HDR PhotoStudio
First up to bat for testing out HDR/Tonemapping aps is HDR PhotoStudio 2 (see blog post from this morning below).
Just a first run using it. It is so very different from any other HDR/Tonemapping app I’ve used. The color fidelity is tremendous. It took me an hour to really figure out how to tame the app. At first the windows/highlights were blown out and I could not figure out how to clamp down the exposure.
Full review once I have run it through its paces. Here’s a sample from my first attempt using it.
Posted by Michael James on Apr 24 2010 in HDR, real estate, review, software Tags: HDR, HDR PhotoStudio™, HDR Software, tonemapping
April 24th, 2010 at 5:38 PM
Looks pretty interesting as the 1st attempt. Lets see what will come after.
Michal Dybowski´s last blog ..Manchester Art Gallery – City Centre – Mosley Street
April 24th, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Really nice! I have purchased the software as well but have yet to try it.
April 25th, 2010 at 2:05 AM
Really impressive HDR. Get the benefits of multiple exposures without the over-processed effect.
April 25th, 2010 at 5:46 PM
Wow – This looks fantastic. Wondering if you convert your raw files to jpegs first, then import 3 or more images into the program.
Kat Vitulano´s last blog ..Philadelphia
April 25th, 2010 at 8:15 PM
Thanks Michael !!!
It yields the effect that I want.
April 25th, 2010 at 10:14 PM
Kat,
No. The key to using HDR PhotoStudio 2 is to take full advantage of the RAW capture. It has wonderful tools for White Balance adjustment, saturation, color tuning all right there in the app in 32 bit space. It’s not as easy as say using LightRoom or Photoshop, but once you get used to it, you realize that you can tonemap using a much larger amount of latitude.
If you like editing in LRoom or PShop first, then start bracketing more shots and tighter between shots so that when you export from RAW to JPEG you are feeding the apps you merge/tonemap with more data. RAWs have tremendous data. When you export out a JPEG you are cutting away the other data it contains. So if you shoot 3 shots, then edit and export 3 JPEGs to merge, that is cutting down on your data to tonemap with big time.
If you do that I would shoot at least double with half the stops. So if you normally shoot 3 AEB with 2EV jumps and then export JPEGs to merge/tonemap, then you’ll find you’ll get better results if you start shooting 6 shots and only 1EV jumps and then do your edits, export JPEGs and do your merge/tonemapping.
April 26th, 2010 at 6:47 AM
At last! Someone who’s using HDR for what it’s meant. Great example and nicely done.
April 26th, 2010 at 12:52 PM
I’m not going to start a flame war over what HDR is meant for (Artistic vs. Realistic Debate),.. but HDR is a fantastic pipeline solution for me to deal with all these high contrast, high dynamic range scenes I have to shoot.
Thanks for the comment
Love how you crop your photos on Flickr to the 21:9 aspect ratio. Beautiful work Greg!
Michael
April 27th, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Michael,
Agreed. HDRPS is a pretty cool app. It took some work to figure out how it worked and how to take advantage of it. The workflow is quite different from other applications and the tools for tonemapping are very different as well. I like how you can use a tool, apply the effects of it then re-open the tool and apply it all over again. In general, I think I find it easier to get a more ‘realistic’ look with HDRPS than other applications; although it certainly can be done with PM or DPHDR (among others).
May 4th, 2010 at 5:01 PM
Very nice photo. Well done!
May 6th, 2010 at 6:02 AM
I have been using HDR Photostudio for several months now. I also use PS CS4 and Photomatix Pro. HDRPhoto Studio allows you far greater involvement in your settings, and I have found it invaluable. There are quite a few examples of HDRI using it on my website.