What Is HDR Photography?

New! Create stunning HDR photos with Eclipse HDR

HDR Photo Editor inPixio has just welcomed two new programs to the photo editing family: Eclipse HDR and Eclipse HDR Pro. These HDR editors allow you to create beautiful photos with perfect lighting and tones. What’s more, like all inPixio software, they are easy to master and accessible to everyone.

But before we find out more about Eclipse HDR and Eclipse HDR Pro, let’s start by answering the question that will be on many reader’s lips: what is HDR photography and the meaning of HDR?

The meaning of HDR is High Dynamic Range and refers to the difference between the lightest and darkest parts of an image.

Have you ever taken a picture of a beautiful landscape only to find that the colors don’t turn out as vibrant as you remember?

This is because for some scenes your eyes can capture a wider range of light levels than your camera can. In other words, your camera produces images with a lower dynamic range than what you saw with your eyes. Result? The colorful high contrast sunset you remember now looks a little dull.

The mission of HDR photography and HDR software is to increase the dynamic range of a photo by adding the light back in and selecting the right tones to create a perfectly exposed and more realistic-looking image.

Before and after editing with Eclipse HDR Pro

So how does HDR photo editing work?

In traditional HDR photography, you take three versions of a photo at different light levels. Usually one bright, one medium and one darker exposure. Your HDR software then merges these shots to extract the best parts of each. The result is a new photo with an increased dynamic range that has more natural light and color than the original.

3 exposures of the same image with the final HDR result

Some recent HDR software, such as Eclipse HDR, allows you to add HDR effects to a single photo, meaning that it is now possible to create beautiful HDR images without a HDR camera or equipment.

Why should you try HDR photography?

It’s simple really; HDR image editing is a great way to ensure a well-lit and colorful image capable of wowing Instagram. Photographers use this technique on all kinds of photos. As mentioned before, it is particularly useful for taking pictures of scenes with contrasting light and dark areas, such as panoramas, landscapes and cityscapes. HDR software is also a great tool for anyone shooting interiors and real estate photos as it allows you to make your photos more vibrant and realistic.

HDR editing can be used for all kinds of pictures and is great for cityscapes.

Eclipse HDR – HDR editing for beginners and pros

The new Eclipse range from inPixio offers HDR editors suitable for both beginners and more advanced users so that everyone can create their own beautiful HDR photos.

Eclipse HDR is designed for anyone who wants to give HDR editing a try for the first time without making a big investment.

One of the great points of this software is that you can add HDR effects to a single photo. This means that even if you don’t have the equipment, such as a HDR camera to take multiple exposures, you can still create amazing HDR-style photos with vibrant lighting and color.

Another thing that makes Eclipse HDR easy to use is the presets. With a single click, you can test different effects on your photo that can give you a professional-looking result in seconds.

Find out more about Eclipse HDR

Selecting different light sources in Eclipse HDR Pro

Once you’re ready to take the next step with your HDR images, you can try Eclipse HDR Pro. This program includes the same easy-to-use editing options as the standard version but with a whole toolkit of more advanced features on top.

In the pro version of Eclipse HDR, you have an advanced Tone Mapping Engine that produces perfectly exposed, natural-looking HDR images without the usual halo and color shift problems. You can also precision edit RAW images using a wide selection of adjustment curves, and remove noise from your HDR photos.

A unique feature of the pro version is the HDR ReLight module that allows you to choose which areas of lighting you want to show in your photo. The software automatically detects light sources in your image, and lets you switch them on and off one by one. You can also edit your lights to change daytime to night, or totally alter the color of your lighting.

Discover Eclipse HDR Pro

HDR photography for everyone

HDR photo editing is a great way to create natural-looking, colorful images and Eclipse HDR makes it easy to get started whatever your level and experience.

So why not try Eclipse HDR and Eclipse HDR Pro and start creating your own stunning HDR photos today!