. This is just another one of those gimicks.

Wow! New background :).

I’m shootin’ RAW from now on!

Here is also an amazing HDR of rockafeller center that i found check it out

Link [www.wallpaperstop.com]

Only maybe 4 or 5 that are actually done tastefully, the rest are pretty standard garish HDR… but some are pretty stunning, decent collection all in all.

Most of these are way over done for my taste. You say they look fake (they do) but “they are not.” Well, the Golden Gate photograph is clearly looking south, from the north side of the Gate, yet on the south side hills, WHERE IS THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO? All I see are tree covered hills and maybe a few houses. I call it fake when something so obvious, which in reality is there, is missing.

more HDR pictures here
Link [www.techamok.com]

Another potentially useful Photoshop technique embarrassingly abused.

That is really cool…

Can I put this article to my own blog,too ?
I will translate this article to Chinese and will link back to your site.

Very cool pictures.

HDR photography is amazing. I hope this “trend” sticks around for awhile. :)

Grat..so beautiful & dramatic!

wow some of you are douchebags. SM tends to post extreme examples IMO for the idea to come across clearly. if they have to explain what HDR stands for in the description, why the hell are you looking at it if you are an ‘expert’ in the field?? and why would you waste your time posting negative comments about a clearly obvious attempt to inspire people in a positive way? i think this list is great for people who don’t understand what HDR is or are new to the idea. stop spreading your jaded views and go get laid losers.

@ John. While the SF bridge pic is certainly a fake HDR, the “fake” trees and hill? Its called the Presidio, look it up on google maps or something….

Its really funny how people always seems to be amazed by the “painterly” HDR style, to me they a really (mostly) boring. I like images that makes you stop and say: “Im looking at an ordinary photography and yet there’s something different” - and occasionally i do a “painterly” style.

@JnJn: You sure?

these photos are absolutely amazing. i’m so gonna try doing one… i just need a subject…… hmmmm

Most of these are over processed rubbish :( I hate it when people over process HDR images. Dont get me wrong there were a few nice ones there.

This is really fantastic ! I love all of them Thank you smashing magazine for sharing them

“Another potentially useful Photoshop technique embarrassingly abused.”

U take words right out of my mouth.

Amazing!

HDR sucks get over your fantasy and look at the real world.

Photoshop should be outlawed. You people are as bad as Trekkies.

HDR = High Digg Rate

People can use anything they can,
photo never ever was something that shows reality,
but I agree that some of them have crossed the line
buts its ok, always great photographers used special fx in their compositions, including Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Sebastiao Salgado,
whats matter its the message.

These are some absolutely amazing photos.

How user friendly or beginner friendly is this approach?

simply amazing …
beautiful pictures …

Wow, These are spectacular… I know people rail on HDR as not real photography but I think they’re two different arts… When the camera came out did people complain that pictures weren’t really paintings?

Meh. Whatever. I love them, they beat mine :-)

Most pics seem polluted, skies of unbreathable air. Don’t like it much…

Most pics seem polluted, skies full of air you can’t breathe. Don’t like it much…

All I can say is wow! Very inspirational images.
thanks

I absolutely love HDR… check out my friend Eric’s HDR work at Link [www.ericpalooza.com]. There are other amazing web sites out there that feature HDR and you can find them on Flickr. I have not been so inspired since the early 90s days of learning Photoshop then experimenting with Kai’s Power Tools… But the fact this process is just the three exposures mapped together is really incredible.

About time it was featured here :) Nice job on this blog btw, this is my first post.

非常漂亮!

see my friends’ photos in Flickr~

HDR is a nice techinique to enhance an already great scene (revive contrast in a wash-out sky, etc…). Great scenes are not created by using HDR. In fact this techinique has been in use for many years in various forms i.e. multiple exposures like this image.

super cool pics

Wow!

these pictures are aweful… :/

I’m glad there’s a range of comments here:
At first I thought “Wow, awesome.” Then I thought “Some of these look like composites rather than HDR.”
It’s true that a lot don’t really represent reality and some are fake HDR, but I kinda love the unrealistic dramatism in a lot of these (including the Golden Gate Bridge) nice round up.

p.s. why does it welcome me as a Stumble Upon user every time I come here? I always link through from my RSS reader.

Wow! This is an amazing collection. Out of curiosity, are these all edited photographs or are there pure 3ds stuff?

I’m no a huge fan of HDR photography, but all the fake calls are a bit unfounded, I’m guessing most HDR photos are relatively unedited (in terms of altering the pixels) compared to the airbrushed, cut, smoothed, smudged, healed, painted, reduced, replaced and whatnot photos that you find on the cover of what seems like 80 percent of magazines, I got a serious shock the other day watching a photographer prepare some images for a fashion spread, there were a whole lotta layers going on there.
photoshop is not photography, I think we all realise that.

