A lot of HDR photos look surreal and artistic. They’re usually seen as high contrast with bright and obvious halos. This set of photos shows the opposite; HDR tone mapping used to enhance the details while keeping the realistic look of the photo. Here are 8 examples of HDR tone mapped photos that looks so realistic you probably wouldn’t have known they were tone mapped if we haven’t told you.

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View of Half Dome with Bridaleveil falls | David Nestico

Stone Arch Bridge at Night | Geoffrey Kuchera

Lausanne skyline 02, Switzerland | Mihai-bogdan Lazar

Neuschwanstein castle | Sebastian Czapnik

Sunset | Andrey Kiselev

Bay Bridge, San Francisco at dusk | Can Balcioglu

Winter landscape, HDR | Oleksandr Smushko

Spray Road | Bevs Photos

HDR Tone Mapping Photoshop Tutorial

If you’d like to learn how to create your own natural-looking HDR tone mapped photos, read our HDR Tone Mapping with Layers Photoshop tutorial.