Recommendations for HDR Software?

[krs]

I'm trying to use HDR software to enhance the details of very dark areas in existing images.

I currently use EasyHDR 3 and Aurora HDR 2018, they both do a passable job of bringing out the details of the dark areas of the images, but in the process also pretty much ruin the part of lighter areas the image that don't need any processing.

EasyHDR 3 is a bit better in that regard than Aurora HDR.

Is there any HDR software that I could try that might do a better job?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[IWT]

Hi krs,

I realise that you are unlikely to be wanting a complete photo-editing suite; but Affinity Photo does offer a very good HDR facility within its app.

I have no relationship, financial or other, with this company; but do enjoy their product which lies somewhere in functionality between Apple's Aperture and Photoshop - at 49USD or thereabouts (occasional special offers well below this price).

Affinity integrates with Apple's Photos app as well.

This link is to their Video Tutorial site which is most comprehensive. About half way down, you will see a video tutorial on HDR. Might be worth a look. Affinity Photo for desktop tutorials

Ian

EDIT: This links directly to the HDR video tutorial: Affinity Photo for desktop tutorials

 

[nickyr]

What format were these images recorded in, or in what format are they now?

I ask this as if they are jpeg files then the likelihood of successfully recovering shadow detail while retaining overall image fidelity are decreased.

If they are raw files you're in a much better position. I use Lightroom on my raw files with excellent results. Trying the same with jpeg files however...

 

[IWT]

You make a very good point, Nick, and indeed the Affinity HDR tutorial uses RAW images - but, with a really good photo-editor and high quality JPEG files, you can make a difference. I've done that many times.

And iPhones offer HDR as an option in Settings which, despite much lower JPEG images, does make a small but definite improvement.

So I agree: RAW for best results; high quality JPEG for noticeable improvement.

Ian

 

[krs]

Hi krs,

I realise that you are unlikely to be wanting a complete photo-editing suite; but Affinity Photo does offer a very good HDR facility within its app.

I have no relationship, financial or other, with this company; but do enjoy their product which lies somewhere in functionality between Apple's Aperture and Photoshop - at 49USD or thereabouts (occasional special offers well below this price).

Affinity integrates with Apple's Photos app as well.

This link is to their Video Tutorial site which is most comprehensive. About half way down, you will see a video tutorial on HDR. Might be worth a look. Affinity Photo for desktop tutorials

Ian

EDIT: This links directly to the HDR video tutorial: Affinity Photo for desktop tutorials

Thanks Ian,

I listened to the tutorial on HDR - bottom line, for my purposes, is that creating an HDR image using this software is too elaborate.
I have too many images where I basically want to just bring out the detail in the dark parts of the image with as little manipulation as possible.
The software I use right now does that part pretty well but also affects the rest of the image (which is fine) negatively, making it look much poorer than the original.

 

[krs]

What format were these images recorded in, or in what format are they now?

I ask this as if they are jpeg files then the likelihood of successfully recovering shadow detail while retaining overall image fidelity are decreased.

If they are raw files you're in a much better position. I use Lightroom on my raw files with excellent results. Trying the same with jpeg files however...

The images are mostly jpg, the odd one is tiff - none are in raw format

 

[krs]

And iPhones offer HDR as an option in Settings which, despite much lower JPEG images, does make a small but definite improvement.

My understanding is that with the iphone HDR option, there are a number of images taken automatically with different exposure settings and then the software assembles the best exposures of different areas of the image into one image.

I sold a house last year, and the photographer who took the pictures for the listing had his camera on a tripod - then one could hear the camera take a couple of dozen pictures in that position.
The pictures in the end turned out fantastic.
The photographer explained to me that a whole range of pictures was taken with different exposures and then assembled in one image - I assume iphone with HDR does something similar, maybe not quite as sophisticated.

I'm starting with a single image - usually jpg. Maybe what I'm getting is the best HDR software can do.