IntroductionWelcome| 00:00 |
(music playing)
| | 00:04 |
Hello, I'm Tim Grey.
I've been a photographer for as long as I
| | 00:07 |
can remember, and for much of that time,
I struggled with exposure issues when the
| | 00:10 |
contrast of a scene exceeded the capture
capibilites of my film or digital image sensor.
| | 00:17 |
Fortunately, that's a problem of the past
thanks to high dynamic range imaging, or HDR.
| | 00:22 |
To create a high dynamic range image, you
need to capture multiple images with
| | 00:25 |
different exposure settings.
Those images then need to be assembled
| | 00:29 |
using special software in order to create
a final image that represents the full
| | 00:33 |
range of the original scene.
One of the software tools serving this
| | 00:38 |
purpose is HDR Efex Pro from Nik
software.
| | 00:41 |
And I have to say, with version 2, I am
very excited about this great software tool.
| | 00:47 |
I'll start off by showing you the various
ways you can assemble a basic HDR image,
| | 00:50 |
using HDR Efex Pro, including a work flow
that incorporates Adobe Photoshop, or
| | 00:54 |
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Next, we'll take a look at the basics of
| | 00:59 |
HDR Efex Pro, including configuring the
interface and settings, utilizing
| | 01:03 |
presets, and evaluating your image.
We'll then go step by step through the
| | 01:08 |
various adjustment options that are
available in HDR Efex Pro, including
| | 01:11 |
overall tonal adjustments, color
adjustments, and the ability to reset
| | 01:14 |
adjustments, or go back in the history.
One of the more powerful capabilities of
| | 01:20 |
HDR Efex Pro is the ability to utilize
control points to apply selective adjustments.
| | 01:26 |
We'll take a look at all of the various
options available for this powerful
| | 01:29 |
feature that enables a high degree of
control over the adjustments you apply.
| | 01:35 |
Finally, we'll take a look at some
finishing touches you can apply to your
| | 01:37 |
photos and learn how to save the final
processed image.
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I've really grown to enjoy HDR imaging
and find that HDR Efex Pro to be an
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excellent tool for assembling and
optimizing HDR images.
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I look forward to showing you how to make
the most of this powerful software tool.
| | 01:54 |
Let's get started.
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1. Assembling HDR ImagesIntroduction to HDR and HDR Efex Pro| 00:01 |
High Dynamic Range imaging, or HDR,
addresses a problem that just about every
| | 00:05 |
photographer has faced at some point.
And maybe on a very regular basis.
| | 00:11 |
And that is, in many cases, the Dynamic
Range, or the distance between the
| | 00:14 |
brightest values in a scene, and the
darkest values in a scene, exceeds our
| | 00:18 |
camera's capability to record that
information.
| | 00:23 |
With this image for example, you can see
a reasonable amount of detail in the
| | 00:26 |
ceiling of the portico.
We might be losing a little bit of shadow
| | 00:29 |
detail in the lamp for example, but we
are most certainly are losing details in
| | 00:32 |
the most brightest areas of the photo.
The sky is completed blown out and much
| | 00:37 |
of the detail in the buildings has also
been lost with High Dynamic Range imaging.
| | 00:42 |
We're able to capture a series of images
at different Exposure Settings so that we
| | 00:46 |
have everything covered within this scene
from the darkest shadow detail all the
| | 00:49 |
way up to the brightest highlights.
And then, those images can be blended
| | 00:55 |
together into a single seamless image
that contains maximum detail so we can
| | 00:59 |
capture images where.
All of the detail that's out there is
| | 01:03 |
retained within that photo.
Of course, in the process of assembling
| | 01:07 |
an HDR image, you also have the
opportunity to apply some adjustments.
| | 01:11 |
And you can decide what sort of
interpretation you want to use for a
| | 01:14 |
particular scene.
With this photo, I could opt for a
| | 01:18 |
relatively realistic result, one that
doesn't look very artificial.
| | 01:23 |
Of course, a photographer would probably
realize that this photograph would
| | 01:26 |
require more than one exposure.
Because of the extreme range from shadows
| | 01:31 |
to highlights in the image.
But overall, it does look relatively realistic.
| | 01:37 |
We can also interpret the scene in a much
more dramatic fashion, if we like.
| | 01:40 |
One that will be immediately recognized
as an HDR image, or perhaps seen as being
| | 01:44 |
more of a painting.
Or some some sort of graphic illustration
| | 01:48 |
rather than a photograph.
The point is that we have a lot of flexibility.
| | 01:52 |
But HDR imaging does require special
software to assemble the various
| | 01:56 |
exposures into a single final image.
And one such tool is Nick Software's HDR
| | 02:02 |
Effects Pro.
HDR Effects Pro is a powerful application
| | 02:06 |
that's surprisingly easy to use.
You can work with a series of presets to
| | 02:10 |
assign a recipe effectively to your HDR
image.
| | 02:13 |
But then, you can fine tune the various
setting in order to optimize your result.
| | 02:19 |
The software can also automatically align
subjects, and remove ghosting if they
| | 02:22 |
were moving objects.
There's a lot packed into this very
| | 02:26 |
powerful application, and a lot of
flexibility as well.
| | 02:30 |
So, whether you're brand new to HDR
imaging, or you've been capturing these
| | 02:33 |
sorts of images for a long while.
HDR Effects Pro is a great tool that you
| | 02:37 |
might want to employ in your workflow in
order to assemble HDR images.
| | 02:41 |
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| Assembling images from Adobe Bridge| 00:00 |
HDR Efex Pro requires a host application,
either Photoshop, Lightroom, or Apple
| | 00:05 |
Aperture, in order to process your
images.
| | 00:10 |
If you're using Photoshop as your primary
tool for optimizing your photos, then I
| | 00:14 |
highly suggest that you use Adobe Bridge
to start off the process of assembling
| | 00:18 |
HDR images with HDR Efex Pro.
