You can do that electronically – with an image sensor – or chemically. Either way, both ways are perfect to freeze special moments into eternity. The industry of photography has evolved enormously across the ages. From the first photo that was taken in 1826 with a big machine that required from 8 hours to several days of exposure in order for the image to be imprinted. Today we have light and compact cameras that can capture any moment in high definition quality and fit inside a side pocket. There are a few different levels of quality available depending on their usage. One of the most popular ways of taking photographs is called HDR (High Dynamic Range). It involves capturing a larger range of light – from the darkest black to the brightest white – and combining two or more images of the same composition each with a different exposure setting. The goal is to capture both the light and dark parts of the images in almost the same way our eyes do so. Most modern cameras and smartphones come with a software solution that allows HDR but the issue is that you hardly ever have any control over what the final output image looks like. The best solution for this is using a camera with DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera). This type of camera allows you to shoot in RAW and use a feature known as Auto Exposure Bracketing that offers you the possibility to combine both the highlights and the shadows to produce a perfect looking image. In this article, we will explore the best options of HDR software solutions on the market that you can use on Windows 10.
What is the best HDR software to capture HQ images?
Instead, Eclipse HDR helps you get the same results as the classic technique, but with just one picture. This can be great if you have just one potentially great shot that you want to save, or if you are a beginner/amateur and don’t want to invest too much into HDR gear. However, if you prefer the 3-picture technique, Eclipse HDR can still be of great use. Its comprehensive set of features supports bracketing, lightning control, color adjustments, and more. Eclipse HDR provides over 40 presets for different types of photographs, from portraits to landscapes. The included effects can give your pictures all sorts of final looks, from highly realistic to surreal and artistic. Other key features of Eclipse HDR include:
HDR ReLight lets you adjust lightning in just a few clicks Noise reduction RAW processing module Exposure adjustements with advanced tone mapping
Eclipse HDR is a licensed product and it can be used on Windows running PCs.
One of the best features Aurora HDR has to offer is its HDR Tone Mapping tool and is presented as a slider that increases or decreases the HDR effect.
Aurora HDR has a number of other options available like adding custom textures, bracketing the HDR mode, and offers you the possibility to selectively include or exclude areas that will have the effects of these adjustments.
The feature of selective adjustment using creative adjustment layers is what makes Aurora HDR one of the best HDR software on the market in 2019.
Aurora HDR can also open RAW files – you can easily import the RAW files directly into the software or export them through Lightroom with or without the changes being applied.
This software allows you to change the information in separate sidecar files without affecting the initial photo.
Another essential aspect of Aurora HDR is its interface which is a lot more responsive and intuitive than the interface of other similar software.
Its patent-pending Quantum HDR Engine automatically analyzes millions of pixels and intelligently builds stunning photos.
Some very important Aurora HDR features include Photolemur 3.0 plugin support, Nik Collection, plugins for Photoshop, advanced image processing engine, HDR enhancer, native RAW support, or fast brackets merging.
It supports Imagenomic Portraiture and offers Pro presets packs. With this tool, you also get a history panel feature, histogram, as well as before and after comparison.
Flawless HDR – allows you to instantly get professional results without halos, ghosting. You can use the lens correction tool or the dodge & burn filter for making your visuals as flawless as possible.
You have a wide range of detail, clarity, and structure controls along with feather and density features for layer masks and in addition batch processing capabilities.
We also need to mention the intuitive user interface and the high-quality presets for all HDR styles. This software comes with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom plug-ins and multiple licenses for 5 computers at once.
If you are eager to practice photography and create stunning HDR images, be sure that this amazing tool won’t disappoint you.
You may process HDR images entirely in Lightroom. Normally, HDR requires that you shoot with a tripod and use complicated HDR plugins, yet with Adobe Lightroom you don’t need to carry one with you all the time.
To achieve the desired HDR effect, simply shoot in RAW and focus on these six sliders – Shadows, Highlights, Whites, Blacks, Clarity, and Vibrance.
That’s how you’ll get an impressive HDR-like image in just a couple of minutes. With its precise algorithm, bringing the HDR effect onto a single image is guaranteed.
However, do keep in mind that Adobe Lightroom does more than producing natural-looking HDR images.
