HDR Tone Mapping - Create More Realistic Images
Photography is a great thing, but a camera can never capture an image as good as the human eye can.
If you use HDR tone mapping or high dynamic range tone mapping for your photos then you can get a little step closer to capturing real life scenes.
In this article I'm going to discuss what HDR tone mapping is, how it works and how you can do it yourself.
So what does high dynamic range mapping do? It takes the tonal values of a high range image and compresses it into a lower one.
Why would you do this? Computer screens and printed paper can display such high ranges, so if you want your image to look the same as it does with a mapped image then you are going to have to use tone mapping.
It can be used for other purposes too though.
Most people use it to create and image that shows more detail than a non HDR photograph, but some people use it to get very abstract effects.
How do you create a HDR tone map? To create a HDR tone map you first are going to need three images that have the identical subject but have different exposures.
So let's say you photographed a tree.
To create a map you are going to need an underexposed version of that tree, a neutral one and overexposed version of it.
If you have these images you can import these to your favorite photo editing software and merge them together.
Good software to use: Photomatix: Photomatix is a program created by HDRsoft and focuses on high dynamic range creation and HDR mapping.
For US $99 it is relatively cheap and the light version is even cheaper (US $39).
It's available for Mac and PC.
FDRtools: FDRtools can take a dull, low contrast photograph and turns it into an impressive image by using the techniques we've talked about.
The basic version of FDR tools is free and can be download from their site.
Photoshop: If you don't want to invest in specialized mapping software then there's an other alternative: Photoshop.
I don't think this program needs an explanation as it is incredibly popular.
It doesn't have a HDR creation module built-in but it is very easy to create such images because there are a lot of tutorials on the internet.
GIMP: If you don't want to invest in specialized HDR software and you don't have Photoshop then there's a free alternative too: GIMP.
GIMP is an open source image editor and you'd be surprised how much it is capable of.
There are also a lot of tutorials of how to create a nice image using HDR tone mapping with GIMP.
If you'd like to know more about photography and tone mapping check out my blog.
If you use HDR tone mapping or high dynamic range tone mapping for your photos then you can get a little step closer to capturing real life scenes.
In this article I'm going to discuss what HDR tone mapping is, how it works and how you can do it yourself.
So what does high dynamic range mapping do? It takes the tonal values of a high range image and compresses it into a lower one.
Why would you do this? Computer screens and printed paper can display such high ranges, so if you want your image to look the same as it does with a mapped image then you are going to have to use tone mapping.
It can be used for other purposes too though.
Most people use it to create and image that shows more detail than a non HDR photograph, but some people use it to get very abstract effects.
How do you create a HDR tone map? To create a HDR tone map you first are going to need three images that have the identical subject but have different exposures.
So let's say you photographed a tree.
To create a map you are going to need an underexposed version of that tree, a neutral one and overexposed version of it.
If you have these images you can import these to your favorite photo editing software and merge them together.
Good software to use: Photomatix: Photomatix is a program created by HDRsoft and focuses on high dynamic range creation and HDR mapping.
For US $99 it is relatively cheap and the light version is even cheaper (US $39).
It's available for Mac and PC.
FDRtools: FDRtools can take a dull, low contrast photograph and turns it into an impressive image by using the techniques we've talked about.
The basic version of FDR tools is free and can be download from their site.
Photoshop: If you don't want to invest in specialized mapping software then there's an other alternative: Photoshop.
I don't think this program needs an explanation as it is incredibly popular.
It doesn't have a HDR creation module built-in but it is very easy to create such images because there are a lot of tutorials on the internet.
GIMP: If you don't want to invest in specialized HDR software and you don't have Photoshop then there's a free alternative too: GIMP.
GIMP is an open source image editor and you'd be surprised how much it is capable of.
There are also a lot of tutorials of how to create a nice image using HDR tone mapping with GIMP.
If you'd like to know more about photography and tone mapping check out my blog.
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