About HDRSource HDR Photography:

I started capturing High Dynamic Range Images and photographs around 1999. HDR (EXR included) was an obscure topic, limited to mostly 3D artists and and a handful or photographers. At the time, there were only a small number of Internet sites that discussed HDR photography and how to go about creating them.

Intrigued by some of the photorealistic results a few 3D artists were starting to achieve, I began to study and experiment on my own. I started off by shooting HDR “light probes” using an old chrome sphere and a “high-end” 3.2 megapixel Olympus camera which was the highest resolution at the time. The purpose of the “sphere” was to capture a 360-degree “light probe” or panorama to envelop a 3D scene.

The realistic results I discovered in those early experiments from using HDRs produced realistic results that were far above of the traditional point lighting and standard GI methods

Over the years, newer equipment and software came out. I was able to upgrade to a “real” tripod, better wide angled lenses, better cameras, higher MegaPixels, and processing equipment.

These experiments led to the creation of HDRSource, one of the first HDR stores on the Internet.

Today, almost all of us have digital cameras on their cellphones and even tablets. Most people are not even aware that most modern cell phones have a basic HDR function built into them. The purpose is to help capture the darks and lights (exposure) in a scene and bring them it into better balance. Most of these cameras only shoot a few brackets or F-Stops in quick succession and are not used for creating HDR panoramas for 3D work such as you see here.