The basic idea is that the dynamic range of the human eye exceeds the dynamic range of photographs produced by digital cameras. By taking a sequence of photographs at different camera exposures (EV settings) and combining them with appropriate software one can produce pictures with greatly increased dynamic range. There are many examples to be found on the WEB.
I recently downloaded several software products available for this purpose. The Photomatix software produced the best results for me. A couple of examples below.
Garage picture of XR650R motorcycle which I am currently working on:
Single frame picture taken at 0EV with Nikon D200 DSLR.
Photomatix image produced by five frames (-1.4 - 0.7 0 +0.7 +1.4) EV - Nikon D200.
Picture taken from ranch deck toward the Mendocino National Forest:
Single frame 0EV - Nikon D200.
In both cases the difference is very dramatic. Still have a lot to learn.
Edit: 4/3/2017
So, another comparison. This time favoring the single frame mode IMO. The single frame seems to more closely match the image seen by my eyes. Kitchen faucet which I just replaced. Photo below HDR at the same EV spread as above. Tonal spreading of the planter box wood above the faucet is very accurate relative to human perception, but brown (sprayed to kill) vegetation below faucet is too "orange".
0EV single frame below. Wood is not as good, but sprayed vegetation is quite accurate relative to human perception.
edit 4/5/2017
So I wanted see how a little motion (the smoke in this case) impacted the image which is accumulated over five frames. Not much at all.
HDR picture of Ami burning some trimmings:
Same scene single frame 0EV. Nikon D200 in both cases. Smoke is better represented in single frame image IMO.
edit 4/6/2017
Cold and rainy today so I took a wood stove picture in the "surreal" mode. Again, five frames with Nikon D200. Exposure time on each frame with room ambient lighting was 0.7 seconds at ISO 200, so a rock solid tripod setup was essential.
Single frame below at 1.33EV
edit 4/9/17
Stonyford General Store. Stonyford is where my ranch is located. Population is around 200 people. Ranch is nestled against the Snow Mountain Wilderness area. You cannot see another structure from the ranch. Second pair of photos in the post were taken from the deck of the ranch house.
"Ansel Adams" version of Stonyford General Store
There are obviously a lot of knobs to spin on both the camera and the software when combining multiple frames. I am very pleased with the Photomatix product, and bought the license. Picture below was taken with a Nikon D100 which is limited to three frames. The frames were at (-0.7 0.0 +0.7) Processing used was in the "painterly2" mode of Photomatix. The Zen House (Point Arena, CA) experience is like stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting. The owner, Dave, is the best motorcycle mechanic I have yet to encounter.