And the process is rather simple.
| | 00:23 |
Within Adobe Bridge, you simply navigate
to the location where the individual
| | 00:27 |
frames for your HDR composition are
located, and then select the images that
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you want to assemble.
So, here I have some images from the
| | 00:34 |
Abbey at Melk in Austria.
I'll click on the first image in the
| | 00:38 |
series and then hold the shift key and
click on the last image in the series.
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And that will select all of the frames in
my series of HDR captures.
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In this case, three individual exposures,
separated by one stop each.
| | 00:51 |
With those images selected I can then go
to the tools menu, and choose Nik
| | 00:55 |
Software, followed by Merge to HDR Efex
Pro.
| | 00:59 |
When you choose that option, the images
will be opened in HDR Efex Pro, you'll
| | 01:03 |
see that each image is listed on the list
of source files.
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You could also open additional images,
if, for example, you had neglected to
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open all of the frames in your HDR.
And then you can specify whether you want
| | 01:15 |
the images to be opened as a smart
object.
| | 01:19 |
With this option turned on, you'll be
able to go back to HDR Efex Pro directly
| | 01:22 |
from Photoshop for the assembled image so
that you can fine tune the settings used
| | 01:26 |
to interpret that HDR image.
With the source files identified, and the
| | 01:32 |
Create Smart Object check box turned on,
you can then click the merge dialog
| | 01:35 |
button in order to have these individual
images processed and assembled into a
| | 01:39 |
single HDR capture where you'll then will
be able to apply some of the finer
| | 01:42 |
adjustments for the images.
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| Assembling images from Adobe Photoshop| 00:02 |
If you're using Photoshop as the host
application for HDR Efex Pro, there are a
| | 00:05 |
couple of ways that you can initiate the
process of assembling an HDR image
| | 00:09 |
directly from within Photoshop.
The first is to use the Next Software
| | 00:15 |
panel within Photoshop.
You can see here I have HDR Efex Pro
| | 00:18 |
available and I can simply click the
Merge button.
| | 00:21 |
That's the option to assemble multiple
images, and that will bring up the HDR
| | 00:25 |
Efex Pro application where I can choose
the source files.
| | 00:29 |
I'll click Cancel here for the moment,
and switch back to Photoshop, so that we
| | 00:33 |
can take a look at the other option for
assembling images in HDR Efex Pro from
| | 00:36 |
within Photoshop.
And that is to go to the File menu, and
| | 00:41 |
then choose Automate, followed by Merge
to HDR Efex Pro.
| | 00:45 |
I'll go ahead and choose that option and
once again we'll see the option to select
| | 00:49 |
source files, in HDR Efex Pro.
Note that I've not yet opened any images
| | 00:54 |
in Photoshop.
If I had, I could simply choose the Add
| | 00:57 |
Open Files option.
But generally, I'll use my original raw
| | 01:01 |
captures as the basis for an HDR image
and so I won't have already opened them
| | 01:04 |
in Photoshop and instead will click the
Open button here.
| | 01:08 |
And then select the images, I'll click on
the first image in the series and then
| | 01:12 |
hold the Shift key and click on the last
image in this series, and then click the
| | 01:15 |
Open button and those images will be
added to the list of source files.
| | 01:21 |
So, those are the images that will be
assembled into my final HDR image.
| | 01:24 |
I'll make sure that the Create Smart
Object check box is turned on.
| | 01:28 |
This enables me to come back and fine
tune the settings in HDR Efex Pro anytime
| | 01:32 |
I want to after the image has already
been processed.
| | 01:37 |
So that gives me a good amount of
flexibility.
| | 01:39 |
Once those settings are established, I
can click the Merge Dialog button, and
| | 01:42 |
the images I selected will be processed
by HDR Efex Pro, and then I can fine tune
| | 01:46 |
some of the other settings related to the
assembly of that HDR image.
| | 01:51 |
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| Assembling images from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom| 00:00 |
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is a powerful
application for managing, optimizing and
| | 00:04 |
sharing your digital photographs.
And Lightroom can also act as a host for
| | 00:09 |
HDR Efex Pro, which means we can assemble
images using HDR Efex Pro directly from
| | 00:14 |
within Lightroom.
Let's take a look at the process for
| | 00:19 |
assembling a series of individual
exposures in Lightroom using HDR Efex Pro.
| | 00:24 |
I'll start off by selecting the first of
the series of images that I want to
| | 00:28 |
assemble into a final HDR, and then I'll
hold the Shift key while clicking on the
| | 00:31 |
last image in that sequence.
In this case, it's just three images that
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I'll be assembling into an HDR result.
I can then click on the Export button at
| | 00:41 |
the bottom of the left panel in the
library module, that will bring up the
| | 00:45 |
Export dialog.
And you'll notice that in addition to the
| | 00:49 |
Lightoom presets that are included with
Lightroom, as well as the user presets
| | 00:52 |
that you can create yourself, we now have
Nik Software presets, which includes HDR
| | 00:56 |
Efex Pro.
I can click on HDR Efex Pro 2 from the
| | 01:00 |
list, and then you'll see that the only
real options available to me are the file settings.
| | 01:05 |
You can choose which file format you want
to save the final result in, either a
| | 01:09 |
JPEG or a TIFF image, and I recommend a
TIFF image for HDR imaging.
| | 01:13 |
You can also choose the color space.
Pro Photo RGB is the default for
| | 01:17 |
Lightroom, and it is the largest color
space, and so I recommend using that
| | 01:20 |
option, but you could also choose Adobe
RGB or SRGB, if you prefer.
| | 01:26 |
For Compression, I generally leave the
option set to none, and for Bit Depth, I
| | 01:30 |
work in 16 bit per channel mode, both to
ensure maximum tonal range in the final
| | 01:33 |
image, and also to help ensure that there
won't be posterization, or the loss of
| | 01:37 |
smooth gradations of tone and color, when
I apply adjustments to the image.
| | 01:44 |
With those options established, I can
click the Export button and Lightroom
| | 01:48 |
will process and export those images,
sending them to NIC Software's HDR Efex
| | 01:51 |
Pro, at which point I'll be able to apply
some additional adjustments and change
| | 01:55 |
the settings for the processing of the
final HDR image.
| | 02:00 |
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| Creating the initial HDR image| 00:02 |
There are various ways you can select
these specific images that you want to
| | 00:05 |
assemble into a final HDR image.
