The first steps to the development of an imaging technique, known today as HDR or high dynamic range photography, were made in the middle of the 19th century by Gustave Le Gray, who is often named as the “most important” French photographer of the 19th century. He experimented with seascapes photography by combining two separate negatives – one for the sea and the other one for the sky – in order to target wide luminosity range of the natural environment. Today HDR imaging techniques evolved greatly, but panoramic sceneries and city skylines in particular remain among the most popular targets for HDR photographers. High Dynamic Range photos significantly broaden the capabilities of photography, making it possible to increase the quality of the photo and make it look much closer to the real objects than the traditional digital image.

HDR photography deals with light mainly, and it allows rendering equally both the lightest and the darkest parts of the scenery. In other words, HDR imaging is about creating highly detailed photos, where even those objects, which would normally be hidden in the shadow, become visible and distinctive for a human eye. HDR photos of the city skylines, like those collected in this showcase, are perfect to illustrate all the impressive capabilities of HDR imaging technique. The way such images appear to human sight may range from highly natural to almost surreal with distinct signs of digital rendering and artistic effects added. However, all of them look interesting, fresh, and impressive for the viewers, because any HDR photo is about showing much more details than you would normally expect to see on a digital photograph.

Lower manhattan HDR 02 by sp1te

Skyline by Alok Paleri

Manhattan skyline 01 by zerus

Cityscape HDR by Wil Connor

Sun Explosion by Guto Cangi

Detroit HDR by Chris LeChien

Toronto Skyline by Peter Carr

San Diego Skyline HDR by Trevor Whitaker

Seattle Skyline Sunrise 1 HDR by Aaron Plotkin

Docklands Sunrise HDR by Bruce Braun

Sydney HDR by Mike Mander

Perspective on Iasi HDR by Ironiada

Frankfurt Skyline by Andreas Elste

Living by the water – HDR by Iulian Dumitrescu

Frankfurt hdr by donk00085

Seattle Skyline HDR 1 by Aaron Plotkin

Built of Colour by thebobman

After dark by Sélley Balázs

Nostalgic New Westminster by Colton Onushko

Sparkle and Shine by thebobman

Another View From Chinatown by Michael Chan

Goodnight by Cho Tang

Toronto Skyline by Marcos Landin

Downtown Dallas by Stephen Masker

Manhattan Bridge At Dusk by Dave Noonan

KL’s l l by Charles Gaisano

Zuerich I – HDR by Swissvoice

Bankfurt by Andreas Elste

Empire State by Bruce MacLeod

It’s thick in the city by Jason Lavengood

Hong Kong Skyline by hugociss

The roof is on fire by Oscar Chiu

Sydney City Skyline HDR by John Davey

Endeavour Replica HDR revisited by John Davey

Toronto Skyline HDR by Intiaz Rahim

HDR New York Skyline 2 by PatsSoxfan

Melbourne Skyline HDR by ryanebrook

Detroit Skyline HDR by Rob Terwilliger

Singapore Skyline HDR by Andrias Cen Lie

Rotterdam City Skyline ::HDR by Dollia Sheombar

Chi-skyline-hdr by jaywhybee

NYC HDR Skyline by Aaron Freedman

Seattle Skyline HDR by Paul S Hughes

HDR pudong skyline by le niners

New York Skyline HDR by Jakub Zdechovan

Skyline Ffm HDR by Christian Hinkel

Spore skyline in HDR by TuanAnh Nguyen

Stockholm Skyline “HDR” by Hannes R

Barcelona HDR skyline 1 by tail gunner2003

Southbank Skyline, Dusk – HDR by Dale Allman

Chicago skyline in HDR/IR by Jeffrey Barry

A L ‘Arc by jaap

Bladerunner by Marcus Claesson

NYC Skyline (HDR) by manuela.martin

Skyline HDR by Daniel “Jeremias” Coelho

Chicago Skyline HDR by Roman the Russian

Sydney Skyline (HDR) by OzDJ

Fireworks Over Singapore City Skyline during National Day Rehearsal by Christopher Charles White

Singapore Skyline with Merlion by Christopher Charles White

Sydney Skyline Before Dawn HDR by John Davey

Pittsburgh Skyline by NearDC

London Skyline HDR by nomadtv

Brooklyn Bridge and New York City skyline in HDR by Jeffrey Barry

Hong Kong Skyline 2 (HDR image) by ritchiewong

NYC Skyline from Brooklyn Bridge by sunsurfr

The New Singapore Skyline in HDR by Andrew Chan

Vancouver skyline HDR by Dominic Paykarimah

Burj Khalifa HDR by Mahmoud Gaballah

Let’s play by Miroslav Petrasko

Praha in HDR by Talke Photography

The Calgary Skyline by Jim Boud

Tokyo skyline HDR by dimashoo

View of Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington by Dave DiCello

“My night has become a sunny dawn because of you.” by Dave DiCello

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” by Dave DiCello