Digital Dark Room - "high-end photography" - About High Dynamic Range Images (HDRI)
The dynamic range - ratio between d a r k and b r i g h t regions - in the visible world far exceeds the range of human vision and of images that are printed or displayed on a monitor.
But whereas human eyes can adapt to very different b r i g h t n e s s levels, most cameras and computer monitors can capture and reproduce only a fixed dynamic range.
Photographers, motion picture artists, and others working with digital images must be s e l e c t i v e about what’s important in a scene because they are working with a limited dynamic range.
High Dynamic Range Images open up a world of possibilities because they can represent the [ entire dynamic range ] of the visible world.
Because all the luminance values in a real-world scene are represented proportionately and stored in an HDR image, adjusting the exposure of an HDR image is like adjusting the exposure when photographing a scene in the real world.
This capability lets you create blurs and other real-world lighting effects that look realistic.
Currently, High Dynamic Range Images are used mostly in motion pictures, special effects, 3D work, and some high-end photography.
