Joaquin Miller Park - High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography

These images from Joaquin Miller park are the result of HDR photography.  In HDR photography, you take three or more pictures with a variety of exposures.  Some images are under exposed, some are over exposed, in an effort to capture the full range of tonal detail.  Then, you use specialized software to combine the images in to one image.  The result is typically an image that shows much more color and detail than a single photo. The challenge when working with images of nature is the wind.  Usually, you can take three pictures of a scene quickly.  However, when working on a trail, especially under a tree canopy, single images can have up to 2 seconds of exposure time.  If there is even a slight breeze, the foliage moves, and combining other images may lead to slight bluring.  However, most of the time, the result is worth the effort.  I don't do this often because of the time involved, but I tried it at Joaquin Miller Park because of the range of light that day.   

Slideshow below: