Back 20 years, HDR and tone mapping was a big trend in digital photography. Extending the dynamic range by bracketing and stacking various exposure of the same frame then process the High Dynamic Range file through a specialised software like photomatix created some very vibrant images that were in fashion. The algorithms chosen were more that often leading to unrealistic pictures… like this:
I came back to stacking this year after an assignment to produce architectural illustrations but I did not want to go through a time consuming workflow. Capture One is now “HDR” able and allows to process manually a very large dynamic range picture obtained through the merging of many exposures. Since you do not rely on an already written process, you end up with more natural pictures. I wanted to combine the technique with long exposure during and after sunset. I elected my childhood home town as the subject. The river flowing there (le Loir) had already been a subject in the past. (The Shape of Water)
Here are the best processed images of this evening session:
