I find myself in bad lighting situations all of the time. They are a byproduct of whirlwind travel photography. Often I can mitigate the harsh contrast through standard multi-exposure HDR or leaning heavily on the recovery properties of the RAW file. But that requires a bit of work in post production. And sometimes, I just want to turnaround the image quickly.

Both my Olympus and Pentax cameras have in-camera HDR processing. It's a crazy, over-the-top proposition. But there have been times when I've found it useful. Take a look at this set of images.

Straight Exposure - Pentax KP, 20-40mm HD zoom, ISO 100. No post processing on this shot. Photo by Derrick Story.

In-Camera HDR - Pentax KP, 20-40mm HD zoom, ISO 100. Photo by Derrick Story.

I've showed the HDR version to a number of folks with very positive, almost delightful reactions. It has an illustrative appearance, feeling a bit like a watercolor.

This approach isn't appropriate for many types of subjects. But every now and then, especially in bad lighting, it's worth a shot. And the best part is, you'll know whether you like it or not in just a matter of seconds.

The Pentax KP Final Verdict

If you're interested in learning more about the Pentax KP DSLR, take a look at my series of articles reviewing it. You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.