High Dynamic Range is a feature present in most current smartphone camera applications, while most people blindly assume that it makes your photos look better, there is more to it. If you are unaware of what HDR is or just want to learn how and when best to use the HDR feature, we explain what HDR is and how it can be helpful.
What is HDR?
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, in photography terms, Dynamic Range is the difference between the lightest and darkest elements of an image. HDR is a process that helps increase this dynamic range beyond what is normally captured by a smartphone lens. This can help create a more accurate representation of what you see with your eyes or sometimes create a more artistic high definition feel to the landscapes. The ultimate goal of HDR is to create a more impressive picture and it is not a feature that should be turned on for every single photograph. The effectiveness of HDR varies with the situation and mainly depends on what you are shooting.
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How Does HDR Work?
When you have HDR enabled and hit the shutter button, the camera captures several images in quick succession with different exposure values and then the camera software combines these images into a single photo that maintains detail from the darkest and the brightest regions. Prior to this functionality is implemented, some advanced users would manually capture three photos at different exposure levels and then transfer them to the PC to edit it on Photoshop or Lightroom from Adobe. These functionalities primarily combined the three images highlighting the best parts of the image to achieve the best effect.
Luckily, this is now implemented as standard on most modern smartphones and almost every manufacturer has adapted HDR to their camera software. When HDR is activated the phone does all the work automatically to capture the image and combine them to produce a wide range of highlights. Given the fact that HDR works by capturing multiple images and combining them together, it works best in static shots with steady hands.
Some new smartphones come with Auto HDR feature which you can turn on to let the smartphone decide when to use HDR. Smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S20, Note 10 and others also support HDR10+ video allowing you to capture videos in High Dynamic Range.
When to use HDR?
HDR usage is more subjective than it appears, there isn’t one single best way to use HDR, it generally boils down to what you want to achieve from the photo. We’ve included some tips for users who want to use HDR to understand what are the best situations to use this feature.
-Landscapes
When you are capturing a good photo, the lighting is one of the most important aspects, however, when you are outdoor, sunlight can cause too much contrast. HDR can balance this discrepancy so there are fewer bright white or dark black spots, below are two images with HDR enabled and then with HDR disabled, you can grab a closer look at the images to understand the difference HDR causes.
-Dim-light and backlit scenes
If the photo is dark in some specific areas then HDR can be used to raise the overall brightness levels of the image. While it is still software-based and you shouldn’t expect miracles out of it and if there is no light in a particular environment, then HDR can’t make light in it. However, since it works by taking the lightest and the brightest elements of a picture and combines them together, HDR photos can have a better overall appeal.
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