A little off the subject of rendering, but this past weekend, I explored HDR (high dynamic range) photography. While I’m not a professional by any means, a problem I’ve always had with photography was my inability to reproduce through the camera, what I was seeing in actuality. This, I learned, was due to the camera having a limited dynamic range. The human eye when looking at the scene is constantly adjusting to the area it is focusing on, appearing to have a higher range. Long story short, HDR can create a much more exciting and painterly look. I did a little test with a picture of my couch (too lazy to find a good architectural shot). Taking multiple photos with different exposures are combined in a process called “tonemapping” to form the final image.  I’m pretty excited with the possible implications this has to architectural renderings. Obviously computer renderings don’t have the color information a RAW DSLR photo has, however, I’m interested in achieving a similar look by experimenting with new work flows.

 

hdr_alex_hogrefe_couch

Above, the HDR image of my couch developed from the two images below

 

 

 

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Above, the original images taken with two different exposures