This morning while waiting for decaf to be ready I decided to toy with a few more images. Just out of curiosity. Remember, soon my trial expires on HDR Efex Pro, so I have to try it out as much as I can. 🙂
Below is a single exposure from Hackberry Canyon that I really liked. For a single unretouched photo I’m a happy guy. Of course, the image could be better…….
Pretty good image for no retouching, right. I mean, properly exposing in a canyon isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Well, below I used one of HDR Efex Pro’s presets from their landscape section to see what I thought. I think the change is pretty subtle. The colors haven’t gone off to far from where they started. Textures have been enhanced to be sure. The sky has more to it. Beefed up you could say. But unrealistic? I don’t think so.
Just for chuckles, I decided to give a favorite image a whirl. If you’ve been reading regularly, you know I like the image from Candy Land. I’m going to show you three versions in order. The first one is straight out of the camera, no enhancements no retouching. The second was created using Photoshop and OnOne Software’s PhotoTune 3. I really like this version. Finally, the last image was created with HDR Efex Pro, using the Realistic Strong Preset. I tried almost every preset and then went back to the Realistic strong as it caught my attention.
As shot. You know, just a little work in the Camera Raw Developer in Lightroom makes this one pop too!
My favorite incarnation of this image. Using OnOne’s Photo Tune 3 only
Gotta say, the results from HDR Efex’s Realistic Strong are very interesting!
So, there you have it. A few more images to pour over and decide whether or not you like them. Oh, and you don’t have to like them. Nobody’s making you. But you might come away with some ideas about the latest HDR tool available to you. 😉
Comments 2
I like the OnOne’s Photo Tune 3 treatment on the second image…and I like the treatment on the first photograph using one of HDR Efex Pro’s presets from their landscape section.
Using the right tool for the project at hand. You are doing that well.
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It is all about knowing what you want out of the image, right Jay? 🙂
Seriously, the first time I looked at Candy Land out of the camera I knew I did not want an HDR of the scene. Minor tweaking, that was all it needed. And I almost went with my Lightroom retouch, but then decided to see what OnOne’s PhotoTune 3 would do for me. The results between the Lightroom adjustments and PhotoTune were actually very close. So close that I had to double check which version I liked the most!