Exposure Blending

Exposure Blending

An HDR Software with Promise

I have never been a fan of the term HDR. When HDR comes up in a conversation, I along with many others envision a grunge or cartoonish looking illustration. HDR (High Dynamic Range) images are created by combining multiple exposed photos together of the same composition, typically light to dark. I prefer the term exposure blending when I want the results to maintain the realistic characteristics of a photograph.

When do photographers consider HDR or Exposure Blending? This decision is made in the field when one exposure won’t cover the entire light to dark range of the composition. How does one know when this is needed? The histogram on the back of every digital SLR camera reveals where your exposure lies. This is good reason why every photographer should know how to read a histogram and use it. It is very simple, see illustration in next column.

HDR Software Continues to Improve

Over the years HDR software has developed and continues to improve. There are two main stream programs in use by a high percentage of photographers today, Photo Matix and Aurora HDR.

I have never been a fan of any HDR software, therefore I manually blended my photos using masks in Adobe Photoshop. The results using Photomatix and/or Aurora HDR didn’t give me the realistic look I needed, especially for my architectural clients who are paying a lot of money to show off their projects. They need perfect color match for wall coverings, fabric, carpet, etc... I could never get this using automated software. Not only could I not get good color, the results were never consistant. By manually blending my exposures I had complete control of every detail and color match my clients expected. The problem with manually blending is time. This is a time consuming process especially when you have 30-40 photos from any given assignment.

Aurora HDR 2019 Almost Perfect

Finally, Skylum developer of Aurora HDR 2019 has created their best version ever. This is the first automated process for blending exposures that I am comfortable using and confident it can get me going in the right direction. I am excited about the software giving me near perfect color match, realistic results and consistant from one photo to another. This isn’t even mentioning the artifacts

and halos common to HDR. These issues have been completely eliminated. No more grunge or cartoonish looks to those automated blending modes. Skylum credits AI (Artificial Intelligence) for the incredible results of Aurora HDR 2019.

Almost Perfect means there are still issues the software doesn’t handle perfectly. When extreme

The three exposures shown are of 5 total used to create the photo to left.

Shown are the lighest, middle and darkest.

exposure differences occur such as architectural interiors, where windows are present in the photo (blue light) and often artificial light sources (typically warm light), the exterior view tends to look cartoonish while rendering the interior beautifully. This is really a small issue anyone with a little experience using Photoshop can fix. Manually blend the exterior view with the HDR rendered photo. I suggest doing this in small increments.

Another problem I found is the more exposure layers you add the more saturated and exaggerated the colors become. Extremely dark exposures need to be kept to a minimum. I suggest using more of the lighter to mid tone exposures and only one dark exposure. For consistant results keep the number of exposures to a minimum. I have experienced the best results with no more than 5 or 6 exposures kept at 1 to 1.5 stops different between each photo. In rare situations will one need more than 6 exposures.