HDR Images Don’t Have to Look Fake

HDR Processing Doesn't have to look "Fake"

Are you ready for this one. I’ve never been a fan of HDR. That’s right. Here I am running an HDR photo processing site and I’ve never been impressed with HDR rendered images. Why am I running an HDR lab? Because HDR doesn’t have to look “Fake”. HDR software is, well, software. It can be used to create surreal images, over saturated images, artsy images, gritty images, David Hall looking images, watercolor images, oil painting images, you get the idea.

But it can also be used to create great photographic images as well. Most producing HDR imagery aren’t after a photographic representation. They want the Gritty, the Over Saturated looks they can achieve using HDR processing. The same results can be achieved with Photoshop, but using HDR software it can be achieved very simply.

HDR Processing For Real Estate

In most of the examples I’m trying to show the extremes of what can be done using HDR.  If the camera is getting the exposure right there won’t be a huge swing In  Before and After.  Here are some of the things that will be enhanced.

1. Shadow detail will be brought out.
2. Colors will be richer but not over saturated
3. Reflections will have details in them
4. Same true for window reflections
5. In most cases the windows won’t be blown out (it depends on the number of exposures and if the detail outdoors is lost in the image)
6. Clouds and small details will be enhanced (limbs, leaves, doorways,small objects hidden in shadows, etc.)

HDR processing for MLS photos.

MLS images aren’t to supposed to be “artsy”  they are intended to represent what the outside, inside and amenities of the home look like.  The views from the home and from the rooms in the home.  This is where HDR processing really shines for listing photos.

I’ll say this a lot and often.  The best images for Real Estate are RAW.  Amazing details can be extracted from a RAW file.  Much more so than from a JPG which has already had a lot of data removed from the file, then compressed before saved.

Calling Athol Kay

This post was inspired by a comment left by Athol Kay about not liking HDR.  If I want Athol to see something I’ve written all I have to do is put his name in a post and it is like shining the light in the sky to call Batman.  With his Google Alerts set up he gets these light in the sky requests on a regular basis.  As he said with the name Dave Smith, it won’t work.  It reminds me of a line from “The Land of Point”  that goes like this “A point in every direction is the same as no point at all”.

I’m going to create a Gallery  HDR Photorealistic.  Where you can ask “Is it live or is it memorex”.  Is the photo above HDR?  There are three HDR Galleries already which are a combination of Artsy, Gritty, and Photorealism.  HDR Images Don’t have to look “Fake”.

Tags: HDR Images, HDR Processing