# AutoHDR comparison



## Xander (Apr 6, 2012)

I tried the AutoHDR software and here are a few results. 

There seems to be very little 'improvement' so what I'm asking is....
I'm I doing something wrong, or are my photos 'good enough' so the software can't improve them greatly?

Here are some examples.
Left = Original, Right = enhanced










this one there is some improvement in the 'color' of the Gold Web








What you think??


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## Sylvanite (Apr 6, 2012)

Your originals are low in contrast (or, more properly low in dynamic range) to begin with, so compressing the dynamic range doesn't accomplish much.

"HDR" processing is meant for situations where the scene being photographed has higher dynamic range (darker shadows and brighter highlights) than the camera sensor can capture.  Situations such as an interior room with a window on a sunny day, for example.  If you expose for the room, the window is washed out.  If you expose for the window, the room is too dark.  HDR lets you combine 2 (or more) photos with different exposures, merging them to reveal both the shadow and highlight details.

Quite frankly, I don't typically see that kind of problem happening in pen photos - especially if they are taken in a light tent.  Most of these photos have the opposite problem - not enough contrast.

Check out http://www.penturners.org/forum/f24/photoshop-tip-4-dynamic-range-77923/ and http://www.penturners.org/forum/f24/photoshop-tip-5-fill-light-84047/ for more information.

I hope that helps,
Eric


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## Xander (Apr 6, 2012)

ok... I thought the idea behind the HDR was to improve details in shadow and highlight areas. Or to put it another way, to increase..."pop", uummmm,  don't know how to explain it.  Guess I was wrong. :redface:


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## Xander (Apr 6, 2012)

Well.... I did some playing with another free photo edit program...

Original/enhanced.


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## azamiryou (Apr 7, 2012)

If you're starting with a single image, it's not what's traditionally called HDR. HDR usually means using multiple photos with different exposures; for the output photo, detail in the dark, light, and in-between areas come from whichever photo has the most detail in that area.


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## MarkY (Apr 10, 2012)

The AutoHDR software has the ability to merge exposures to make an HDR photo that can make the resulting photo more like what our eyes see (we see a lot better than a camera).
  But if you're using a single exposure to begin with the end result will be a simulated HDR effect only.


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