HDR without using HDR software?
Well, not exactly. HDR is the abbreviation for High Dynamic Range images. True HDR images are 32 bit, floating point files that are ultimately scaled back to ‘normal’ 8 bit images that can be displayed on a standard video monitor or printed on printing paper. The photographer takes a series of bracketed exposures and specialized software is required in order to ‘tone map’ the high dynamic range 32 bit file by a nearly pixel by pixel basis which can be somewhat controlled by the photographer. However, tonemapped HDR images have garnered a reputation, whether deserved or not, of being overly saturated, over-the-top photos. Sometimes these images are really cool, and sometimes they are just, well… over-the-top!
However, long before the ability of photographers to create HDR images, there is a long-standing technique of using masks for the various exposed images to produce an image that contains a tonal range that is not possible to capture in a single image. The first recorded attempt to use several exposures to cover an extreme range of exposure values was Gustave La Gray back in 1850 to photograph a seascape and retain detail in the sky and the sea. He used one negative for the sky and another for the ocean and combined them later into one print. It is actually easier today to combine multiple images with masks in software such as Photoshop, but it still takes a certain level of skill in order to accomplish this.
So, some clever photographer/programmers have come up with an open source program called Enfuse. This software is free and runs on a number of platforms, but isn’t easy too use due to it’s command line interface. It also does not align the bracketed images.
However, some other clever photographer/programmers took Enfuse and incorporated alignment routines and a GUI interface and even better, made it into a plug-in for Lightroom (as well as a stand alone version)! That’s correct, you can now blend exposure bracketed images together inside of Lightroom without even using Photoshop. The program doesn’t stop there, however, for you macro photographers, LR/Enfuse will blend focus bracketed images together to produce a final image with a greater depth of field. But wait, there’s more! For you star gazers, LR/Enfuse will also blend a series of night photography images of star trails together! Imagine being able to produce great star trails by taking a series of shorter time-exposures so that the foreground isn’t over exposed.
Well, this sounds great, but how much would you expect to pay for all this ability? Would you believe, it’s up to you? LR/Enfuse is ‘donationware’ which means you pay what you think it’s worth to you (payment is accepted via PayPal in British pounds). The trial version of the program will be limited to an output of 500 x 500 pixels, but once you donate, you will immediately receive an unlock key.
LR/Enfuse is available at http://www.photographers-toolbox.com. I recommend giving it a try and check out the tutorials and examples on the website. While the final images aren’t really ‘true’ HDR, I was really impressed with the realism that is achieved and the ease in which to create them.
On my upcoming trip to Mongolia, I’m planning to use LR/Enfuse to do startrail images on the Mongolian Steppes. Check with the Fotobug Facebook fanpage or my Flickr account to see how they turn out!