Decay and HDR

I've been visiting some pretty interesting places to capture HDR-worthy shots this week. I know that some people like to use HDR to capture shiny post-modern buildings or exotic landscapes, but that's just not my thing. I like to go under bridges and to industrial parts of town where you meet interesting people and their pets. (My artist/photographer friend, Darrin, seems to find all the best places) Yesterday, I was approached - no rushed at - by a dog barking, "I want to eat you alive, starting with your face." while the owner told me, "Don't worry, he's friendly." No he's not. Friendly dogs wear bandannas, everybody knows that.

Anyway, there are many ways to achieve an HDR shot, some more complicated than others. I arrived at these shots by using 'the poor man's HDR' which means that I took two shots at different exposures, put one layer over the other and masked out over- or under-exposed elements to make a more uniformly focused and exposed image. I confess, I rather like the saturation and detail you get with these techniques. Did I really just say that?