HDR Software Reviews

F-14 Tomcat HDR

Are you ready to try something a little different this winter? Does the weather have you home bound or just uninspired photographically. This time of year is when most landscape enthusiasts are able to spend more time on the computer finishing the backlog of shots that were taken in the preceding months.

I currently use HDR(High Dynamic Range) software for finishing landscape images where my cameras sensor can’t pick up the many stops of light in a dynamic scene. Recently however I've begun using HDR simply as a tool to render surreal and sometimes otherworldly images as strictly an independent art form…..Bye the way, it’s also quite fun.

I will introduce you to a few programs out there including freeware, shareware and trial software that you will pay for later. Each program has it’s pro’s and cons and little quirks as well. The program that is the most recognized starts out our review at no (1) Photomatix Pro is a plug-in extension for Adobe products such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 , Apple Aperture 2.1.1 and Adobe Photoshop CS4. The Pro version can be purchased as a stand-alone program for those using other imaging software. Version 3 is currently out and can be purchased for $99.00 from Amazon.com. I recommend getting the free trial version before laying out the cash.

At no. (2) on our list is called Easy HDR written by Bartłomiej Okonek or (Bartek). I personally purchased this software and use it primarily for my landscapes. You can check out the flickr pool of shots here. Easy HDR by its namesake is very simple to use and provides great online tutorials.
Currently I use a free program called Qtpfsgui it also makes no. (3) on our list. A great program for deep manipulation as seen above with the F-14 Tomcat image.

Here is a great site to see a list of free HDR software
I can highly recommend the following two HDR books...