As I've found there is a steep learning curve to photography and there are so many different types of photos. Have you ever started something new and thought, "holy smokes there's lots to learn!" You feel overwhelmed and feel like everyone knows more than you. I still feel that way and have so much to learn. One of the things I've found is that I find myself scouring flickr and finding pictures I like and trying to figure out what they might have done in post processing to get that look. I think the first one that caught my eye was HDR which stands for High Dynamic Range. Essentially it's taking 3 or more photos and combining them into one photo. The photos are taken at different exposures to capture all the different ranges. Most DSLRs have what's called Auto Exposure Bracketing which will take 3 or more (depending on your camera) photos at different exposures.

This photo below is from Suzzallo library on the University of Washington campus and I remember when I got my camera that I knew I'd eventually get out there to do this shot. Mandy was out of town when I took these shots so I had free reign to stay until I got it right. If you've never been in the library you'd know that it's REALLY quiet!! I thought for sure the people inside were going to start giving me the look of death when they kept hearing my camera shutter. I wanted to get a good range for my HDR shot so I took 7 exposures and then processed in a program called Photomatix. The one thing about HDR I've found is that some people overprocess too much and they look very fake. I think I did a few when I started but have now tried to make them appear more realistic. Here is the final result! I was really happy with it!

Taken: June 7, 2009
Focal length: 18mm
Shutter speed: Multiple because it's HDR
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 100