If you don’t have an HDR monitor to display a true HDR image, you can create a 32-bit-per-channel HDR image in Photoshop from two or more identical photos taken at varying exposures (File > Automate > Merge to HDR).

However, if you’re like me and don’t own a tripod, then you can also fake the HDR effect in Photoshop using a single image; I stumbled across this online tutorial, and the results inspired me to try it for myself. I didn’t follow the tutorial exactly, experimenting with different layer opacities and layer blending parameters. The key step in this approach is based on Photoshop’s Shadow/Highlight command, which allows the user to lighten underexposed regions and  similarly darken overexposed regions. It does this based on the surrounding pixels (local neighborhood) in the shadows or highlights.

Here’s my result. ‘Cute Bear’ becomes ‘Cute HDR Bear’:

Kay, so it’s a far cry from real HDR, and HDR from merging multiple images, but it’s still a pretty cool effect. Photoshop love!