Holy Smokes! Now THAT's a pool!!

Another incredible image from HDR guru Trey Ratcliffe.  Head over to his website StuckinCustoms for more of his work (and the hi-res version of the image below).  Not sure what is more engaging..the calmness of the water or the enveloping blue of the walls and ceiling..   Trey offers this tidbit about the indoor pool..."Here’s a cool fact about this pool.  Part of Hearst has now been gutted so there is room for the IT department.  The IT department uses the water from this pool to cool their equipment…  wild, eh?"  

Click the image for a larger version and the story..

 

(And if you think pool is cool, check out the library...)

High Dynamic Range image processing - Is it getting an undeserved bad rap?

High Dynamic Range photography, or “HDR” as it’s known by those familiar with the technique is basically the process of merging various exposures of a subject into a single “merged” image.  This merged image typically contains image fine detail in the extreme highlights, mid-tones, and shadow areas.

With a light touch, the technique gives photographers the ability to capture scenes that would be impossible to capture with a single exposure. For example, balancing scenes consisting of varying daylight and incandescent light sources. The technique essentially gives photographers the ability to represent in an image the dynamic range that we’re able to capture with our eyes but typically not with our cameras.

But with great power… (More after the jump...)