[Sibbi]

Hi,



CS5 just arrived and I found a pretty interesting new feature...



"Give any single-exposure image the photo-realistic or wildly surreal look of an HDR image. The HDR Toning feature offers an easy way to bring the rich aesthetic of high dynamic range to your 8-bit images."

([url="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/features/"]http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/features/[/url])



Plaese find attached one of my examples...



without HDR toning:





with HDR toning:





What do you think?



Bye Sebastian

[wim]

Hi Sebastian,



I like it: it means there is a fairly easy way now to get the most out of the DR of the Raw file. I assume you can still work with layers, masks etc., and apply this individually on the different layers.



You could actually do this with earlier versions of CS/PS, but it was rather laborious <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />.



Kind regards, Wim

[miro]

Adobe did good marketing decision. They want to kill the competition Topaz- Adjust.

This filters gains popularity in photographic community last years – at least here in Netherlands. However looking at your results I would say that this is mediocre in comparison of what I have done and seen with Topaz adjust.





Greetings,

Miro

[Sibbi]

[quote name='miro' date='16 July 2010 - 09:18 AM' timestamp='1279264703' post='1035']

Adobe did good marketing decision. They want to kill the competition Topaz- Adjust.

This filters gains popularity in photographic community last years – at least here in Netherlands. However looking at your results I would say that this is mediocre in comparison of what I have done and seen with Topaz adjust.





Greetings,

Miro

[/quote]



Hi Miro,



the examples are pretty amazing - [url="http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/"]http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/[/url]



Thanks,



Sebastian

[Klaus]

Actually you lost some tonality in the cloud portion of the image.

[Sibbi]

[quote name='Klaus' date='16 July 2010 - 10:45 AM' timestamp='1279269952' post='1037']

Actually you lost some tonality in the cloud portion of the image.

[/quote]



yes - but still without highlight clipping...

[miro]

This problem can solved with few mouse clicks.

Multiple RAW conversions with adequate masking.

The key element here is to open the RAW as smart object and later on use option layer -?smartObject->‘COPY via smart object’ - I’m not sure for English translation!



Unfotuately this tehique requires a lot of HW resources RAM and CPU. Even on 10MP 12bit RAW.

Painting with soft masking brush is good tip too.



Sounds complex but onece mastered this technique is very simple and takes few minutes behind PC

[wim]

[quote name='Sebastian' date='16 July 2010 - 09:44 AM' timestamp='1279266248' post='1036']

Hi Miro,



the examples are pretty amazing - [url="http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/"]http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/[/url]



Thanks,



Sebastian

[/quote]

Yep, and often a little over the top, although it is extremely adjustable. I reckon that between Nik Software and Topaz Labs, installed for Photoshop of course, you can do almost anything you ever wanted to do in the darkroom, but generally a little easier <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />.



Kind regards, Wim

[Guest]

Hi Chaps,



I've never really used these programmes, just dabbled with HDR software and tried (unsuccesfully) to merge 3 bracketed images in PS. But with pre-made HDR software I've noticed significant degradation of image quality and loss of fine tonal shifts in the greys - is this to be expected, or do the newer programmes/plugins solve this issue?



I like the idea of increasing dynamic range, but I don't like image degradation and OTT processing.



Regards,

Pinhole

[wim]

Hi Pinhole,

[quote name='Pinhole' date='16 July 2010 - 02:40 PM' timestamp='1279284030' post='1043']

Hi Chaps,



I've never really used these programmes, just dabbled with HDR software and tried (unsuccesfully) to merge 3 bracketed images in PS. But with pre-made HDR software I've noticed significant degradation of image quality and loss of fine tonal shifts in the greys - is this to be expected, or do the newer programmes/plugins solve this issue?



I like the idea of increasing dynamic range, but I don't like image degradation and OTT processing.



Regards,

Pinhole

[/quote]

When you want to increase the perceived dynamic range of a photograoh, and maintain the look of a normal photograph, you generally have to do a bit more than just apply a filter or straight forward settings. You'll end up working in layers a lot, with different layers for fore- and background, and/or for the areas in the low and high parts of the dynamic range, and essentially treat those differently and balance them. In a way like you would do in the darkroom in the past, overexposing some parts, underexposing others, and developing some parts of the image differently from others. Tools from companies like Nik Software and Topaz Labs make this process a lot easier, as they pack some tools where you can do the individual bits with a couple of sliders rather than having to go through hoops and loops, and a considerable larger amount of time.



OTT processing is both in th eye of the beholder, and in the hands (and mind) of the person doing the processing. You can go many ways with this, and what one person likes is not to the taste of another. However, these tools do aid you in processing the image exactly to your needs, styles, and (preconceived) visualisations. I can remember processing landscapes 4 or 5 years ago, taking me several days for a single image to achieve the perfect balance. The tools from Nik and Topaz allow me to do this in a few hours, more along the lines of my B&W imagery twenty or so years ago, so AFAIAC, money well spent.



You can go over the top with these tools, yes, but you don't have to <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />. And regarding the use of HDR software: this is an art in itself, part of which is familiarisation with the tool and the effects different settings have. Personally, I find it easier to work with tools like Nik and Topaz, basically because they are WYSIWIG, while with HDR tools, from what I have expereinced, you have to wait and see what you get, as an artificial very wide DR 32-bit image is never displayed properly until you compress it down to at most 16-bits.



HTH, kind regards, Wim