Out pretty early this morning, I was shooting on Front Street here in Coupeville. I decided to use this particularly challenging composition to try several variations of HDR processing workflow available to me.
My arsenal consists of four ways to process NEF raw files: Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), DXO Optics Pro 8, within Photomatix Pro 4.2, and within SNS-HDR Pro 1.4.22. Photoshop, Photomatix, SNS and Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 can all merge and tonemap HDR image sets, though I never use Photoshop for this purpose. Of course, when I use DXO to convert raw files, I disable exposure compensation and DxO Smart Lighting, so I maintain the full dynamic range of the original exposures.
For this comparison, I merged images in the respective programs, or used a radiance file created in Photoshop. Remember that Nik uses ACR for raw conversion, so any workflow through ACR uses lens correction modules, in this case for my Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens. One difference I've noticed when processing HDR images is the ability of each raw processor to minimize chromatic aberrations. Even more than the typical HDR, this shot screams for attention to that problem.
The images here were subjected to minimal processing in order to provide a viable compaison
There being limits to my effort to share this research, I'm just providing a set of moderate resolution JPEG files for your consideration. The gross differences are pretty obvious. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to optimize your own HDR workflow.
Oops! I see that two images are labeled "DSO" when it should be "DXO." Sorry.
My arsenal consists of four ways to process NEF raw files: Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), DXO Optics Pro 8, within Photomatix Pro 4.2, and within SNS-HDR Pro 1.4.22. Photoshop, Photomatix, SNS and Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 can all merge and tonemap HDR image sets, though I never use Photoshop for this purpose. Of course, when I use DXO to convert raw files, I disable exposure compensation and DxO Smart Lighting, so I maintain the full dynamic range of the original exposures.
For this comparison, I merged images in the respective programs, or used a radiance file created in Photoshop. Remember that Nik uses ACR for raw conversion, so any workflow through ACR uses lens correction modules, in this case for my Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens. One difference I've noticed when processing HDR images is the ability of each raw processor to minimize chromatic aberrations. Even more than the typical HDR, this shot screams for attention to that problem.
The images here were subjected to minimal processing in order to provide a viable compaison
There being limits to my effort to share this research, I'm just providing a set of moderate resolution JPEG files for your consideration. The gross differences are pretty obvious. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to optimize your own HDR workflow.
Oops! I see that two images are labeled "DSO" when it should be "DXO." Sorry.
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