Billyspad wrote:
This is the original raw normal exposure with no alterations at all taken into Photoshop and a High Pass Filter added at 149 pixels. There is the mystery halo on the original image. No idea why or how. Any ideas my friend? I am baffled I have to admit.
It is contrast/sharpening in post.. I know you say its a raw file however an algorithm is applied to the image for you to even view it. This is why images look different in Lightroom, Eos Utility, NIK, Capture One.
I find that using the OEM software to process the initial development of your images yields a far better result because the OEM processing software uses the same algorithm as the camera. I.E. there is no interpolation.
If I am working on a photo that has to be perfect I process in OEM software first (raw conversion) because I find there is less artifacting than the aftermarket software. What I am saying is the image looks most like it did in camera, because again its the same algorithm on the computer that is used to show you the raw on the LCD scree in your camera.
If I have to get creative, I further process the the converted Raw in Photoshop. Mostly I just use LR to process everything, but if its critical I use OEM.
I briefly skimmed this thread, and I can show you how to easily fix that halo problem in post. I used to do daily blog posts and have a good archive of tuts. Here is what I consider to be a good one for your problem here.
Have a good one, Tom
http://lilsamedia.com/blog/wordpress/2013/07/31/easily-remove-hdr-halos/