HDR from RAW
May 11, 2017 17:03:04 #
Just was curious if possible. I have a book, forgot who by, about HDR processing. Read it some time ago, so don't remember some details. At the time I purchased it, HDR was limited to static subjects as the necessity of taking more than one shot of the scene to get the range of exposure needed (from at least 3 to however many needed). I just started to shoot in RAW. I was wondering if you could process a Raw image more than once, with the different exposures needed for HDR, then combine the jpg images into the HDR image? Or do those programs that do this require Raw images? Can they combine files with similar names (ie. suffix 2, 3, etc)?
May 11, 2017 17:07:34 #
hassighedgehog wrote:
Just was curious if possible. I have a book, forgo... (show quote)
It is possible, but doesn't give you the range of possibilities that multiple exposures can give. But yes, it can be done.
May 11, 2017 17:08:58 #
May 11, 2017 17:13:13 #
HDR is High Dynamic Range with emphasis on the "High". It is for scenes that are beyond the range of light normally captured in a single exposure. To capture the higher range you need multiple exposures. A single RAW usually has more range than a JPEG so, for some scenes, it may be enough all by itself.
You can export different versions of a single RAW and then combine them in HDR software. You are not expanding the exposure range but the result can be "artistic" with the resulting color and contrast manipulation.
If the goal is the color or contrast manipulation, you can use various ways to do that without the need for multiple exposure.
You can export different versions of a single RAW and then combine them in HDR software. You are not expanding the exposure range but the result can be "artistic" with the resulting color and contrast manipulation.
If the goal is the color or contrast manipulation, you can use various ways to do that without the need for multiple exposure.
May 11, 2017 19:22:03 #
Thank you for the answers. Just was thinking that it would be handy for action shots that would be hard to duplicate with different exposures.
May 11, 2017 19:39:07 #
May 11, 2017 20:55:02 #
You don't necessarily have to process several versions of a single photo, then run the results through an HDR program. With programs like Photomatix or HDR Efex Pro, you can process a single RAW file and get decent HDR output.
May 12, 2017 09:36:12 #
photoman022
Loc: Manchester CT USA
To answer the original question: Yes, you can use one RAW file to obtain multiple JPEG files and combine the JPEGs for an HDR (some photographic gurus call it "faux HDR"). I started using this process when the I took multiple photos on a windy day and the ghosting effect couldn't be ignored. When I do faux HDR, I expose for the sky and, in subsequent files, bring out the details in the shadows. Depending upon the dynamic range I want to capture, I will process up to five files. I use Photo Shop Elements 14 and do the RAW work in Adobe Camera RAW.
May 12, 2017 09:40:06 #
Read all the information you can find on HDR and processing. HDR is not that difficult, but not the way you want to do it.
May 12, 2017 10:00:20 #
mikegreenwald
Loc: Illinois
bsprague wrote:
HDR is High Dynamic Range with emphasis on the &qu... (show quote)
Well said, and entirely correct.
May 12, 2017 10:30:14 #
Picture Taker
Loc: Michigan Thumb
I use Photomatix and download my RAW directly in to it. I use Aperture after the HDR is done.
May 12, 2017 10:32:28 #
DWU2 wrote:
You don't necessarily have to process several versions of a single photo, then run the results through an HDR program. With programs like Photomatix or HDR Efex Pro, you can process a single RAW file and get decent HDR output.
I think that all of the HDR programs will accept a single image. Certainly it can make an image look better. But it is not really HDR. The overall dynamic range of the original photo hasn't changed, but you do see more of the entire range that was captured by the camera. But you could carefully adjust in Lightroom or Photoshop and accomplish the same thing on that image. Its just more convenient.
But to prove it to myself, I just took a so-so image and processed it as a one shot HDR in NIK's HDR Efex 2 and also in DxO Optics Elite version and compared. The DxO result actually looked better when done, but this SW is not considered HDR.
May 12, 2017 10:36:07 #
photoman022 wrote:
To answer the original question: Yes, you can use... (show quote)
I don't really think that there is any advantage to going to the trouble of creating multiple images from a single image and then combining in HDR SW vs just using a single image with HDR SW. When the HDR sees only a single image, it internally does the same thing and provides a simulated HDR image.
May 12, 2017 10:48:00 #
Picture Taker
Loc: Michigan Thumb
You can make 3 images out of one by producing one pushed + and another - , put all three in and it's a OK HDR not a good one.
May 12, 2017 11:20:04 #
Picture Taker wrote:
You can make 3 images out of one by producing one pushed + and another - , put all three in and it's a OK HDR not a good one.
The point I am making is that even if you don't bother creating the extra images from the original, that the HDR SW does it for you internally and you get the same effect.
*********************
I just did a compare.
Method 1: Manually created 4 virtual copies in LR and separated them by 1EV, then combined in NIK HDR Efex 2
Method 2: Used the original image only and then called NIK HDR Efex 2
Method 3: Used the original image only and then called DxO Optics Elite
Results: Even though I couldn't make all final results look exactly the same (this is the nature of HDR in that you have a bunch of sliders and they all interact), it seemed that all 3 methods ended up with very similar results and that the sliders all had similar amounts of control. I have to conclude that taking the extra effort to duplicate the original gave me no additional advantage. And using DxO Optics, which was not HDR SW, I was still able to get a similar result.
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