HDR Showdown

If you have been following my blog, you will know I am a big fan of train interior shots.  I have always considered the below train interior image one of my best pictures.  Originally it was taken as a 3 shot bracketed HDR edited with Photomatix.

I have been using Photomatix for my HDR work for over a year but I haven't really been happy with the "softness" that the images produce.  Today I purchased a copy of HDR Efex Pro and re-edited the image.  The difference in quality is stunning. HDR Efex Pro left a brighter, more realistic image that is sharp and clean.  Look at the details in the train ceiling. Look at the richness of the wall colors.

I am hooked. HDR Efex Pro rocks. The editing controls are simple and clear. The detail it produces is fantastic. But at the same time, it is far from perfect. I tried to re-edit a bracketed landscape image from last year and the Photomatix results are fantastic while HDR Efex Pro really made a mess out of the image.  I think both products are great to have, depending on the image type.

I played around with some bracketed image of Vasco Caves and found that Efex Pro did a nice job. You can see the image is slightly sharper.

Photomatix HDR

HDR Efex Pro

Photomatix

HDR Efex Pro

HDR or just Tonemaped?

Tonemapped

Someone asked me recently if the above image was an HDR image or just tonemapped. Sometimes it really is hard to tell. First to answer the question, the above image was tonemapped with the Photomatix Plugin for Aperture. I also used a circular polarizer when I shot the image.

Unedited version of the above image

Tonemapping is a pretty dangerous form of editing. You can easily go way too far and make an image look like a cartoon. For sure it is all about personal taste and I know some people really hate it. I enjoy how it can bring out the clouds and bring out detail in grass and trails.  I try pretty hard to find a good place that allows things to be bright but still realistic.  When it comes to urban exploration images, I really enjoy heavily tonemapped colors.

True HDR Image of Mt. Diablo

The above image was created using a true HDR process. 3 bracketed images were combined and then tonemapped in Photomatix.