And send those images to Nick Software's
| | 00:10 |
HDR Effects Pro, in order to create the
final image.
| | 00:14 |
Whatever method you use, once you've
identified those images, and chosen to
| | 00:18 |
merge them together.
You'll be presented with the Merge
| | 00:21 |
dialog, and that's what we see here.
I have a total of nine images that I'm
| | 00:25 |
assembling here.
You can see they range from a very bright
| | 00:28 |
exposure, all the way down to a
relatively dark exposure that helped
| | 00:31 |
retain in this case, cloud detail in the
sky.
| | 00:34 |
Most of the work being performed by HDR
Effects Pro is relatively automatic.
| | 00:39 |
But there are some options that you may
want to adjust depending on the
| | 00:42 |
particular images that you're assembling.
The first option is the alignment
| | 00:47 |
checkbox, and I recommend that you leave
this potion turned on for every single
| | 00:51 |
HDR image you assemble with HDR Effects
Pro.
| | 00:55 |
Without this option, the images could be
slightly out of alignment even if you
| | 00:59 |
capture the individual frames on a
tripod.
| | 01:03 |
There could be some very subtle movement
that you're not aware of, and that can
| | 01:06 |
cause a significant issue in the final
result.
| | 01:09 |
So, I always leave that Alignment
checkbox turned on.
| | 01:12 |
The next option is Ghost Reduction.
And what this means, is that we're able
| | 01:16 |
to take a moving subject and make it
appear as though it were not moving.
| | 01:20 |
So, if a bird on a fountain was moving
from one frame to the next, you can
| | 01:23 |
essentially adjust the image so that only
one bird appears.
| | 01:28 |
Rather than individual copies of that
bird from each of your HDR frames.
| | 01:33 |
I recommend leaving Ghost Reduction
turned on for most images even if you
| | 01:37 |
think it was a totally static subject.
In this case, for example, I framed up
| | 01:42 |
the scene so that there were no people in
the frame.
| | 01:44 |
There weren't, as far as I know, any
birds flying across the sky.
| | 01:48 |
And so you might assume, at first glance,
that nothing was moving and therefore I
| | 01:51 |
don't need Ghost Reduction.
However, as it turns out, there was some
| | 01:55 |
movement within the frame, specifically
the lamp hanging from the ceiling was
| | 02:00 |
swaying just a little bit in a very light
breeze.
| | 02:04 |
I didn't notice the movement while I was
standing there, and looking from one
| | 02:07 |
frame to the next, I didn't even really
notice the movement all that much.
| | 02:11 |
And yet, there was some significant
movement.
| | 02:14 |
I'll go ahead and turn on the Zoom tool
And then position that tool at the base
| | 02:17 |
of the lamp, here right at the bottom of
the lamp.
| | 02:20 |
And then if I turn off Ghost Reduction,
you'll be able to see a little bit of a
| | 02:23 |
blurring within the image.
I'll go ahead and switch betwen the
| | 02:27 |
various exposures here for example.
And you'll see as we move from frame to
| | 02:31 |
frame we're getting a fair amount of
overlapping images here.
| | 02:35 |
We see a little bit of ghosting around
some of the detail in the lamp for example.
| | 02:38 |
If I turn on Ghost Reduction however,
you'll see that once that image gets
| | 02:42 |
processed, all of the ghosting quickly
disappears.
| | 02:46 |
For most images, if there's any
indication of ghosting at all, an even
| | 02:49 |
sometimes if there's not any indication
of ghosting.
| | 02:53 |
I'll leave the ghost reduction checkbox
turned on, an I'll set the strength at 100%.
| | 02:58 |
In addition to being able to turn on
Ghost Reduction and adjust the strength,
| | 03:02 |
we can also choose which frame will be
used as the reference image.
| | 03:06 |
I'll go ahead and turn off the Zoom
feature for the moment so that we can see
| | 03:09 |
the difference.
And then I can simply click on one of my
| | 03:12 |
frames up above and you'll notice that
the image gets updated.
| | 03:16 |
Now in this case what that means is,
you'll see the movement of the lamp.
| | 03:20 |
It'll be a little more to the left in one
frame and a little more to the right in
| | 03:23 |
another frame.
In this case I think I'm going to use
| | 03:26 |
this second image here as the ghost
reference because there I like the
| | 03:29 |
position of the lamp a little bit better.
So, we can determine which image will be
| | 03:34 |
considered the baseline image for that
Ghost Reduction.
| | 03:38 |
We also have the option to remove
chromatic aberration.
| | 03:41 |
I'll go ahead and turn on the Chromatic
Aberration checkbox and you'll see that
| | 03:44 |
the Zoom tool comes up automatically with
the Chromatic Aberration option.
| | 03:49 |
All that really means that were zoomed in
a little bit closer we can switch between
| | 03:52 |
a Ghost Reduction zoom and a Chromatic
Aberration zoom.
| | 03:56 |
And then we can drag the window around
and look for a high contrast area within
| | 04:00 |
the frame.
So, I'll go ahead and click and drag
| | 04:02 |
around and looking for a high contrast
edge to see if there's any chromatic aberrations.
| | 04:05 |
Those chromatic aberrations will appear
as a color fringing.
| | 04:06 |
And you can see just a little bit of a
cyan color fringing here, we can adjust
| | 04:12 |
for a red cyan color fringing or a blue
yellow color fringing.
| | 04:20 |
I'll go ahead and adjust the Red-Cyan
slider for example, relatively large degree.
| | 04:24 |
And you'll see now that cyan color
fringing has switched to a red color fringing.
| | 04:29 |
And so by fine tuning the settings, I can
hopefully find a value that will provide
| | 04:33 |
no chromatic aberrations at all.
