Comments on: HDR PhotoStudio Review http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/ Where Art & Engineering Collide Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:52:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Eric Miner http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-2825 Eric Miner Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:47:47 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-2825 Klaus, The important thing to remember here is that when you finish adjusting the sliders in Photomatix and create your image you have loss a HUGE amount of information from the original 32bit file because you're actually tone-mapping the original HDR image and compressing it down to either 8 or 16bits. HDR Expose is a true 32bit editor. Which means you have full control of modifying the image instead of a tone-mapping algorithm. As a 'Realist landscape HDR photographer I can assure you that working with the 32bit image can result in images that FAR more realistic than anything Photomatix can produce. Klaus,
The important thing to remember here is that when you finish adjusting the sliders in Photomatix and create your image you have loss a HUGE amount of information from the original 32bit file because you’re actually tone-mapping the original HDR image and compressing it down to either 8 or 16bits. HDR Expose is a true 32bit editor. Which means you have full control of modifying the image instead of a tone-mapping algorithm. As a ‘Realist landscape HDR photographer I can assure you that working with the 32bit image can result in images that FAR more realistic than anything Photomatix can produce.

]]> By: Terry Reinert http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-2627 Terry Reinert Mon, 03 May 2010 12:48:46 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-2627 Hi Klaus, You are correct in that you can acheive realistic looking images using Photomatix by tweaking the sliders down a bit. However, you are still very limited by color quality for true to life images. Nothing does better than HDR PhotoStudio when it comes to color due to their proprietary color gamut. This is why I use it whenever I have a client who requires true color. Also, the color gamut they developed will span through time and across devices where as every other gamut is slaved to antiquated technology, primarily a CRT gamut. Don't get me wrong, I love Photomatix and use it a great deal as you can see from all the images I post on my blog. But I see it as another tool in my toolbox and not a complete solution to my HDR needs. Check out HDR PhotoStudio 2. You might be plesantly surprised. Terry Hi Klaus,

You are correct in that you can acheive realistic looking images using Photomatix by tweaking the sliders down a bit. However, you are still very limited by color quality for true to life images. Nothing does better than HDR PhotoStudio when it comes to color due to their proprietary color gamut. This is why I use it whenever I have a client who requires true color. Also, the color gamut they developed will span through time and across devices where as every other gamut is slaved to antiquated technology, primarily a CRT gamut.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Photomatix and use it a great deal as you can see from all the images I post on my blog. But I see it as another tool in my toolbox and not a complete solution to my HDR needs. Check out HDR PhotoStudio 2. You might be plesantly surprised.

Terry

]]> By: Klaus Jürgen http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-2626 Klaus Jürgen Mon, 03 May 2010 12:38:06 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-2626 Thanks for the review. I think it's equally possible to achieve photorealistic images in Photomatrix as well if you decrease some settings like luminosity etc. and / or use some masking techniques on the tonemapped output. Personally, I don't like the result of your tutorial that much because the difference between the sky and the building is too extreme and the sky looks like beeing a montage. Additionally the sky appears to be brighter than the foreground in front of the building which doesn't look very realistic either. Anyway, I'll give it try. Thanks for the review. I think it’s equally possible to achieve photorealistic images in Photomatrix as well if you decrease some settings like luminosity etc. and / or use some masking techniques on the tonemapped output. Personally, I don’t like the result of your tutorial that much because the difference between the sky and the building is too extreme and the sky looks like beeing a montage. Additionally the sky appears to be brighter than the foreground in front of the building which doesn’t look very realistic either. Anyway, I’ll give it try.

]]> By: Terry Reinert http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-2265 Terry Reinert Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:20:23 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-2265 Hi Charley, Great to hear about your recent receipt of HDR PhotoStudio. I think you will really like the application. It does a great job at getting a very realistic look with an HDR image. I just updated my HDR Photography F.A.Q. page (top navigation bar) and I think you might find the information there to be helpful when getting started. If you have additional questions be sure to leave them in a comment on that page and I will get them added to the FAQ along with an answer. Terry Hi Charley,

Great to hear about your recent receipt of HDR PhotoStudio. I think you will really like the application. It does a great job at getting a very realistic look with an HDR image. I just updated my HDR Photography F.A.Q. page (top navigation bar) and I think you might find the information there to be helpful when getting started. If you have additional questions be sure to leave them in a comment on that page and I will get them added to the FAQ along with an answer.

