DYNAMIC RANGE- INTRODUCTION

The definition of dynamic range is the variation of the light between the shadows
and the highlights that the camera can read.

In both the area of highlight and both the area of shadow detail  can be lost
if the camera range can not register the detail as exposure is over or under.

Dynamic range in digital cameras is an analogue limitations of the sensor.
The brightest scene information the camera can capture is limited by the
capacity of the sensor element. At the darkest point the sensor is limited
by the level of weak information it can capture. Too weak and no data
is captured

It is important that exposure is read across the scene rather than be set on
the highlight or low light as the opposite end of the dynamic range will loose
detail .

In scenes of high contrast it is more important to set average exposures
as the variance between light and dark will have the greatest variance.

GREY SCALE CHART

above is a basic representation of the grey scale

of tone from light to dark.

LOW DYNAMIC RANGE

the above image shows the low contrast between light

and dark. This tonal image shows the range between the darkest
point to the lightest point is minimal.

The bit tonal scale shows no values below 1 and all values
between 100 and 255. This shows clearly the limted tonal
range and that there are no dramatic peaks between
bright and dark



















This flat cloudy day image taken as part of Art of Photography
course, is an example of low dynamic range. with the variation
between the lightest and darkest point being minimal.

The flat histogram shows a balanced tonal range with minimal
peaks in the light and dark areas.



HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE

The above image is an example of a high contrast image.
The variation between the lightest point to the darkest is
very wide and dramatic.
Expose was set on this image for the highlight for artistic effect

original histogram capture showing the dynamic dark( 0 bit reading) and
white peaks(100-255 bit reading)

The above late night, high iso image is very dramatic.

there is a a wide variation between the lightest and darkest points.

the expose was set for the darkest areas to ensure some detail was
captured in the foreground so the highlights are are close to being
burnt out.

the histogram clearly shows the deep dark area and the white
highlight. The dramatic peak at bit reading 0 sugegest that
there is little detail in the darkest area of this image.