Photoshop Elements 8 Photomerge Exposure (High Dynamic Range Photography)

A while back I began to explore hdr (high dynamic range) photography.  Rather than bore you with the details of what HDR is, I’ll just show you what I did yesterday.

Every morning when I drive to work I pass a farm.  Yesterday the sun was just coming up and I happened to have my camera with me, so I hopped out and took the following 2 shots:

In the shot on the left, the sky is totally over exposed, but the barn and foreground are ok, if a little under exposed.  In the shot on the right, the sky is better, but the barn and foreground are so under exposed as to only be a silhouette.

Using the new Photomerge Exposure tool in Photoshop Elements 8, I combined the 2 shots to produce this:

In this shot, the barn and foreground are still exposed well, and the sky is much more dramatic. Sunrise on the farm – can you smell the bacon?
Have you ever tried HDR photography? Shoot me a comment and share your results!