The Ohanaware Weblog
Using HDR to fix a photo or FHDR to improve an image.
HDR is an exciting photography technique that has captivated many photographers (including yours truly). HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and the idea behind it is to create an image without clipped highlights or shadows. You know that photo where the sky is bright white and your subject is all dark, well that’s because of the limited range and the highlights and shadows have been clipped.
Before you think of deleting that photo, give the “Recovery HDR” 1-Click Style of Funtastic Photos a try (if you don’t have Funtastic Photos, you can download a free trial from http://www.ohanaware.com). It’s under the Quick Fixes category. It uses some techniques not disimalar to HDR techniques as it tries to improve upon the bright areas and dark areas. The pictures below show a before and after.
Pretty amazing! It may not work for all photos, or it may be too strong for some others. For the photos where the effect is too strong, simply click on the “Advanced Options” button in the top right hand corner and user the top most slider to control the strength of the effect.
I must add that this effect is often refered to as FHDR or Fake HDR to you and I, because it doesn’t use an HDR image, just any old regular LDR (Low Dynamic Range) image! If you’re interested in HDR photography and learning more, join our mailing list as we’re working on a guide to HDR. You can also check out some FHDR groups on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hdraddicted/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/88604496@N00/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fhdr/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/showcasehdr/