High Dynamic Range photography is a popular form of photography that involves capturing a wider and more natural range of colors and illumination. To say it in plain English, High Dynamic Range technique or simply HDR (as it is often referred to as) produces surreal images that blur our sense of the difference between reality and fiction. They are produced by combining a set of images (usually 3 or more images) into a single photo, and adjusting the contrast ratios using HDR software program to do really incredible things that are not possible with a single exposure. Believe it or not, these photos are all the same shot. However each shot is taken with a slightly different aperture and shutter speed. To stabilize camera between shots photographers usually use tripod. These images are merged together using a program such as Adobe Photoshop CS2 (this program comes with a ‘Merge to HDR’ feature) or Photomatix Pro 3.1.

So, basically anyone with a digital camera (with ability to adjust aperture and shutter speed settings), tripod (or any other stationary support) and HDR software can create original High Dynamic Range photos.

This post features 20 surreally beautiful and highly professional HDR images of cityscapes. Most of these photographs are award wining photos; they are not just standard panoramic images. 

Have I missed any? And which ones are your absolute favorites? Sound off in the comments bellow.

01 Huston, USA

Source: Huston at Dusk

02 New York, USA

Source: New York City at Night

03 Sydney, Australia

Source: Sydney Landscape

04 Pudong, China

Source: Pudong Landscape

05 Hong Kong, China

Source: Hong Kong Skyline at Night

06 Posantino, Italy

Source: Positano, a dream place

07 Boston, USA

Source: Boston Harbor

08 London, United Kingdom

Source: London Skyline

09 San Diego, USA

Source: San Diego Skyline Reflections

10 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Source: Kuala Lumpur Blue Hour Skyline Panorama

11 Phoenix, USA

Source: Streets of Phoenix at Night in HDR

12 Shanghai, China

Source: The Megalopolis

13 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Source: A Cloudy Day – Marina view

14 Paris, France

Source: Panorama

15 Bern, Switzerland

Source: Bern – Switzerland

16 Chicago, USA

Source: Hancock Observatory – blue hour

17 Edinburgh, Scotland

Source: Edinburgh Princes Street

18 Dallas, USA

Source: High Over Dallas

19 Seattle, WA, USA

Source: Seattle Skyline

20 Pittsburgh, USA

Source: Downtown Pittsburgh