A system for high dynamic range (HDR) imaging and methods for making and using same is disclosed. An HDR module in a camera initializes a set of lookup tables (LUTs) in YUV color space based on exposure configurations of a set of images taken as HDR imaging. The HDR module calculates weights of luminance Y components of the set of images in YUV color space. Based on the calculated weights, the HDR module blends the Y component of the set of images to generate blended Y components. The HDR module combines the blended Y components with corresponding UV components to generate a single image in YUV space. Thereby, the HDR module advantageously combines a set of images into a blended HDR image with only blending the Y component of the set of images.