HDR Comparison of Different Software

HDR Comparison of an image taken at Cape Elizabeth. These images serve no purpose, I processed them out of curiosity and because I needed a photo to review some HDR software with. I've been evaluating multiple applications for HDR to begin writing reviews. These are some of my results from the evaluation. Three of the images are from HDR software and two are from detail enhancement software.

The three HDR software used for comparison are Photomatix, Photoshop and Picturenaut. The two detail enhancement software used for comparison are Lucis Art and Topaz Adjust plug-ins for Photoshop. For fun, I also included an image of how I go about producing a HDR image manually without HDR software.

There wasn't a goal in mind for doing this HDR comparison, however I did wanted to share the results, incase it comes in handy to someone else.

Original Exposures

Below is the original image which includes the over exposed image and the under exposed image so you can see the exposures that I had to work from. I'll admit this particular image wasn't the greatest choice for a HDR Photography example but the result wasn't what I was looking for. I just needed an image to test the software with and this image just happen to be sitting on my desktop at the time.

HDR from Photoshop

Below is the image merge in Photoshop to create a HDR photo. Unlike Photomatix, Photoshop is limited when it comes to tonemapping. However Photoshop has an endless amount of possiblities to get any look you want which requires time.

HDR from Photomatix

This image was merged in Photomatix. I took advantage of the tonemapping that was available in Photomatix. Notice the dreamy look versus the Photoshop's more natural rendition. A review of Photomatix can be found here.

HDR from Picturenaut

Picturenaut is a free HDR application that I am in the process of reviewing. So far it's not bad for free! The results are way better than Photoshop.

Non HDR from Topaz Adjust

Topaz Adjust is a detail enhancer plugin for Photoshop. When applied currectly you can achieve the HDR look without having to use multiple exposures. I personally like how the clouds came out with Topaz Adjust the best.

Non HDR from Lucis Art

Lucis Art is also another detail enhancer plugin for Photoshop. For a non HDR image Lucis did an excellent job of bringing out the details. The only problem I have with Lucis Arts is lose of color when you apply to much detail.

Pseudo HDR created in Photoshop

The definition of HDR is to gain more detail than what a single exposure from a camera can capture. By merging 2 exposure together and masking out the areas I don't want, I was able to get the image below. The most natural image out of the bunch and it didn't take me any longer to do.