It's a good idea to check around various
| | 04:38 |
areas of the photo for those chromatic
aberrations.
| | 04:41 |
Just to make sure that you're eliminating
them altogether throughout the entire
| | 04:44 |
image, or at least mitigating those
chromatic aberrations to the extent that
| | 04:47 |
it's possible.
Generally speaking, I'll only use
| | 04:51 |
chromatic aberration correction if I
actually need it.
| | 04:54 |
And whether or not there is any chromatic
aberration in the image, depends in large
| | 04:58 |
part on the lighting conditions, as well
as the lens that you use to capture the image.
| | 05:03 |
Once you've established those settings,
you can simply click the create HDR button.
| | 05:08 |
And all of the adjustments you've applied
will be taken into account as the initial
| | 05:12 |
HDR image is assembled.
Keep in mind this is just a baseline
| | 05:16 |
image that blends all of the exposure
data into a single result.
| | 05:20 |
You'll still have the opportunity to fine
tune the overall settings for the HDR photo.
| | 05:25 |
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| Tone mapping a single image| 00:02 |
By definition, a high dynamic range image
involves assembling multiple images,
| | 00:05 |
captured at different exposure settings,
into a final result that maximizes the
| | 00:09 |
amount of detail, through the full
dynamic range of the scene, Into a single image.
| | 00:15 |
The process results in images that tend
to have an HDR look.
| | 00:20 |
Sometimes that just means that there's
more detail than you might otherwise
| | 00:24 |
expect in a photographic image, but in
other cases, it might result in a very
| | 00:27 |
dramatic or over-saturated or
hyper-realistic image.
| | 00:32 |
That's often referred to as an HDR look.
And what you might not realize is that we
| | 00:36 |
can actually create that look for a
single image.
| | 00:39 |
Keep in mind if we're using a single
image to create an HDR look, we won't
| | 00:42 |
have the full level of detail that we
could otherwise achieve with multiple
| | 00:46 |
exposures, but we can create an
interesting and creative effect in a
| | 00:50 |
single photo, using HDR Efex Pro, with
the tone mapping portion of the software.
| | 00:57 |
You can see I have a tone mapping option
on the Nik Software control panel, but I
| | 01:01 |
can also, in Photoshop, go to the File
menu and choose Automate, followed by
| | 01:05 |
Merge to HDR Efex Pro.
In addition, of course, I could use Adobe
| | 01:11 |
Bridge, Adobe Photoshop Light Room, or
Apple Aperture in order to send a single
| | 01:15 |
image to HDR Efex Pro for processing.
I'll go ahead and choose the command from
| | 01:21 |
the menu here, and then the dialog will
come up to select source files for HDR
| | 01:24 |
Efex Pro.
I'll go ahead and click the Add Open
| | 01:28 |
Files button, and that will add the image
that I've opened in Photoshop to the list
| | 01:31 |
of source files.
I'll then click the Merge Dialogue
| | 01:35 |
button, but since this is a single image,
the Merge Dialogue, itself, will actually
| | 01:39 |
be bypassed and I'll be taken directly
into the Tone Mapping features of HDR
| | 01:43 |
Efex Pro.
So, here I could process this individual
| | 01:48 |
image in exactly the same way that I can
process multiple images being assembled
| | 01:52 |
into a real HDR image.
So, I'm able to achieve a similar look,
| | 01:57 |
granted not necessarily with the same
level of detail, but a very similar look
| | 02:01 |
for an individual photo.
And once I've adjusted all those
| | 02:05 |
settings, I can simply click the okay
button in order to process that
| | 02:08 |
individual photo into an image with an
HDR look.
| | 02:12 |
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|
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2. Basics of HDR Efex ProA tour of HDR Efex Pro| 00:00 |
HDR Efex Pro consists of several pieces.
We start off, of course, by identifying
| | 00:06 |
the images that we want to blend together
into an HDR image, or identifying the
| | 00:10 |
single image that we want to apply tone
mapping to, and then we can process those
| | 00:14 |
images with HDR Pro, primarily merging
our multiple exposures together.
| | 00:20 |
But most of the time that you're going to
spend working with HDR Efex Pro will be
| | 00:23 |
with the tone mapping controls.
And so, this interface that you see here
| | 00:28 |
is going to be the interface that you
spend the most time with as you're
| | 00:30 |
working on your photos.
Let's take a look at how this overall
| | 00:34 |
interface is structured, so that you'll
feel more comfortable finding your way
| | 00:37 |
around and fine tuning your photos.
Over on the left side, we have the preset
| | 00:42 |
library, and this is where we have saved
presets that allow us to quickly, with
| | 00:46 |
one click, apply a particular look to the
photo that we're currently working with.
| | 00:52 |
We can scroll through all of the various
presets and click on any one we'd like in
| | 00:55 |
order to apply that effect to our photo.
We have the existing presets, those that
| | 01:01 |
are included with HDR Efex Pro.
We also have custom presets, and these
| | 01:05 |
are options for us to actually save our
own presets within HDR Efex Pro.
| | 01:10 |
And you can also import saved presets, so
for example, you might find presets
| | 01:14 |
available online, or a friend or
colleague might share their saved presets
| | 01:18 |
with you.
In addition, we have the history option,
| | 01:21 |
and this allows us to review the steps
that have been performed on a particular
| | 01:25 |
image, and also to go back and forth
between various settings.
| | 01:30 |
Across the top, we have some preview
options.
| | 01:33 |
We can hide the left or right panels.
We have some preview options, as far as
| | 01:36 |
before and after views.
We can adjust the zoom setting.
| | 01:39 |
And we can also adjust the brightness of
the overall interface.
| | 01:43 |
Over on the right side, we have our
primary controls for adjusting the
| | 01:46 |
appearance of a photo.