Terry

]]> By: Charley Hale http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-2264 Charley Hale Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:14:05 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-2264 Terry, Thanks much for this excellent/educational review. My kids roamed the web on Christmas Eve 2009 and basically bought me HDR PhotoStudio as a present re: the next morning. (I'd just bought the family a Nikon D90 earlier the day before, and had been making a lot of cautionary comments about wanting to jump into HDR...they're good kids!) So, I'm learning a lot about what I want out of HDR PS in the past few days. I have a "best of show so far" image at Flickr, a site which I frankly don't know much about yet, but it appears one way to navigate to my page is via a People search for "halecharley". I hope to post more there soon, some "heavy on the HDR knobs", some less so. Very cool technique. Charley Hale, Lafayette CO USA Terry,
Thanks much for this excellent/educational review. My kids roamed the web on Christmas Eve 2009 and basically bought me HDR PhotoStudio as a present re: the next morning. (I’d just bought the family a Nikon D90 earlier the day before, and had been making a lot of cautionary comments about wanting to jump into HDR…they’re good kids!) So, I’m learning a lot about what I want out of HDR PS in the past few days. I have a “best of show so far” image at Flickr, a site which I frankly don’t know much about yet, but it appears one way to navigate to my page is via a People search for “halecharley”. I hope to post more there soon, some “heavy on the HDR knobs”, some less so. Very cool technique.
Charley Hale, Lafayette CO USA

]]> By: HDR PhotoStudio 2.12 Released | Where Art & Engineering Collide http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-777 HDR PhotoStudio 2.12 Released | Where Art & Engineering Collide Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:25:47 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-777 [...] like what they have done with the application. In fact, a few of my bigger complaints from the very first review I wrote on the application have been fixed! If you’re really interested in all the changes you can [...] [...] like what they have done with the application. In fact, a few of my bigger complaints from the very first review I wrote on the application have been fixed! If you’re really interested in all the changes you can [...]

]]> By: HDR Photography FAQ | Where Art & Engineering Collide http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-576 HDR Photography FAQ | Where Art & Engineering Collide Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:59:38 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-576 [...] for creating the most realistic HDR images. I wrote a review on HDR PhotoStudio that you can read HERE. You can get a 30-day free trial of HDR PhotoStudio HERE. If you decide to buy it the application [...] [...] for creating the most realistic HDR images. I wrote a review on HDR PhotoStudio that you can read HERE. You can get a 30-day free trial of HDR PhotoStudio HERE. If you decide to buy it the application [...]

]]> By: Roy http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-551 Roy Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:19:15 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-551 Hi, Terry, Many thanks for this great review. I have started to "dabble" with HDR PhotoStudio and my first observation is that it is just the program I have been looking for. The screen layout is really to my liking as is the workflow. Will let you know for sure how things go, here and also on Flickr. I anticipate good things. Regards/Roy. Hi, Terry,
Many thanks for this great review. I have started to “dabble” with HDR PhotoStudio and my first observation is that it is just the program I have been looking for. The screen layout is really to my liking as is the workflow. Will let you know for sure how things go, here and also on Flickr. I anticipate good things. Regards/Roy.

]]> By: HDR PhotoStudio Review Follow Up | Where Art & Engineering Collide http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-542 HDR PhotoStudio Review Follow Up | Where Art & Engineering Collide Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:34:46 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-542 [...] If you haven’t read my review on HDR PhotoStudio already, please do so here: http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/ [...] [...] If you haven’t read my review on HDR PhotoStudio already, please do so here: http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/ [...]

]]> By: Hali http://www.tkrphoto.com/2009/03/hdr-photostudio-review/#comment-515 Hali Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:47:01 +0000 http://www.tkrphoto.com/?p=670#comment-515 Awesome review thank you Terry. I'm going to download it and give it a try with this guide next to me. Love your tutorials Awesome review thank you Terry. I’m going to download it and give it a try with this guide next to me. Love your tutorials

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