The problem
Dynamic range is the span from brightest to darkest a sensor can record. A landscape with a bright sky and shadowed foreground exceeds it, so the camera meters for one and loses the other — usually a blown white sky above a well-exposed land. Your eye copes because your brain composites; the sensor doesn't.
1 · Expose for the highlights, recover in post
- Shoot RAW. There's no meaningful recovery from a JPEG.
- Digital sensors recover shadows far better than they recover clipped highlights. So when a bright sky meets a dark foreground, expose slightly to the left — accept a dark foreground and protect the sky.
- In processing: lift shadows, pull highlights, or apply a graduated filter or brushed mask to the sky only.
- Limits: heavy lifting brings banding and noise. This is a fix, not a licence.
Note the tension with expose-to-the-right: ETTR is right when the whole scene fits within the range. When it doesn't, protecting highlights wins.
2 · Graduated ND filter in camera
- Dark at one end, clear at the other — it darkens the sky at the moment of capture, so nothing is clipped and nothing needs rescuing.
- Hard edge for a clean, flat horizon (sea, plains). Soft edge where mountains, trees or buildings break the horizon line.
- Most photographers carry a small set — typically 1, 2 and 3 stops.
- Compose, meter and focus before the filter goes on; it's hard to see through afterwards.
- Also the tool for a backlit foreground subject against a bright sunset — it holds detail in the subject.
3 · HDR — bracket and blend
- Shoot a bracket — metered, under, over (three frames is usually enough).
- Merge in Lightroom or equivalent. The result has low shadow noise and an unblown sun.
- HDR earned a bad name from over-processing. Keep the merge subtle and it just looks like a scene your eye could see.
- Needs a tripod and a still scene — moving water and wind-blown foliage will ghost.
Which one, when
| Situation | Reach for |
|---|
| Clean horizon, one frame only, no time | Graduated ND |
| Broken horizon, moving water or foliage | Expose to protect highlights, recover in post |
| Static scene, extreme range, tripod up | HDR bracket |
| Waterfall or forest in dappled sun | Come back on an overcast day |
Consolidated from references: David Veldman, 3 Tips for Dealing with Bright Skies in Landscape Photography (Photzy); Kent DuFault, The Complete Landscape Photography Guide.