These are divided into sections.
| | 01:50 |
So you see, for example, tone
compression, tonality and color among the
| | 01:53 |
various options that are available to us,
and down at the bottom a loop and
| | 01:57 |
histogram display so that we can evaluate
our image.
| | 02:02 |
Both looking at the histogram for overall
tonal range for example and using the
| | 02:05 |
loop view in order to get a closer look
at a specific area of the photo.
| | 02:10 |
Generally speaking you'll probably work
largely from left to right within the interface.
| | 02:14 |
You'll select a preset from the library,
for example you might adjust your view
| | 02:18 |
options and then you'll start to fine
tune the various settings before
| | 02:22 |
finalizing the effect by clicking the OK
button.
| | 02:26 |
So you can see, a very straight-forward
interface, and one that works logically,
| | 02:29 |
generally from left to right, enabling
you to exercise great control over the
| | 02:32 |
tone mapping that you're applying to your
HDR images.
| | 02:36 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Configuring the interface| 00:00 |
HDR Effects Pro provides you with a
couple of options for adjusting the
| | 00:04 |
appearance of the overall interface.
First off, we have the ability to hide
| | 00:09 |
one or both of the panels.
The panels are found on the left and
| | 00:14 |
right sides of the interface.
The left panel primarily includes presets
| | 00:18 |
that you can use as a starting point for
adjusting the appearance of your HDR image.
| | 00:23 |
And the right panel, for the most part,
contains adjustments allowing you to
| | 00:27 |
refine the effects that are being
applied.
| | 00:30 |
We can hide one or both of those panels
very, very easily.
| | 00:33 |
Up on the top bar, we have a button at
the top left that we can click in order
| | 00:37 |
to hide the left panel.
And we can click again to reveal that
| | 00:41 |
left panel.
And similarly over at the top right, we
| | 00:44 |
have the button that enables us to hide
the right panel and then reveal the panel.
| | 00:49 |
Obviously, you click each button in order
to hide both panels so that you're able
| | 00:52 |
to focus a little bit more attention on
the image.
| | 00:56 |
But you can also use a keyboard shortcut
to hide or reveal both of the panels.
| | 01:00 |
And that is the Tab key on your keyboard.
By pressing Tab, you'll hide and then reveal.
| | 01:06 |
So, it's a toggle allowing you to hide or
reveal both panels at the same time.
| | 01:10 |
And I find that this is very helpful as
I'm applying my adjustments and I really
| | 01:13 |
want to focus my attention on just the
image, that I'll just press the Tab key
| | 01:17 |
to focus my attention on the image
itself.
| | 01:21 |
In addition to being able to hide or
reveal those panels, we can also adjust
| | 01:25 |
the brightness of the background.
And that's with this little Light bulb
| | 01:30 |
button up at the top right.
I'll go ahead and click and you can see
| | 01:33 |
that the background goes to black, which
makes it a little bit easier to focus my
| | 01:36 |
attention on the image and not be
distracted by the tonality of that middle
| | 01:39 |
grey background.
We can also click one more time to get a
| | 01:43 |
white background, and to me this is
helpful because it gives me the
| | 01:46 |
appearance of the image as being a print
on white paper.
| | 01:51 |
And so I get a better feel for how that
final image might look if I print it out.
| | 01:56 |
In most cases, I leave the background set
to a neutral gray value, because I find
| | 01:59 |
that's the least distracting.
But from time to time, I will switch to
| | 02:03 |
the black or the white display, in order
to get a better sense of the overall image.
| | 02:10 |
So you can see some very basic
capabilities in terms of being able to
| | 02:12 |
change the background color between
black, white and grey.
| | 02:16 |
And also, hide and reveal those left and
right panels, so that you can focus a
| | 02:19 |
little bit more attention on the image
itself rather than those controls.
| | 02:24 |
I find that I do sort of switch back and
forth between those various view options
| | 02:27 |
from time to time, depending on what I'm
focused on and what I'm trying to
| | 02:30 |
accomplish for my photo.
| | 02:32 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Software settings| 00:00 |
Within HDR Efex Pro there are a series of
settings that you can adjust to modify
| | 00:05 |
the overall behavior of HDR Efex Pro.
Let's take a look at those settings and
| | 00:10 |
how you might like to configure them as
you're working with your HDR images.
| | 00:16 |
To access those settings within HDR Efex
Pro, you can simply click the Settings
| | 00:19 |
button along the bottom bar over on the
left hand side.
| | 00:23 |
That will bring up the Settings dialog.
You can specify which language you'd like
| | 00:27 |
the interface to utilize from a variety
of supported language.
| | 00:31 |
I'll leave mine set to English US.
We can also choose which preview mode
| | 00:35 |
should be used by default.
We can use the last settings, in other
| | 00:39 |
words every time you launch HDR Efex Pro
the preview mode will be set to whatever
| | 00:43 |
you left it at last.
But you can also specify a particular
| | 00:47 |
preview mode and for me personally I
prefer in most cases to work in the
| | 00:51 |
single image view.
But you can also choose a split preview
| | 00:55 |
or a side by side preview.
So I'll go ahead and switch this to
| | 00:58 |
single image view.
For the background you can specify once
| | 01:02 |
again that the last used color should be
used or you can specify white gray or black.
| | 01:08 |
My preference is to set this to gray as
my default color.
| | 01:11 |
We can also specify the default zoom
setting and my personal preference is to
| | 01:14 |
have the image fit within the available
space.
| | 01:18 |
And in most cases a zoom setting of
around 25% will accomplish that if I'm
| | 01:21 |
working with a full resolution image.
But this will depend on the image
| | 01:25 |
resolution you tend to work with as well
as your overall display settings, so you
| | 01:29 |
might want to choose a different setting.
Or once again choose that use last
| | 01:34 |
settings option.
So that whatever zoom setting you had
| | 01:37 |
last time, you processed and image, will
be the default for the next image that
| | 01:40 |
you open.
We can click on the Alignment and Ghost
| | 01:43 |
Reduction section, and that will pop up
that set of controls.
| | 01:47 |
The Alignment option, my preference, is
to have turned on, and so I specifically
| | 01:51 |
choose on, rather then use the last
settings.
| | 01:54 |
Just so that if, for any reason I were to
turn it off, it would be turned back on
| | 01:57 |
again the next time I open an image.
