[DOC] The Anti-HDR HDR Photography Book: A Guide to Photorealistic HDR and Image Blending by Robert Fisher in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great HDR InformationBy WRDExcellent book covering all aspects of HDR photography.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Hooray. But What About LightroomBy Conrad J. ObregonHooray for Robert Fisher. He offers some suggestions for those who want to extend the range of light of their photographs without making them look surrealistic.By way of background. cameras do not have the same range of light as the human eye. (I know that some cameras have a so-called built in HDR (High Dynamic Range) capability. but that has its limitations which Fisher doesnrsquo;t explore.) That means that while the human eye may be able to see detail in certain light or dark areas of a scene. a camera often sees pure white and/or black. depending on settings. HDR is the method of combining images taken at different exposures to increase the range of light of the camera to that of the human eye. However some of the software used for the combining also is able to use the data collected by the camera to make images with strange color effects. Some people enjoy these unrealistic effects but Fisher is interested in avoiding these effects and creating images that look like what the human eye sees.The author tells us the best way to capture the required multiple images and then process them in software. including the very popular Photomatix. and SNS-HDR which claims to be optimized for a natural look. He then goes on to describe blending processes to extend the range of light and allow for controlling the light effects within the zones of light. as first explored by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer. He finishes the book talking about sharpening and black and white conversions.His explanations are good. if a little general. and it would pay the reader to have experience with software like Lightroom. Photoshop and Photomatix. For example in describing his process of blending with luminance masks. one ought to have some familiarity with alpha channels and creating actions.I was once skeptical of blending with luminance masks but Irsquo;ve come to see that they may be useful for some folks. I generally apply the 90/10 rule. Ninety percent of image processing can be done in 10 percent of the time and. in using luminance masks. 10 percent of the processing will take 90 percent of the time. For me. unless I want to create a hero image. itrsquo;s not worth the time to follow this procedure. especially since there are other methods of achieving the same goals and since only the keenest viewers will see the difference. Others looking to squeeze out the most from their images may want to explore luminance masks. As my kids tell me. ldquo;just sayinrsquo;rdquo;.My big disappointment with the book was that. other than a statement that Lightroom also offers HDR processing. the author totally ignores that software. Before Lightroom HDR. I always processed HDR in Photomatix for realistic. full-range images. Now I use the Lightroom facility and it works well. If it is not as good for preparing photorealistic HDR. I still would have liked Fisher to explore its use and then tell why it was better. or worse. than other HDR software.Note: The publisher provided me with a review copy of this book at no charge.