Fun Stuff

How the world got fooled by HDR photo of Iceland volcano eruption

It was one of the most striking pictures out of Iceland and, to trained eyes, obviously post processed to obtain the dramatic toning effects (so easily obtained by using a HDR software such as Photomatix Pro). But the world oohed and aahed.

Well, the cat’s out of the bag and Reuters has posted a retraction and the original, unprocessed, image.

To be fair to the original poster, applying HDR to a photo is not wrong and there is a good reason to do so. Toning up a photo for dramatic effects, as was done in this photo, is also not wrong. After all, it made the rounds of almost all the web sites (just search Twitter). It’s a beautifully toned picture.

But, No, Virginia, the sky did not look like that because of the volcanic eruption.

Read the article at: Toronto Star

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2 Comments

  • This photo just proves that HDR is the coming wave of the future of photography. As a photographer, I thought the HDR photograph was fantastic!!

    Peace,

    ThamasD

  • Agreed, it is a beautiful photo — just not reality as far as a news photo is concerned, and that’s where the controversy lies.

    HDR toned photos are great but, like candy or chocolate, there is a point of diminishing returns and once you pass it, you’ll yearn for more natural looking photos.