For Ghost Reduction similarly I always
| | 02:01 |
want that option turned on by default.
I can always turn it off later if I
| | 02:05 |
decide I need to for a particular image,
but in most cases I have it turned on and
| | 02:09 |
I have it set to 100%.
So I'll set those as my default settings
| | 02:14 |
so I don't need to worry about resetting
them to my preferred settings if I should
| | 02:17 |
use different settings for a particular
image.
| | 02:20 |
For chromatic aberration my preference is
to have the option turned off and to only
| | 02:24 |
turn it on when I actually need it.
So that's my personal preference but
| | 02:29 |
obviously you could set the option to on
or to default to whatever you'd used recently.
| | 02:34 |
And for the Merge dialog preview
quality, I generally use the Quick option.
| | 02:39 |
Because in the Merge dialog, I'm not
really focused in the final image, but
| | 02:42 |
rather on ghost reduction and chromatic
aberration.
| | 02:45 |
And so I use the Quick option here, just
so that I don't have to wait for an
| | 02:48 |
additional period of time for the preview
to be rendered.
| | 02:52 |
but you can choose the precise option
here as well.
| | 02:55 |
It does require a little bit more time in
order to generate the preview as you
| | 02:58 |
adjust the settings but it also ensures
that you get a more accurate preview of
| | 03:01 |
the image.
I'll just leave my setting here set to
| | 03:05 |
quick though, and then we can take a look
at software update settings.
| | 03:09 |
And this allows you to determine how
frequently HDR Efex Pro should check for
| | 03:13 |
updates to the software.
I leave mine set to the weekly option
| | 03:16 |
that is the default, but you can also
choose daily, monthly, or never.
| | 03:20 |
And at the bottom of the section, you do
have a button that allows you to check
| | 03:24 |
for updates right now.
And then finally, we have the GPU
| | 03:28 |
section, with just a single checkbox,
Enable GPU Processing.
| | 03:32 |
I highly encourage you to leave this
option turned on, because it can greatly
| | 03:35 |
improve performance in HDR Efex Pro.
The only reason I would turn this option
| | 03:41 |
off is if you're experiencing odd error
messages, crashes, or other issues.
| | 03:46 |
Because in many cases, display adapter
drivers can cause problems with certain software.
| | 03:51 |
So generally speaking, we'll leave this
option turned on unless you're
| | 03:54 |
experiencing problems within HDR Efex
Pro.
| | 03:58 |
That takes care of the various settings
options we have available.
| | 04:01 |
Once you've chosen the options that work
best for you and your particular work
| | 04:04 |
flow, you can simply click the OK button
to accept the changes.
| | 04:07 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Working with presets| 00:00 |
HDR Efex Pro includes a variety of
different options for adjusting the
| | 00:04 |
appearance of your image.
Those include tone compression, tonality
| | 00:09 |
adjustments, color adjustments, and some
selective and finishing adjustments as well.
| | 00:14 |
But in most cases, you'll probably get
started with each image by utilizing a preset.
| | 00:20 |
Let's take a look at how we can work with
presets in a variety of different ways in
| | 00:23 |
HDR Efex Pro.
First off we can apply a preset to an
| | 00:27 |
image of course.
There are a variety of presets that are
| | 00:30 |
included with HDR Efex Pro, and those are
found on the left panel in the preset
| | 00:34 |
library section.
We can scroll through the various presets
| | 00:39 |
to see what might work for the image
we're currently working with.
| | 00:42 |
And when you find something you like you
can simply click on it in order to apply
| | 00:46 |
that preset to the image.
Once you've applied a preset, of course,
| | 00:50 |
you can fine-tune the settings over on
the right panel.
| | 00:53 |
But generally speaking, you'll start off
and sometimes switch back and forth
| | 00:56 |
between presets, evaluating which might
work best for a particular photo, as
| | 01:00 |
you're working.
You can review all of the presets that
| | 01:05 |
are included with HDR Efex Pro or you can
navigate among the various categories of presets.
| | 01:10 |
You'll notice that I have the all option
set at the top left of HDR Efex Pro.
| | 01:15 |
I can also choose architecture presents,
artistic presets, realistic presets,
| | 01:19 |
landscape, surreal and also recently
used, in other words, the presets that
| | 01:23 |
I've applied more recently, as well as
favorites.
| | 01:29 |
At the moment I've not selected any
presets as favorites but you could
| | 01:32 |
certainly do that to get quick access to
the presets that you like the most.
| | 01:36 |
For example I'll go ahead and scroll
through and take a look at some of the
| | 01:40 |
various presets that are available.
And if any catch my eye then I can apply
| | 01:44 |
that preset to the image and then
identify that preset as a favorite just
| | 01:47 |
by clicking the star at the bottom of the
preview.
| | 01:52 |
So now that I've identified this preset
as a favorite, you'll notice that the
| | 01:56 |
favorites category indicates that there
is one favorite.
| | 02:00 |
And if I go there I'll be able to see
that particular preset.
| | 02:04 |
We can also define our own presets.
Let's assume that I like this particular
| | 02:08 |
preset, but I'd like to perhaps add a
vignette effect.
| | 02:11 |
I'll go ahead and select a lens vignette
option from the right panel, and then I
| | 02:15 |
want to save this as a new preset.
Obviously this is an extremely dramatic
| | 02:20 |
preset, but I can save this if I'd like
to apply it for future images.
| | 02:25 |
I'll switch to the Custom Section over on
the left panel and then I can click the
| | 02:28 |
Plus button in order to create a custom
preset.
| | 02:32 |
I'll just call this Dramatic Width
Vignette and I'll click OK and now you
| | 02:36 |
can see that I have that additional
preset included in the Custom Preset section.
| | 02:43 |
In addition, if I have presets that I
have obtained online, or from friends or
| | 02:46 |
colleagues, I can import those presets in
order to access them.
| | 02:51 |
I'll go ahead and switch to the imported
section along the left panel, and then
| | 02:54 |
click the Plus button.
