Note that the subject and the light together create the dynamic range of a scene. (The same is true of shade, which is why portrait photographers often prefer to position their subjects under trees during midday photoshoots!) Whereas overcast light is very flat the world under a blanket of clouds features far less tonal variation. High-contrast light, like you find at noon on a sunny day, creates lots of highlights and shadows, resulting in a high dynamic range scene. If you place a dark subject on a dark background or a light subject on a light background, you’ll have a low dynamic range scene (i.e., very limited tonal variation).īut if you place a dark subject on a light background, like a black motorcycle in front of a snow-covered hill, you’ll generally have a high dynamic range scene. Other subjects are dark, such as black motorcycles, oak tree bark, and light-blocking curtains. What causes high versus low dynamic range?ĭynamic range is caused by a combination of your subject and the light.Ĭertain subjects are bright, such as silver cars, white egrets, and snowy landscapes. And once the dynamic range of the scene exceeds the dynamic range capacity of your camera, then you get blown-out highlights and/or clipped shadows (i.e., loss of detail at the dynamic range extremes), which is a major photography no-no and should generally be avoided.įor example, a standard camera might offer a 12-stop dynamic range, which makes it very easy to capture an image like this one: The details are irrelevant what’s important is that a scene with 10 stops of dynamic range has greater tonal variation than a scene with 5 stops of dynamic range, and so on.Įvery camera is capable of capturing a certain dynamic range. In photography, dynamic range is quantified in terms of stops, where each stop corresponds to a doubling of light levels. So a scene full of bland, gray midtones – such as an elephant against a tan wall – has a low dynamic range, while a scene with intense highlights and shadows – such as a sunset over a shadowy forest – has a high dynamic range. The more tonal range present in a scene, the greater the dynamic range. What is dynamic range in photography?ĭynamic range refers to the range of tones in a scene, from the darkest, blackest shadows to the brightest, most brilliant highlights.
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