by Gavin Seim: I just hosted the first “Incredible HDR” (high dynamic range) photo workshop in Central Washington. It was an intimate three day class of six, with attendees from as far as London, so we had plenty of one on one time. The images they made were amazing. I’m really proud of the students and the creative results they produced during the workshop. We covered everything from how to capture HDR portraits, to final edits, controlling light and presentation.

I believe one of the most important parts of good HDR is knowing how to edit it. There’s a lot of really ugly HDR because photographers don’t understand what their dealing with and how to make something magical from it. Going further however I want to remind those playing with HDR that the rules of photography do not go away because a photo is HDR. Interesting subject matter, composition and attention to detail are all very important factors in a great image. The students at this workshop were from varied experience levels but I think every one of them got it and took home something valuable.

I’ll post a few images from students below as well as a few of my own I took during excursions. It seems every time I teach something, I learn something new myself. If you’re interested in learning more about my HDR workshops you can find info here on Seim Effects.