HDRMAX and Photomatix comparison...

I shot these with the Canon 50D AEB setting at 0, +2, -2, Aperture Priority, IS 500 on a very cold, windy day in Las Vegas. Handheld and I am surprised with the wind at about 25 mph that the blend of images is as sharp as they are.

The first is processed with HDRMAX (demo), exported to CS4 as TIFF and then tweaked with CS4. A more conservative result was desired.



The second is processed with Photomatix, exported to CS4 and then tweaked with Topaz and CS4. No fixed processing workflow, just played with it until it looked right (in my eyes.)

Im sorry but how do you compare somthing to something else if you used a diffrent process when creating it? I would say just do your normal adjustments in photomatix and HDRMAX and post those results up with nothing else added to it.

Here is an example I just did with a single jpeg and what HDR does to people:

wattsbw2004 wrote:Im sorry but how do you compare somthing to something else if you used a diffrent process when creating it? I would say just do your normal adjustments in photomatix and HDRMAX and post those results up with nothing else added to it.

Here is an example I just did with a single jpeg and what HDR does to people:

I guess you are correct... perhaps I should have said "varied results using a variety of processing steps to create an HDR images."

Very nice comparison you posted. I do limited HDR and find that taking a single image and creating a HDR likeness kind of defeats the purpose of dealing with high dynamic range scenes. The fad to create so called HDR's has gotten out of hand in my opinion. Some are extremely well done and certainly considered art. But most image I see as HDR could be created by using the adjustment tools in any graphic program to obtain a very nice finished product. If the extreme effect is needed, programs such as Topaz Adjust and others can be used rather than extending the workflow to create separate images and then using an HDR program to get the desired effect.

yea im sorry i should have stated i did this for my print tech who gave me the file to work with. He wanted to see what I could do with it and this was the result. But yea I do shoot multiple raw exposures when creating an hdr image.

As we say in Kansas City, "There are many ways to skin a Missouri Mule!". Really like both images of the Nevada building which involved two different HDR processing techniques. This may be the result of the lack of photographic sophistication on my part. However, each has its special appeal.