35 Perfectly executed HDR-pictures ….

Sorry to break your bubble but man I think you don’t know what HDR stands for. A lot of these are not.

By the way this is an abuse of Photoshop from a photographer’s point of view. This is not even digital photography.. but digital art. I’m quite sick of people mistaking this as photography.

The impression on the Golden Bridge is the superlative horrendous.

I wonder if National Geographic would even think of using any of these photos in their publication.

Claude of Belgium.
C’est tout simplement magnifique, je ne peu pas mieux dire.
Merci.

I have mixed feelings about HDR, and this selection is a pretty good example of why. When done in moderation, the HDR effect enhances an already well-done photo (in terms of subject, lighting, composition, etc). The cathedral photo is a good example - with just one exposure, architectural and other detail would be lost. This photo doesn’t have the unnatural HDR “look” that the unfortunate Golden Gate photo has.

Sadly, for every decent HDR there are dozens of photos that have the look of the Golden Gate - overprocessed, unnatural, with dark skies, and that obviously look heavily edited in PS.

you know they are really cool photo’s but this HDR shouldn’t be called real untampered photos because they are tampered with looks like photoshop

Sooooo amazing pictures!

Applied carefully… yeah, but these are not very good examples. Unpleasant images, too sharp. too much contrast, artifacts and dark glow everywhere. Thats horrible. Maybe 2 or 3 images could be saved from there, and one of them (the bird) is not HDR - you can’t make real HDR images with moving subjects! That’s more of a “simulated” HDR.

To make an hdr image all you need is a digital camera, and some way to merge the photos together. You bracket at least three phots, one two stops over, one two stops under, and one normal exposure. Then their is a website called photomatix that you download their program (its free, but leaves a watermark), and this merges the three photos together. You then have to make some adjustments giving you the picture that yuou want. I hope this helps

Hah. I’ve hated HDR since i started seeing it applied to photographs. it’s disgusting, why not just put your damn photos in a microwave.

Please, amateurs, GET OVER THIS FAD AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

ok now i’m confused

what makes an hdri real
is it the fact that the measured dynamic range is high or the fact that it’s a composite from many images?
also what if i use images in which only one has a bird (or better still i add the bird after i’m done)…does that make it fake?
besides bracketing or taking different exposures is not the only way to get a wide range of exposure values…simply shooting an image in raw can do something close to this

granted some shots were probably done using some shadow/highlight tool or ‘cheap’ filter, but can’t those still increase the dynamic range somewhat?

i’m a fan of fantasy cos the real world can get really boring
i appreciate even the over-the-top renditions of the clouds

i don’t think photoshop was made for only realistic depictions
in fact i don’t think anyone exists who’s ever used up photoshop’s potential

Wow Perfectly pictures thanks…

wow very nice…….

wonderful pictures , I like them.

They are photographs, but they’re not representative of the real world. Neither is an impressionist painting, though. You like them, or you don’t, depending on your point of view. We expect photographs to depict reality, but mostly they don’t - even the realistic-seeming ones.

These are awesome pictures . Haven´t seen such beautiful images in a while now.

OK or no OK

Wow, those were some of the most breath taking snaps i have ever scene. A fantastic Collection. Thank you,

sooo soooo nice it’s so beautifull,fantastic

Most of the time when I look at HDR I just think “this is how Thomas Kinkade would take photographs.” :\

That’s fantastic. drives me more creative HDR way…

wuoooooww!!!!
Excelentes imágenes!

Great pictures! i’ll be looking for some from Africa. T

Truly horrible, Most of them wouldn’t look out of place on a cheap holiday gift
eg: tea tray, biscuit tin lid.

GARBAGE!

Not my style. Too artificial.
The colors are very dark vivid.

Owww! My eyes!

Two or three of these aren’t bad but, overall, yuck! It’s the black velvet Elvis painting of photography.

Fantastic pictures. Lots of inspiration to us budding photographers. I hope to see more again soon.

most are over done with the light smoothing. the key to a good HDR is to make people not know if it is infact an HDR. cool images though.

Link [www.mcxlphotography.com]

if developed “out of usual photos”: looks magic (+time factor :)) but it seemed, I’ve got a digital photo… translates some of used effects (here on sky, there on water); sure, it wasn’t very easy to take it…

attribution?

Way to rip off the photographers, blogspam.

Very nice ! i love the pictures!

Horrible tastless kitch. Algorithmic street market art :)

To me, HDR is the photographic equivalent of eighties synths imitating saxophones. People can tell it’s supposed to sound like a sax, but sure as hell doesn’t. Not only that, it’s just plain ugly, and most people agree. The people that are making those images are not photographers, but fiddlers who like to push technological limits beyond the boundaries of taste. Sadly, I think HDR will slowly take hold…the last few National Geographics I’ve received have had a few strangely HDR-ish images Subtle, but still having that rubbery shadows appearance. The biggest laugh is when HDR-philes claim it is more able to accurately imitate what the human eye sees. Well, maybe on acid….

so much negativity i should think everyone has 10 times better in every room of their home which they did them selves . As for me i think them all to be interesting pieces of art . Personally i dislike the MonaLisa……….