And then I can navigate to the location
| | 02:58 |
where I've saved that preset, Select it
and then click Open, and that preset will
| | 03:02 |
be available in the Imported section.
So you can see, there are a variety of
| | 03:08 |
ways that we can work with presets,
whether those include th epresets that
| | 03:11 |
are included with HDR Efex Pro.
The custom presets that we define for
| | 03:16 |
ourselves, or imported presets that we
perhaps obtained from others.
| | 03:21 |
All in all though, the ability to work
with presets inside of HDR Efex Pro is
| | 03:24 |
really one of the highlights of this
software application, because it makes it
| | 03:28 |
so quick and easy to apply a particular
look to a photo.
| | 03:32 |
Which you, of course, can then fine-tune
as much as you'd like.
| | 03:35 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Evaluating the before and after| 00:02 |
As you continue to adjust the settings
for your images in HDR Efex Pro,
| | 00:05 |
preparing the final interpretation of
your image, it can be very helpful to
| | 00:09 |
evaluate a before and after view, in
other words, the image before you applied
| | 00:13 |
any of your HDR adjustments versus the
image after you've applied those adjustments.
| | 00:20 |
And there are several ways that you can
go about that within HDR Efex Pro.
| | 00:24 |
The first is the simple Compare View.
Now, by default, of course, you're
| | 00:29 |
viewing the image with the adjustments
applied to it.
| | 00:32 |
You're seeing what the photo looks like
with all of the adjustments that you've
| | 00:35 |
created for the image.
But if you want to quickly switch to the
| | 00:39 |
before version of the image, you can
simply click the Compare button.
| | 00:43 |
You need to hold the button down in order
to continue viewing the before version of
| | 00:47 |
the image because as soon as you release
the mouse, you'll be viewing the after
| | 00:50 |
version of the image.
So, you can click and release, click and
| | 00:55 |
release in order to switch between the
before version of the image with no
| | 00:58 |
adjustments applied and the after version
of the image with those adjustments applied.
| | 01:05 |
We also have the option for a split view,
and that's the second of the three
| | 01:09 |
buttons here.
I'll go ahead and click the split view
| | 01:13 |
button, and you can see I now have a
divider for the image, a vertical
| | 01:16 |
divider, but I can switch that to a
horizontal divider, if I'd like, just by
| | 01:19 |
clicking the arrow button associated with
that divider, and I can switch back and
| | 01:23 |
forth between horizontal or vertical
split view.
| | 01:28 |
In the vertical split view, of course,
the left side of the image is the before
| | 01:31 |
version, and the right side of the image
is the after version.
| | 01:35 |
And in the vertical split view, the top
of the image is the before and the bottom
| | 01:39 |
is the after.
We can also adjust the position of this split.
| | 01:44 |
I can simply point to the red line and
click and drag to change the position of
| | 01:48 |
that split view.
So if I want to, sort of, go back and
| | 01:51 |
forth between the before and after views
in the image, I can drag that vertical
| | 01:55 |
bar left and right or the horizontal bar
up and down.
| | 02:00 |
We also have a side-by-side view and
that's the third option.
| | 02:04 |
And if I click that button, then I can
view two images up and down, or, clicking
| | 02:07 |
the button in the center of the images, I
can switch to a side-by-side view left
| | 02:11 |
and right.
With side-by-side, we'll be viewing the
| | 02:15 |
before version on the left and the after
version on the right.
| | 02:19 |
Whereas with the top and bottom view, the
top image is the before version and the
| | 02:23 |
bottom image is the after version.
In most cases, I tend to work in the
| | 02:29 |
single image view, just holding the
compare button when I want to see the
| | 02:32 |
before version, but, I do appreciate that
we have several options for viewing a
| | 02:37 |
before and after version of our image
while we're working in HD Efex Pro.
| | 02:44 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Getting a closer look| 00:01 |
The adjustments you apply to your photo
in HDR Efex Pro can have a rather
| | 00:05 |
significant impact on the detail and
quality for the image.
| | 00:09 |
And so it can be very helpful to get a
very close look at certain portions of
| | 00:13 |
the photo while you're working on
establishing those settings.
| | 00:18 |
Let's take a look at the various options
for evaluating the image, including
| | 00:22 |
zooming in and out and panning around the
photo as well as looking at a histogram
| | 00:25 |
display for the image.
We'll start off with the basic zoom setting.
| | 00:31 |
Up at the top right above the image, we
have options for a particular zoom percentage.
| | 00:35 |
So, for example, I can zoom into a 100%
view on the photo.
| | 00:40 |
To enable that zoom I simply click the
Zoom button and that will take me into a
| | 00:43 |
100% zoom setting in this case.
And then clicking again will take me back
| | 00:48 |
to the fit image in zoom display.
I can change the actual zoom setting at
| | 00:53 |
any time.
For example, if I want to go in to a 200%
| | 00:55 |
zoom, then I can set that as the option
and then toggle in and out for that zoom setting.
| | 01:01 |
Whenever I'm zoomed in beyond the point
where the image fits within the available
| | 01:04 |
space, the navigator will pop up.
Allowing me to pan across the image just
| | 01:09 |
by clicking and dragging the box around
within the navigator.
| | 01:13 |
Or by clicking on a specific portion of
the image that I'd like to view within
| | 01:16 |
the navigator.
I'll go ahead and zoom back out to the
| | 01:20 |
fit image option.
And then as I move my mouse over the
| | 01:23 |
image you'll notice that at the bottom
right corner of the display we have a
| | 01:27 |
loop view that follows my mouse.
This area is zoomed in at a 100% scale
| | 01:32 |
and I can move around the photo to
evaluate specific portions of the image.
| | 01:38 |
I can also lock this display on a
particular detail within the photo so
| | 01:42 |
that moving my mouse around the image
doesn't change that display.
| | 01:47 |
To lock that view, you'll click the Push
Pin button, and then move your mouse out
| | 01:50 |
over the image.
