What is HDR?
The letters in this photographic term stands for High Dynamic Range. Our eyes see far more than any camera can see, and that's why many times we are disappointed with our photographs. This is especially so when it comes to real estate images. The main issue is that we have strong sunlight streaming beautifully through our windows, but we have to make an exposure for either the shadows, the midtones, or the highlights. If we expose for the highlights (bright areas, like the windows), the rest of the image goes dark. If we expose for the shadows, the windows and bright areas get washed out, or blown out, as we call it. A midtone exposure is our best bet when it comes to real estate photos, but we still get blown out highlights and dark areas that don't have any detail.
So, smart people came up with high dynamic range photography, which is.....AWESOME!!!!!
By taking 7 separate images (with the camera on a tripod to keep everything in line), we can merge the 7 exposures into one final photograph. The 7 exposures are taken for the highlights, midtones and shadows, resulting in an image that looks more like what our eyes saw in "real life".