Do your images struggle with the brilliance of a beautiful sunrise or the intricate details in the face of the full moon? Do your photographs fully express the gorgeous natural scenes that you witness?
Click here to download the examples in this video and play along! (Subscribers Only)
Please watch this video tutorial on a recent smartphone or computer monitor using the Google Chrome web browser. Older displays, and other web browsers, cannot accurately illuminate the expanded tonal range needed for this technique.
Beyond The SDR Limits
For years, our photography has been crippled by the limited tonal range that Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) computer monitors can display. The SDR monitors that we have been using since the dawn of digital photography simply cannot reproduce the full spectrum of light and color that our raw files can capture.
Fortunately, better screens are everywhere these days and we can now use Adobe Lightroom to create stunning photographs that are optimized for OLED computer monitors and smartphone displays. With the right hardware, and HDR Editing Mode in Lightroom, we can finally break through the SDR barrier!
The New HDR: Natural Editing in Lightroom Classic
Editing for an HDR-capable display is about achieving a natural, true-to-life representation of your scene. This lesson is NOT about the overprocessed “HDR” aesthetic that was popular a few years ago nor is this tutorial about blending multiple images together.
Throughout this video, I will show you how to process a single raw file for maximum visual impact using an expanded range of tones in Lightroom Classic.
Why HDR Matters for Your Landscape Photographs
Our raw files capture an enormous amount of dynamic range. Most digital cameras can capture around 14 stops of light; however, a significant portion of this data—especially in the highlights—is lost when we are forced to edit these images for SDR display.
Modern HDR or XDR displays, like those in the current line of Apple MacBookPro laptops and many high-end smartphones, can illuminate pixels that are far brighter than an old SDR monitor’s maximum white point. This expanded tonal range allows for:
- More Luminous Highlights: Sunrise and sunset photographs that truly radiate light rather than appearing clipped or dull.
- Increased Depth & Realism: The expanded tonal range gives your images a more three-dimensional feel pulling your viewer’s attention deeper into the scene.
- Stunning Visual Impact: Your photographs provide a more immersive and accurate viewing experience with HDR editing and display.
Master HDR Editing in Lightroom Classic
In this comprehensive tutorial, I will walk you through the essentials of HDR Editing Mode in Lightroom Classic. This is an advanced editing technique but if you have the right hardware, and solid Lightroom image editing skills, then HDR Editing Mode is not hard to master.
Don’t let the limitations of antiquated display technology hold your artistic vision back. It is time to embrace the future of photography!
Click here to see a gallery of High Dynamic Range images edited with this new technique.
