Lr hdr

[DanK]

Last night I began testing LR's HDR merge. I merged 3 shots, 2 stops apart, using LR's HDR, the LR Enfuse plugin (my standard), and PC CC's HDR. I meant to do Nik also but didn't get to it.

The images I chose were a bad choice in that they didn't have the color range that would have let me see whether LR's HDR creates the color distortions that many HDR programs do, so I will have to do another. However, it was instructive anyway. The LR merges looked good in general, but they were very bright at the top end, with a fair amount of mass of the histogram pushed almost to the right end. In addition, the process leaves the highlights slider pushed all the way to the left. I'll post the right panel from one merge below. This is odd, and it makes editing a bit of a pain. Has anyone else tried this? there appears to be almost no user control of the process, so I think what you see is what you get.

Dan

[Thlayle]

Hi Dan,

I have tried out the Lightroom HDR feature, but don't have a lot of experience with HDR or other programs. Are you unchecking the 'auto tone' feature? I found that I prefer to proceed without the toning controls applied and make the adjustments on my own. This usually seems to best for me. And I find that the adjustment controls are more sensitive in this HDR mode, though that does in fact seem to vary with the tonal range that I managed to capture with the selected images.

Any thoughts yet on the comparison to the other HDR tools you mention?

[DanK]

Hi Randy,

Good suggestion. I haven't tried leaving auto tone off, but I will.

The images I chose just weren't very informative, so I will have to try again. In the past, I have used LR Enfuse rather than PS HDR Pro because the latter can mess up colors, and the former doesn't. The images I used this time just don't test that.

Dan

[Shadowman]

I tried the NIK plugin and it did similar hot highlights to my tonemapping, I think all methods have a tendency to accentuate the highlights.

[Black Pearl]

Might be an idea to post the resulting images - be easier to see how they render and as I think a few members will be using LR CC it would make a great post for those wanting to try the new feature.

[Brownbear]

Hi Dan,

I'm playing with this feature in LR to see how it works. And yes, when using auto tone the histogram is pushed to the right with the highlight slider at -100 for me. But isn't it the case that one can still edit the DNG file to adjust the image with no ill effects?

I like the simplicity and the look in general, although some of the colours seem surreal... Is this what you mean when you refer to colour distortions?

The video I viewed on this feature recommended using just 2 exposures for the merge so for the ones I've tried so far I've just picked 2 of my exposures.

Thank you for starting this thread.

[DanK]

Hi Christina,

I'm playing with this feature in LR to see how it works. And yes, when using auto tone the histogram is pushed to the right with the highlight slider at -100 for me. But isn't it the case that one can still edit the DNG file to adjust the image with no ill effects?

Yes. However, if the image is bright even with the highlights pulled all the way down, you would have to do something else to darken the brights.

although some of the colours seem surreal... Is this what you mean when you refer to colour distortions?

Yes. HDR tone mapping can create color distortions, including the "grunge" look, which I personally find awful. Exposure fusion doesn't generally do that, because it simply takes from each image pixels that are properly exposed. Check out this posting

Dan

[Brownbear]

Hi Dan,

Thank you. Truly appreciated.

1. Understood

2. Thanks for the example. I can see the colour differences in my image and in the link. I do have LR enfuse but forgot all about it. So I'll have to give that a try, too if it works with the updated LR.

I'll share an image in the nature section... Hopefully not too, grungy looking.

[victor]

I have used it do not like it. I am back to using either enfuse, photomatix or Nik .. Sorry Google !

I find the results very variable in colour and tone. I also blend exposures with the under and over image and use blend modes as well .

[Cantab]

As an aside to the purpose of this thread, I've just tried the LR Enfuse plugin to exposure stack three hand held images - with auto align turned on. The end result had significant ghosting so I obviously need to try some different settings.

[DanK]

As an aside to the purpose of this thread, I've just tried the LR Enfuse plugin to exposure stack three hand held images - with auto align turned on. The end result had significant ghosting so I obviously need to try some different settings.

My experience is that at least at default settings, LR enfuse can't handle large misaligment well. I have managed a few handheld composites, but usually I use a tripod. I haven't checked to see whether there are any adjustments that might help.

I've been on the whole pleased with it. Since it just composites from the various images, you don't end up with the color distortions or artificial grunge look that HDR often creates.