Cathaleen Curtiss, Visual Media Consultant

Award winning photojournalist, editor and director of photography with broad experience in online media as well as traditional print publications.

As a photojournalist I have documented events from Super Bowls to Superpower Summits, covering three presidential administrations. In 1990 I was named, Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association.

As Vice President of Global Photography at AOL, I built and managed a staff of visual content editors based in VA, NY and Bangalore. While at AOL, I oversaw the direction, development and implementation of AOL Visions and Pixcetera.com.

I am currently a Visual Media Consultant and Coordinator of Entrepreneurship at Daemen College.

The photos in this blog were taken and edited on my iPhone. I call them "iphonotos". It is my belief, that the best camera is the one you have with you. Vision is more than seeing its taking the time to feel.

My photojournalist roots are the foundation for creating and sharing. I hope you enjoy them.

I am learning to listen to a favorite saying from my grandmother
"You can waste a lifetime worrying about tomorrow."

02-27-2011

Let’s talk about HDR – play around have fun!

Let’s talk about HDR – not in the way techie geeks or highbrow artists do, but how you would when you first use something and go wow that’s cool. I first learned of the Pro HDR app from my friend Jim when he was visiting in NYC. At first I thought hmmm that’s sort of cool. Then I tried it and I was convinced IT really is cool! I know some say it is over used and too artsy but really its fun, try it.

The fact that the iphone 4 has HDR built in was a deciding factor for me in upgrading. Still I use the ProHDR app ($1.99) more than the camera HDR and I will explain. Not that it is better but in certain situations it gives you more control.

Let me start by saying I am no expert, but I have done this enough that I have good and bad experiences with HDR I am willing to share. At the risk of “exposing” my tricks I will show a few examples here in my blog. I put the steps together in the Diptic app ($1.99) so you can see the process a bit. They show the dark image the light image and the finished product. For my photographer friends that will be boring, ☺ but for my friends and family it might help explain the process so it will be a bit easier for you to use.

: Evening walk in Granada, Spain

HDR is short for high-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI or just HDR). It essentially takes multiple images exposed for the highlights, mid-tones and shadows and then merges them into a single image that captures with greater detail the tonal range from shadows to highlights. Try playing around with the exposures, touching the screen to find the best dark and light exposures. If it is to extreme it will look bad. In the days of film we exposed for the highlights and developed for the shadows. Think of the zone system. You can manually do this but the fun here is the ease of the iPhone.

The reason I prefer the ProHDR app more often than the HDR in my iPhone 4 is the added control. I always keep the shadow and highlight images that way I can go back and do the merging again if I want. In the ProHDR you can manipulate the saturation, contrast, tint, exposure, etc to meet your creative style. Plus if you overdue it and trust me, you will… you can go back and start over. One thing I don’t like about the Pro HDR app is that you cannot use your zoom. In situations where you need to get closer and can’t you may be best using the camera HDR with the zoom.

A word of warning if you have people in the photo they need to hold still or you will have ghost like captures. This does allow you the opportunity to creatively use movement to enhance an image. Check out the Molina’s (windmill) photo, showing the windmill blades moving or the portrait of my daughter in Spain. She is sitting still but in the background the people walking are duplicated. One of my favorite HDR images is in the NYC gallery, the people over looking construction at ground zero.

So… play around with it when you can. You will be amazed at how often it can help you record an image that is closer to what your eye could see but the ordinary camera can’t capture. It is especially wonderful at sunsets!!
Enjoy!!