How to create fake HDR photographs in Photoshop CS2/3

Have you ever wanted to create stunning HDR pictures like that one but don't have access to the proper equipment or software?

You may be interested to know that there is an easy way to create the same effect by only using a single image and Adobe Photoshop CS. There is an adjustment effect called 'Shadow/Highlight', which can create amazing effects just by simply moving some sliders.

In the next few minutes I'm going to show you how to take an image like the above and turn it into this...

Firstly lets take a look at the 'Shadow/Highlight' box.

When you start this adjustment you will notice that the image instantly looks better and with a bit of tweaking we can make it look like an HDR photograph. Before you start it's best if you auto-adjust the levels of your picture, this gives you a better foundation for your image and you'll get better results.

The box is divided into three sections: Shadows; Highlights and Adjustments. Moving the 'Amount' sliders will make the shadows and highlights lighter or darker depending on how far you slide them e.g. when you first begin the 'Shadow' slider is already set to 50 which brings out details in the shadows by making them lighter. If you were to move the 'Highlight' slider it would make the lightest areas slightly darker and bring out areas on detail in overexposed parts. Playing with the 'Radius' and 'Tonal Width' gives you different effects, it is very much a personal preference as to how you set these sliders. Lastly in 'Adjustments' you can alter how much saturation you want in the picture's colour range and also bring out more details in the mid range of tone by increasing their contrast. Below are my setting for creating the HDR version, yours may differ from mine.

The settings for different images will vary quite extensively so it's best to play around with sliders and see what you can come up with. Good luck!

Bill Harbison.