High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography combines multiple photos at different exposures to create a single photo with enough contrast that lighter areas and darker areas of the photo both look good. The iPhone has the ability to do with the included Camera app. There are also other apps, such as Pro HDR and True HDR that do a much better job of this.
Many photographers will use an HDR post-processing technique called tone mapping to achieve very artistic, even surreal looks for their photos. Often these photos can have painting-like qualities to them. However, to achieve a tone-mapped or even realistic HDR look has typically required the following:
- A PC or Mac, sometimes using an expensive app.
- Two or three photos of the same subject, taken one after another, preferably with a tri-pod. Some cameras, especially DSLRs, have the ability to do this automatically using a feature called autobracketing.
