Nik Software Announces HDR Efex Pro

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexpro/usa/entry.php' target='_blank'>http://www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexp...o/usa/entry.php</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"San Diego, CA - August 25, 2010 - Nik Software (www.niksoftware.com) today announced HDR Efex Pro, a completely new HDR imaging toolkit designed to help photographers quickly and easily achieve the full spectrum of HDR enhancements from the realistic to artistic. High dynamic range photography is a process in which multiple exposures are captured, aligned and merged to generate a single image that enables a much wider range of colors, highlights, and shadows. HDR techniques are typically used to enhance landscape, architectural, nighttime, and artistic photography. New HDR Efex Pro overcomes limitations in other software tools with a revolutionary all-in-one approach that enables both realistic and artistic effects to be applied within a single tool."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1282776895.usr1.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>I really like HDR images - so long as they're not overdone - but I have yet to purchase a tool to create them with. Lightroom 3.0 still has no HDR functionality (one of my complaints with it as I work on my review), and my image processing is also done in Photoshop Elements 8, which similarly lacks HDR tools. I've tried several tools, and they've mostly fallen flat when it comes to ease of use - I don't feel like I have hours to spend learning a new tool, so it needs to be reasonably intuitive.&nbsp;HDR Efex Pro isn't cheap at $160 USD, but if it does the job, it might be worth the asking price.</p><p>What's your preferred HDR tool?</p>

[sundown]

Quick side note: My first jump into working with HDR images was using an iPhone 4 with the app HDR Pro. It uses only two images - one on each end of the exposure extreme - but it does it all automagically. While I probably can't compete with an HDR image generated in HDR Efex Pro or Photoshop, I'm amazed at what I can do with a few seconds and a few clicks on a phone. Hopefully DSLR manufacturers will make this functionality common soon. For those interested in dipping your toes in the HDR water, I recommend the $1.99 to try it before committing to a much higher investment.

Here's a sample I took on vacation in Charleston, SC last month:

http://www.divshare.com/img/12381233-380.jpg

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Is that a halo-like artifact on the ground? That's where most HDR software screwup. That said, for 1.99, it's doing better than Photomatix. *facepalm*