In this article I will be presenting a simple technique for producing results similar to High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI or just HDR) techniques but with a single photograph. While this technique is not a replacement for true HDR techniques using bracketing, it can yield very impressive results.
What is High Dynamic Range Imaging? HDR is a set of techniques that allow a great dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods.[1] Huh? What this means is that shadows will be darker, highlights brighter and overall color composition fuller. Typical photography methods usually involve 2 or more photographs at multiple exposures that are combined into a single composition. For example you might take a properly exposed shot and two additional shots at -2 stops and +2 stops then through software such as Photoshop you would merge these 3 photographs into a single image. See below an example of HDR at work.
Example High Dynamic Range Image
Now that we all know what effect we are trying to create let’s start.
Software & equipment needed
- Photoshop CS4 or CS5 (instructions are included for CS3)
- An image to work with, ideally 5 MP or larger
- 15 minutes of your time (sometimes easier said than done)
Step 1
Open the image you want to work with inside of Photoshop.
Figure 1 - Open image file to edit
Step 2
Make a copy of the first layer and name it Shadows/Highlights. You can do this by highlighting the layer and pressing Ctrl + J.
Figure 2 - Copy layer
Step 3
We are going to tweak the shadows and highlights as you might have guessed. To do so go to Image>Adjustments>Shadow/Highlights. To get the desired effect you’ll want to set the “Shadow” and “Highlight” to somewhere between 35 and 50. This will vary from image to image and really is a personal taste.
Figure 3 - Adjust shadows and highlights
Step 4
Duplicate your “Highlights/Shadows” layer and name it “Desaturated”. Again highlight the layer and press Ctrl + J. Go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate or press Shift+Ctrl+U. Finally change the layer mode to Hard Light.
Figure 4 - Set layer mode to hard light
Step 5
Create a copy of your original image and name the layer Blur. Next apply a Gaussian Blur with a 40 pixel radius (again personal taste here, so adjust until you are happy) by going to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Finally, set the layer mode to Soft Light.
Figure 5 - Set layer mode to soft light
Conclusion
While this technique will produce results similar to a true High Dynamic Range Image it does not exactly replicate it do to missing information. So for a quick effect this technique works well, but if you truly want HDR image shoot using bracketing and use Photoshop’s HDR feature to merge and manipulate them.
Figure 6 - Photograph before High Dynamic Range Effect
Figure 7 - After High Dynamic Range Imaging
Source: wikipedia.com
