Tampa HDR Workshop with Scott Bourne & Trey Ratcliff

I just signed up for a HDR Workshop in Tampa on January 16th (also available on January 17th, if you prefer Sunday).

I’ll be honest, I’m doing this cautiously and hoping for the best. HDR isn’t something I’ve really tried before. That’s because I’ve seen a lot of absolutely hideous images generated with HDR and I had no desire to add to the pile of crap that’s out there.

However, I follow Trey Ratcliff on Flickr, Twitter and Facebook and I’m very impressed with the images he creates. If you haven’t visited his Stuck in Customs blog, please do and see for yourself. Also, please check out Scott Bourne’s PhotoFocus blog and podcast for more information, as well as This Week in Photography (TWIP). Both of these guys are people with knowledge to share and that’s why I signed up.

Why did I sign up if I don’t like HDR? There’s a two-fold answer. First, I don’t like bad HDR. Trey’s work is beautiful, so that tells me there’s hope to do this technique the right way. Second, it’s knowledge. It’s good to have another technique in your toolbag. I remember a comment by Joe McNally during Photoshop World when asked why he hasn’t shot HDR:

I don’t do HDR. I LIGHT the shot.

For the kind of work I see in Joe’s portfolio, he’s right. His lighting is masterful and I’ve learned a lot by watching and listening to him (though I realize I still have far to go). However, what happens when you can’t light the shot? What happens if the subject is too large, you don’t have the lighting gear, or it just isn’t feasible to manipulate the light, as in some of the landscape and cityscapes that Trey shoots? Those are times when HDR creates a viable alternative to revealing the light on a broader scale than your camera can convey in a single click. Despite all of their advances, cameras simply can’t recognize as many stops as the human eye. Blending photos together and selectively revealing the tones of light seems to be what HDR brings to your toolkit, and I figured it’s time I learn how it’s done.

Now I just have to decide if I want to wake up early and drive two hours to be there at 8:30am for the start of the workshop, or go the night before and sleep in a hotel. Always decisions to make.