high dynamic range

my camera mentor dave is just the coolest! he asked to have some of my photos hdr'ed and he did a very fine job.

what he did was simply awe-inspiring.

let's compare them to the original:

here is one photo of some amulets that i took while in mexico city town proper:



and this is how it turned out when he did his magic tricks:



not much? well you can see finer details, and it gives you more creeps.

you'd be amazed at this one:



this is the photo of the mexico city fine arts theatre. it was a bit hazy when we went there and you wouldn't notice anything else apart from the theatre. you know the image is busy, but other elements are plainly unnoticeable.

until dave spent half an hour editing it. and here's the result:


it's so surreal! now you will notice the cars, the posters, the mountains, the flags, and all those little people doing their own business. the miracles of technology!

i want a laptop! i want to hdr all my photos!

what to do? im broke!