Exploring the iPhone’s new HDR photo setting
I’m excited by the latest version of the iPhone software, 4.1, which has a new HDR (high dynamic range) function on the camera. When this is switched on, the camera “automatically combines multiple exposures into a single HDR image,” as Apple explains it. The idea is that when shooting a scene that has both bright and dark elements, all of the exposures will be a little more balanced. And to make things more interesting, you can have your phone automatically save both a normal image and an HDR image, so you can compare the two.
I had fun experimenting with this while riding the T in Boston over the Charles River yesterday. Here’s a non-HDR shot out the window:
Now, check out the HDR version of the same image:
It’s a big difference, isn’t it?
In the second version, the faces of the passengers, the interior of the train car, even the advertisements on the car’s interior– all of it is visible. Objectively, I think the HDR version is better. It’s certainly more balanced. And the varied facial expressions on the four passengers add a great amount of life to the photo.
But now compare the colors out the train window. In the first image, the blues are more vivid. The John Hancock tower and the Charles River are both more richly blue in the first shot, whereas in the second they’re more faded, like an old-fashioned snapshot. And while the faces in the first photo are almost all in shadow, the little splashes of light that are there, juxtaposed with the black foreground, make the photo more moody and dramatic.
If I had to use one photo for a publication to accompany an article, I’d probably pick the HDR version. But artistically, there’s a lot I like about the first version. Which do you prefer?
New story: A review of “The Great Typo Hunt”
I have a new story out in The Boston Globe– it’s a review of “The Great Typo Hunt,” by Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson.
Here’s the beginning of the piece:
If a sign in front of a store mistakenly uses “it’s’’ instead of “its,’’ is the error a big deal? Is it a symptom of grammatical ignorance, or is it just an insignificant typo? Some may be bothered by the mistake, while others might not notice or care.
The protagonists of “The Great Typo Hunt’’ notice, and definitely care. In March 2008, Jeff Deck, an editor with a keen eye for typos and other errors, set off from Somerville with a mission: to correct typos across the country, wherever he might see them. The book, which is funny and original, is written by Deck and Benjamin D. Herson, Deck’s companion for much of the journey. (The story is narrated exclusively from Deck’s perspective.)
The book follows a classic American narrative: a journey across the country and then home again. But instead of travelers looking for a better life, these two men are looking for typos. One of the first mistakes Deck spots is in a Filene’s Basement in Boston, where he chafes at a sign reading “Mens’ Boxed Ties.’’ (That mistake remains uncorrected.) In a diner in Maryland, they change the word “puding’’ on a chalkboard to “pudding.’’ In New Orleans, they change the word “cemetary’’ to “cemetery.’’ Some of the mistakes they spot go unfixed, others are corrected with permission, and some are “stealth corrections,’’ done on the sly. Photos of some of the typos and corrections are included in the book.
The idea came about after Deck attended his five-year college reunion, where he was forced to ask himself what impact his life was having on the bigger world. Later, after seeing a sign misspelled as “no tresspassing,’’ he eventually decides to “change the world, one typo correction at a time.’’
New slideshow on Boston.com
I have a new slideshow of photography from Bogota, Colombia, up on RAW, Boston.com’s website for amateur photographers. Click the photo above to check it out; I’ve written a few thoughts about travel photography as well. The link for the full-screen gallery is at the bottom of the page after you click through.
Photo of the week: Joy Island
Joy Island, off the coast of Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia. February, 2006. © Rob Verger.
Joy Island is an uninhabited speck of sand, dirt, trees, and concrete platforms, the remnants of old structures. It sits within a protected lagoon, with Pohnpei’s large, circular reef separating the much smaller Joy Island from the open Pacific. I paddled there in the outrigger canoe in the photo with some friends in 2006, and once on the island, we realized we didn’t have as much water as we needed. The solution? We cracked open coconuts and drank the sweet water inside, which is as a process as tricky as it appears in the movie “Cast Away.”
Rob Verger is a journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, The Boston Globe, World Hum, The Faster Times, and other publications. His stories focus on travel, books, and more. Click on the Articles & Essays page above for a complete list of publications. Contact: rob@robverger.com. 
