2 weeks Ago By Matt Jancer
I’ve never considered myself a particularly skilled photographer. Walking around with my iPhone, when I’m not out for the specific purpose of snapping pics with a dedicated camera, I’m often served up an irresistible photo opportunity—but only if I’m quick.Yanking my phone from my pocket, I quick draw like an Old West gunslinger, and sometimes I can actually frame the photo well enough—rule of thirds and all of that—and capture the picture I want before the impromptu composition is gone forever.
Only too often I learn, when I check how my photo turned out, that the lighting is off or the colors are washed out or some other weirdness has afflicted my image because I didn’t have the time to compose the shot properly.Post-production editing of photographs isn’t new, but Google is rolling out what it says is a powerful new option in its Google Photos app called Ultra HDR that allows you to convert standard pictures to “Ultra HDR” (high dynamic range) after you’ve taken them.The downside? It still won’t help me, because I’m using an iPhone and this feature is rolling out to Androids.
But if you’ve got an Android, go check your phone’s Google Photos app to see if you’ve been pre-selected as one of the lucky few to test out Google’s new toy.The benefits of Ultra hdr and Google PhotosUltra HDR has been teased since last September, although details were light at the time. It was Android Authority that spotted the feature went live.
In explaining why Ultra HDR produces a better-looking image, they wrote, “Ultra HDR allows for capturing and displaying photos with a wider range of light and color. The result is more vibrant, lifelike images, especially noticeable on devices with high dynamic range (HDR) displays.”You may see it live under the “Adjust” section of your image editor in Google Photos, replacing the “HDR Effect” option.
If you don’t see it yet, hope is not lost. You could just be earmarked to receive the new feature later on.“Google appears to be testing the feature on a limited number of accounts first, before rolling it out to all users,” according to Forbes.
They go on to write, “Until now, it has been difficult to create Ultra HDR imagery from scratch without professional tools.“However, with this tool, you can add significant impact to any image you create, including digital artwork or AI-generated images that don’t typically support the Ultra HDR format.”We don’t know if Ultra HDR is coming to all Androids or only a select few.
Nor do we know whether it’ll ever come to iOS. If you’re a purist when it comes to photos, it’s only the latest incursion into the art of photography by smartphone technology. But if you’ve ever lost out on the perfect spur-of-the-moment shot, it could help salvage an otherwise usable photo.
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