Mastering exposure: Understanding dynamic range in photography

At the launch of every new smartphone, companies usually boast about their ability to capture photos with high dynamic range. While dynamic range was once a big talking point for DSLRs, it has now come to dominate smartphone photography as well.

Now, if all the talk has at all made you wonder what dynamic range, is and why it is such a big deal in the world of photography, you came to the right place. We’ve put together this little explainer on just what dynamic range is and how it works. Read on.

Understanding dynamic range in photography

Photography is nothing but mastering light, and dynamic range helps you understand and master that light. A greater dynamic range means that your photo has more tonal variations, or in other words, it means that your photo has a wide range of tones from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. Dynamic range is measured in stops. Which is basically the exposure level.

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Each stop or level of exposure represents a doubling or halving of light. That is to say, when you increase exposure by one stop, it means that you are doubling the amount of light entering the camera. Now, dynamic range or exposure level is affected by factors such as lighting conditions and sensor size with larger sensors having a greater dynamic range and a DSLR or mirrorless camera having a dynamic range between 10 to 15 stops.

High dynamic range photos: What you need to know

While dynamic range is a technicality in photography, the term high dynamic range has come to dominate the conversation more than other concepts. The idea of high dynamic range or HDR photography is to capture a greater range of details in a single image. This is usually done by combining multiple shots taken at different exposure levels and achieving a tonal range impossible with a single shot.

The best use of high dynamic range (HDR) is when you are shooting scenes with both bright highlights and dark shadows. Usually, photographers employ the technique called expose to the right (ETTR) to ensure that images are correctly exposed for the highlights. This technique avoids overexposing the highlights and capturing additional information in the shadows.

Camera HDR: The process

On a smartphone, you will have the option to enable or disable the high dynamic range (HDR) option. On a digital camera, it is better to utilise exposure bracketing to automatically capture multiple images at various exposure levels. Typically, a DSLR captures 3 to 5 images with different exposure settings and then these multiple exposures are merged in an image editing software.

The benefit of capturing multiple exposures and combining them to form a single image is that it helps with the accurate representation of the full range of colours perceived by the human eye. It is true that most cameras are only capable of capturing half as much dynamic range as possible and by using HDR, you are utilising your camera’s full capability.

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When you are capturing scenes with extreme variations in light and dark elements, HDR images come into their own and capture the true essence of it. However, it is not a cakewalk to capture HDR images since a minor change in alignment can lead to ghosting and most often, HDR images will end up looking overdone or unnatural from the real scene.

When it comes to smartphone cameras, HDR is more about computational photography than being about mastering light. A good HDR image pipeline means smartphone cameras are now able to capture the darkest shadows and the brightest highlights. While it is easier than ever to capture HDR photos, it would be ideal to understand exposure and its components – shutter speed and ISO – to truly master the art of capturing photos with excellent dynamic range.