Niice But Cant See It Im At school and got to do a front magazine in ict and its very boaring LmaoO…Hehe tb..x

WOW… this list looks pretty exciting.

very very beautiful …

Good old AA was the first HDR photographer. He captured a greater range, using a development technique called ‘pulling’ to reduce the contrast of the negative in order to preserve a greater range of information on his negatives. This was developed into what was called the Zone technique. Since his time, film curves have gotten less steep (indicating a greater range of a workable negative).

All photographers when starting out with this technique inevitably make prints that are too flat or too contrasty. It is very difficult to change the dynamic range of the eye into a photograph and then to produce an (apparently) accurate dynamic range from the photo. Masters of this technique, Ansel Adams and Minor White, among a many others, produce images that vary in dynamic range greatly from what the eye sees, or what a straight print would produce, but do not appear unnatural.

That is to say, it is not ‘better’ or ‘worse’ to effect the dynamic range of a photography. However, it does reflect a mastery of the technique when this technique does not impact the viewing of the image. It is also to say that HDR simply means “high dynamic range,” where “high” can only be assumed to be used relatively. Considering the history of photography has included with it a steady increase of the dynamic range of its medium, the extension of “HDR” is constantly shifting. “True HDR” is either meaningless or requires a certain context to be defined. The same can and should be said of “True Photography.” Have any of you ever shot without a light meter? Perhaps THAT is true photography, since this how it began.

Further, we should remember (or learn for the first time) Kant. He (basically) told us that a beautiful painting is not, should not be beautiful simply because we like painting, or this painter, or this kind of painting. A photograph is not, should not, be beautiful simply because it uses HDR. It is beautiful because it excites our imagination and our understanding, puts them endlessly into play and raises our minds awareness of itself and humanity. Or something like that.

BOoooooooooooobm!!!!! It ’s like dream.

What so many wonderful pictures! Congratulations!

Krébus, from Brazil.

These are mostly awful and totally unrealistic. HDR can be a great technique, but the tone-mapping software still has many shortcomings and requires quite a bit of postprocessing to give good results. The results straight out of the tone-mapping software is mostly oversaturated and ‘muddy’ and quite a few times suffers from halos.

very nice

I’m not an expert on HDR technology but if the intention is to capture the intensity of the moment then HDR has achieved its purpose. Besides, I think most experts find ways to discredit rather than enjoy a profound work of art.

are very nice picture but please to make other picture to this form help us
thank you:)

i dont see the point in this, watever hapened to appreciating an original untampered photo???

Okay, first of all, all you haters need to get over yourselves. This is clearly an amature attempt to create HDR imagery, but you don’t need to shoot the photos down horrificly as if you know everything you are talking about .You are pathetically trying to prove your significant superiority. While some of these may seem to provide a cartoon halo kind of look, it was a good attempt, but would not be classified as HDR. HDR is simply molding a series of differently lighted images of the same frame together to create light and focus throughout the entire photograph- Period dot!

I may not know too much about HDR myself because this is only my second year in a photography as a profession, but i know that art itself is an entirely wide open subject. Anything can be depicted as art, it just depends on the consumer. Such as when rap took its claim to fame…many of us decided “it was simply nothing in comparrison to the performing arts” and others decided “this is totally rad dog!” Either way 50 cent is still a millionare and haters are still stuck bickering with nothing close to comparrison.

While many of you may say these images are herendous and a horrid attempt at HDR, i beg to differ…they may not replucate true HDR images but i see them as good valid attempts, and there is simply nothing quixotic about that! I mean god what do all of you assholes want, an effing cookie??

So all and all, haters go home and get to work, until you come back with something for everyone to critique YOU on, shut the hell up and let people find their nitch.

I kind of wish we see the world in this way…all bright and colorful.

Nneeeh… I can call fantastic just six pictures… Rest of this set is very ugly — I don’t like such “HDR” at all.

ULTIMATE PICTURES.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

TO CHEER EVERYONE’S MOOD.

GREAT STRESS BUSTER ONE U CHECK ALL THE SNAPS.

REALLY RAVISHING

it’s……fantastic, gorgeous, amazing….. no words…. only emotiouns….

Nature is plain lame in comparison. I don’t ever have to go outside anymore for fear of being unimpressed. Who needs nature when it can be glorified on a computer screen!

HAIL HDR!

lol… the 6th to last one, orange sunset… check out those Chem trails in the sky!! Government at work trying to kill us.

Why could not the pictures with the birds flying be genuine HDR attempts? Rather than taking multiple shots and merge them for HDR, we could also have just one RAW file, and come up with such HDR images, right?