Here are a couple of hdr examples which do not look the way most hdr images do. I used the hdr image as a starting point for creating a more expressive image, and chose to lose information in both light and dark areas to serve that purpose. Hdr images are useful here for allowing a wider range of exploration.

I haven’t used my film SLR camera for several years, and one of the reasons was my frequent disappointment with the limited dynamic range of the photos. Very often, details in the light or shadow areas were lost, merging into a flat white or black hole in the picture. The only remedy was to get out my camera only in low contrast conditions such as overcast weather, or just before sunrise and after sunset. Even then, the shadows or highlights would often lose detail.

With digital SLRs, it is now easy to take high dynamic range photos, provided the subject doesn’t move too much. Since I got my first digital SLR a couple of weeks back, I have experimented some with HDR and am surprised of how easy it is to get decent results.

The hdr workflow is simple:

1. Take three or more differently exposed photos of the same scene, respectively exposed normally and for details in highlights and shadows
2. Import them to Photomatix or Photoshop CS2 or other hdr software and output the result through tone mapping
3. Edit in Gimp, Photoshop or other image editing software

Here are a few more details:

1. Taking the source images
   • Since the source images are combined into one, it works better with subjects that don’t move much. Some movement within the scene is usually OK.
   • It is helpful to use a tripod, but handheld works fine as well.
   • The easiest is to set the camera to auto-bracket the exposure, keeping the aperture constant and changing only the exposure time.
   • Feel free to break the old rules and choose high-contrast images: shoot into the sunset, include a bright light in the scene, or a backlit subject.
2. HDR processing
   • Photomatix is free for most of its functions, and about $100 for a full featured version. Photoshop CS2 also has an HDR function, but is more expensive.
   • When importing, remember that the resulting image has a tonal range far greater than what your computer screen can deal with, so it may well look awful on the screen. Don’t worry. It is supposed to.
   • Experiment with the tonal mapping to translate the raw hdr image into something that can be shown on a screen or printed on paper. Try several settings and choose the best one. Save it as a 16 bit tiff file.
3. Final editing
   • Import the tone mapped image into your image editing software. GIMP is a good choice since it is free (open source) and does most of what Photoshop does.
   • Edit as you would any other image. Although you have a wide dynamic range in your image, don’t be locked into the idea of having to preserve all the detail in the highlights and shadows. Some images work better when the contrast is a little higher, and you have more freedom to play with this when your source image has a high dynamic range.

Here is a scene that normally has too high contrast: a wall in the shade with a bright sky in the background.

I took three handheld exposures of this Portland street scene, using the auto-bracketing feature on my camera. The first image is normally exposed, and the two following under- and over-exposed two stops. (Three exposures and two stops either direction is the maximum on my camera, which is OK but a little limited for hdr photography. Five exposures and three or four stops cover a greater range and may be needed for extremely high contrast scenes.)

Normally exposed image with good details in the mid range.

Underexposed image, with details in the sky and clouds.

Overexposed image with information in the darkest shade areas.

I then imported them to Photomatix, and got this result on the screen. Moving the cursor over the image shows the area details in a separate window. (I have included two examples, one of details over the door and one in the clouds.) Photomatix automatically align the source images, and does a good job even with handheld exposures.

The hdr combination of the three source images, with information in the lightest and darkest areas.

And tone mapped it using the tone compressor option, and experimenting with the different settings to include as much information in the final image as possible.

The tone mapped output, ready for final editing.

The colors on the tone mapped image can get a little weird (it depends on the settings you use), so for the final editing, I like to keep the normally exposed source image up on the screen as a color reference. I used level, curves, color balance and hue adjustment layers for this image, and also masks to treat the sky slightly differently from the rest of the image. The final editing in Photoshop gave this result:

The final image, after editing in Photoshop. I went for a vivid but still relatively realistic look.

If you have questions, I’ll be happy to answer to the best of my (very limited) ability. Just post them below.

Here are some resources I found helpful when I first explored it:

• HDR Wikipedia article
• The Future of Digital Imaging: HDR - nice overview article
• HDR tutorial
• Flickr hdr group
• HDR Japan - the best hdr photos I have seen anywhere so far

During the most recent CSS retreat, the teacher mentioned how thoughts are most embedded in the visual field, as opposed to the other ones (sensations, taste/smell, sound).

When I explored it for myself, I found that thought seems equally “embedded”, or rather laid on top of, each of the sensory fields. In my case, and I assume this is somewhat common, there is a layer of visual thought images put on top of each sensory field: There is a sound, and a faint image of a car is put on top of it. A taste, and an image of the nose/mouth/throat area and an apple. A sensation, and an image of an ankle with a mosquito bite.

This is the same for each sensory field.

What is different, is that with the visual field, visual thought images are put on top of visual perceptions. There is visual on top of visual, which can make it more difficult to differentiate the two.

One way to differentiate, which we did during the retreat, is to close the eyes and become aware of, for instance, the visual thought image of the body, particular body parts, and how they move in anticipation of a movement of the body, or to keep track of current movements of the body. Then, we can open the eyes and get a sense of how the visual thought images are placed on top of the visual perceptions. With some practice, they become quite distinct.

Some thought-images of self I notice through choiceless awareness…

• Images of a particular identity at human level, used to differentiate this human self from other ones (coming up in contrast to what I see in others)
• Body image(s), placed on top of sensations, and used to interpret sensations and guide attention
• An image of a separate self, which…
  • Is located in the same general area of space as this body
  • Creates a sense of center here and periphery out there
  • Creates a sense of a hearer, seer, senser, doer
  • Is split into a separate self as an seen and seer, object and subject, which are located in slightly separate areas of space (for me, as seen a little ahead of the body, and as seer in or a little behind the head)
  • Is anchored in certain sensations in the body, generally in the head area
    • The exact sensations may change, especially if attention is brought to the one currently used as an anchor (another sensation may then become an anchor)
    • If an appropriate sensation is not available, or needs to be intensified, muscles tense up to create a clearer or stronger sensation
    • These sensations are “projected” to the appropriate area of space. For instance, an image of self as seer, hearer, doer may be located in the center of the head, but in the absence of sensations there, the closest sensations - for instance in the neck and throat, are used as anchor and now appear to be located in an area of space corresponding to the center of the head. Another thought is placed on it saying it is in the center of the head.

We went for a three-day snowshoeing trip along the rim of Crater Lake this weekend (click on the images to view full size or see more Crater Lake photos).

I recently went through some old photos and decided to make them into a few slideshows. The page is especially designed for stimuli-seekers (actually, it was just more convenient to put them all on one page.)