What is the future?
This year, famous photographer Trey Ratcliffe and I met at an event we both spoke at called Ignite. Trey has traveled the world and has become widely recognized for his passion for HDR (high dynamic range) photography. In his speech at Ignite, Trey noted that photos can’t quite convey exactly how our eye sees an image in real life; there is something in the third dimension that is missing on film, but with HDR photography, photos come to life in a way that viewers can experience them more realistically.
Trey has always been open with sharing his skills and teaching others for free and if you don’t know how to edit photos and you’re insisting on taking your own, brush up on this free HDR tutorial right now. If you have any questions about HDR, please leave them in comments and Trey assured me that he will swing by when he gets a chance to answer them (but seriously, he’s one of the busiest people I know, so give him some time).
How is this the future?
Photo editing where users crop out undesirable features is unethical, but editing images so they are more like how your eye experiences them in person is just smart marketing. Take this for example:
We’re used to seeing dull, faded pictures like the before image (which 5 years ago would have been one of the better images in the MLS, actually) but with post-production editing, it can look a little more realistic like the after shot. Note, I’m not a professional and I created a quick edit just for illustration purposes. You can do much better than this.
Seeing the world through HDR eyes:
Below are some of Trey’s HDR images, the first of which has actually been featured at the Smithsonian museum! (Note: these images are all featured here on flickr and may not be used for commercial purposes, so don’t go doing anything crazy, ok?)
Don’t these images invoke a much higher emotional response than the standard 2d flower pictures? Take the time to learn these new editing methods or ask your photographer if they have HDR skills- your business will be better for it!
