My relationship with digital photography has been tumultuous at best. On one hand, digital compromises the integrity of photography as an art, diluting its truth-telling faculties. On the other, new software and cameras offer new and interesting ways of creating images. High-dynamic-range (HDR) photography uses a combination of three versions of the exact same image: one correctly exposed, one overexposed by three stops and one underexposed by three stops. The images are then combined in Photoshop, so every inch of the image has the best possible exposure. Colors and lighting can be adjusted to create an extremely surrealistic effect. I chose to photograph some of the interesting houses in Santa Cruz and to push the HDR to the point where the houses look cartoonish. This time technology worked in my favor, making it possible for me to depict these buildings in a way that reflects my memory of them.
