19 January 2008 Dynamic Range Redux
I talked a little bit about the concept of dynamic range here. One of the reasons I sported a little extra for my camera was because of its dynamic range, something not even matched, supposedly, by the dreamy new $5,000 Nikon D3, which, by the way, would make an excellent birthday present for my birthday tomorrow if anyone of near-unlimited means is reading and wondering.
Anyway, this particular closeup of an architectural feature of Kyoto Station (where I also shot yesterday’s photo), is a good example of dynamic range. The first photo below is the image as it came out of the camera, with lots of highlights and shadows. The second photo is where I’ve taken advantage of the dynamic range the S5 gives me and toned back the highlights and pushed back the shadows to reveal lots more detail on both ends.
All of which reveals…that the first image is better anyway. It’s a lot more dramatic. However, the advantage of thinking to myself in blog format like this is that I get to share both with all three people who visit every other month.
[Some more of Kyoto's very cool station can be viewed here. ]
2 comments in “Dynamic Range Redux”
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Happy belated birthday! So I guess you were born five days and a decade (?!) after me! It was cool for me to say my birthday was a national holiday in both the U.S. and Japan until the governments moved them to Mondays every year….
January 24th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Don’t know if I’m in that 3 but happy birthday and also I would be interested in a D3 as well if anyone is able to get 2. My birthday isn’t till September but I’m accepting presents as early as this week.
Dynamic range really comes into play with landscapes I think. Even the best cameras will benefit by a set of grad ND filters though. I can’t believe some of the things I’ve seen done with grad ND filter.