It is a full-package tool when it comes to editing, organizing, and sharing your photos across desktop and mobile platforms.
Other amazing features include useful keyboard shortcuts for HDR and panorama merge, 3D artwork support, quick export of raw photos to DNG or Cloud storage starting at 1TB.
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Another great element is that you also get lightroom tutorials and content from professional photographers.
This software is easy to install and offers a straightforward interface that enables you to easily create multiple photos, blend them together for a photo sequence, and can also be used for tone mapping.
It has the capabilities to import several image formats: JPEG, 8/16-bit TIFF, PNG, FITS, or RAW photos.
It also allows you to import OpenEXR, Radiance RGBE, and 96-bit floating-point TIFF HDR images that were created with other HDR software.
Even though the best results can be obtained by using RAW images, EasyHDR can load just a single photo for LDR enhancements as well.
From the perspective of speed and performance, EasyHDR takes a bit longer to load compared to the other software options presented in this article.
But there are still areas that EasyHDR excels at like better integration and more than a standard set of editing options.
Key features include tone mapping options, deghosting, fast and responsive editing tool, and alignment control.
⇒ Get EasyHDR
Make the best of this free demo HDR software available without watermark. It uses both individual images, a bracketing series, simple JPEG’s or high-res RAW files, without the need to use a tripod.
As a leader in HDR technology, Franzis has guaranteed very good applications of this fascinating technique.
It offers one of the newest highlights of HDR photography – Ultra HDR – brilliant colors and amazing detail of your photos.
HDR Projects 4 is very easy to understand and use and as soon as you upload your original image, it presents you with 82 versions of your photos giving you the inspiration to try and experiment with new ideas.
Every image uploaded to the program is analyzed individually and with a wide array of possible effects, creating original looking photos come easy.
HDR Projects 4 comes in two versions – HDR projects standard, and HDR projects PRO.
The standard version of this software offers a good range of features like the ultra HDR technology, advanced RAW features, interactive ghosting removal as well as 19 max number of images in an exposure series
You can restore image series. Also you have 9 HDR algorithms and 64 post-processing effects at your fingertips as well as a 360 degrees panorama mode.
HDR Projects 4 PRO offers all the features of the standard version with a few key additions. You can make 33 max number of images in an exposure series.
It provides an add-on system, 13 HDR algorithms and 81 post-processing effects.
⇒ Get HDR Projects
It is a more basic HDR software for Windows 10 that still allows you to edit images and offers a wide enough variety of tools.
It includes basic automatic alignment and deghosting options and all of the tone mapping and editing settings are defined before you actually create your HDR composite.
This software also comes with a multi-threaded and consistent architecture making it a fast tone mapper thanks to a multicore-CPU support – Adaptive Logarithmic, Photoreceptor Physiology, etc.
Allows creation of HDRI’s from multiple exposures – automatic image alignment, exposure correction, RAW support, noise level compensation
It allows highslide JS – reads EXIF metadata and ICC profiles from source image, aperture, shutter speed, and EV offset.
The tool has the ability to integrate plugins written for HDRShop. It offers a wide array of plugins like – Gaussian Motion Blur, Diffuse SH (spherical harmonics).
With this tool you also get a median cut feature (light show extraction), Absolute HDR Calibration, FakeHDRI (stretches out LDR pixel values), etc.
You will definitely enjoy the user-defined Gamma Encoding as well as the high-quality 32-bit resizing.
You also get plenty of LDR formats like TIFF, JPEG, TGA, RAW as well as HDR formats: TIFF float, OpenEXR, PFM, Radiance RGBE.
The plugins offered by Picturenaut come in a wide spectrum of flavors: format plugins – HDR and LDR. You can create plugins such as 32-bit floating-point image buffers.
⇒ Get Picturenaut 3.2
In this article, we presented you a wide array of HDR software options for your image post-processing on Windows 10.
Note that the most professional options also with an incredible user interface require more system resources.
Depending on your specific needs, you can also choose HDR software solutions with a lower impact on your system resources that have a lower number of features still offer a powerful image creation and post-processing program.
Tell us what you think about the options presented in this article and let us know if we missed anything in the comment section below.
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