You'll notice that my mouse pointer now
| | 01:54 |
appears as a pushpin, and then I can
simply click on the area of the photo
| | 01:57 |
that I want the loop view to zero in on.
And now moving around the image will not
| | 02:01 |
cause that loop view to update, so I'm
always looking at the same portion of the image.
| | 02:06 |
To turn that setting off, I can simply
click the Push Pin once again, and now
| | 02:09 |
the loop view will follow my mouse.
We can also switch to the histogram
| | 02:15 |
display by moving your mouse over the
loop display and then choosing the
| | 02:18 |
histogram option and that will display a
histogram for the current image.
| | 02:23 |
So it does reflect adjustments that
you've applied to the photo.
| | 02:26 |
For example in this case I've converted
the image to a monochromatic version, a
| | 02:30 |
black and white interpretation.
And so we only see luminous information
| | 02:34 |
on this histogram display.
We can also, in the loop and histogram
| | 02:38 |
display, turn on a preview for clipping
of shadows and highlights just by
| | 02:41 |
clicking the buttons at the top left and
top right of that display.
| | 02:46 |
And that will cause a display within the
image to show me if I've lost detail.
| | 02:51 |
So, for example, if I adjust my exposure
setting so that parts of the image are so
| | 02:54 |
bright as to be blown out to pure white,
I'll see a preview of that within the photos.
| | 03:00 |
So you can see the green overlay, for
example.
| | 03:02 |
I'll go ahead and reset that setting
though.
| | 03:05 |
And I'll go ahead and also turn off the
click and preview displays for this image
| | 03:09 |
at the moment.
Most of the time I work just within the
| | 03:12 |
loop view and I evaluate the image taking
a close look at some of the subtle details.
| | 03:17 |
Making sure I have adequate shadow and
highlight detail for example.
| | 03:21 |
But you can certainly make use of that
histogram display as well.
| | 03:25 |
But ultimately, the key is to be able to
get a close look at particular details
| | 03:29 |
within your photo.
And between the zoom setting and the loop
| | 03:33 |
and histogram displays, HDR Efex Pro
provides the tools you need to evaluate
| | 03:38 |
your image as you're optimizing it.
| | 03:42 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Modifying settings via a Smart Object| 00:02 |
At the beginning of the process of
assembling individual exposures into an
| | 00:06 |
HDR result using HDR Effects Pro, you
have the option to create a Smart Object
| | 00:10 |
within Photoshop as part of that process.
If you take advantage of this Option then
| | 00:17 |
HDR Effects Pro will be applied as a
Smart Filter.
| | 00:21 |
That means that at any time we can go
back into the tone mapping settings for
| | 00:25 |
HDR Effects Pro, to slightly modify or
completely change the interpretation of
| | 00:29 |
our photo using HDR Effects Pro.
Let's take a look at that basic process.
| | 00:36 |
Here I've assembled an HDR image and I
selected the Option to create the result
| | 00:39 |
as a Smart Object.
So you can see what would otherwise be my
| | 00:43 |
background image layer on the Layers
panel in Photoshop is now a Smart Object,
| | 00:47 |
as indicated by the icon at the bottom
right of the thumbnail.
| | 00:52 |
And because HDR Effects Pro was then
applied as a Smart Filter, we see a Smart
| | 00:56 |
Filter attached to our Image layer and
HDR Effects Pro to indicated down below.
| | 01:02 |
At any time, I can double-click on the
HDR Effects Pro filter, in order to bring
| | 01:07 |
up HDR Effects Pro, so that I can fine
tune the settings for the image.
| | 01:14 |
That means that in effect, I'm going
right back to the beginning.
| | 01:17 |
I can modify any of the settings using a
completely different preset for example,
| | 01:21 |
in order to change the interpretation of
the image.
| | 01:24 |
An that can be completely different from
what I originally used, or it can be much
| | 01:28 |
the same.
I could simply fine tune some of the
| | 01:31 |
settings over on the right panel for
example.
| | 01:34 |
The point is, that I have the flexibility
of always being able to get back to my
| | 01:38 |
settings in HDR Effects Pro, if I take
advantage of the Smart Object Option.
| | 01:44 |
I'll go ahead and click OK in order to
apply this change to the image, and once
| | 01:47 |
that processing is complete, we'll be
taken back to Photoshop, and we'll see
| | 01:51 |
that the update is indeed reflected in my
photo.
| | 01:56 |
It is important to keep in mind that
there are some limitations here.
| | 01:59 |
For one, I'm working with a 32-bit
version of the image.
| | 02:03 |
That's a 32-bit high dynamic range image,
and so there are certain adjustments that
| | 02:07 |
just aren't available.
For example, I can apply a Levels
| | 02:11 |
adjustment but not a Curves adjustment.
I can apply Hue saturation, but not Vibrance.
| | 02:16 |
So there are some limiations here.
It's also very important to keep in mind
| | 02:20 |
that taking this approach does mean that
I need to be careful about a layer based workflow.
| | 02:26 |
If, for example, I were to perform some
image cleanup work using a separate
| | 02:30 |
layer, painting pixels from one area of
the photo into another area of the photo
| | 02:33 |
in order to remove an object.
If I then go back and change the settings
| | 02:38 |
for HDR Effect Pro, I'm going to be
changing the settings for the underlying
| | 02:41 |
image but not the image cleanup work that
I performed.
| | 02:47 |
So ideally, you'll use the Smart Object
setting initially as you continue fine
| | 02:50 |
tuning and making decisions about the
overall interpretation of your image.
| | 02:56 |
But once you get to the point where
you're using a layer-based workflow for
| | 02:59 |
image cleanup or other adjustments, then
it's probably best to not return to that
| | 03:02 |
Smart Filter.
In fact, you may even at that point want
| | 03:06 |
to initially flatten the image by
choosing Layer > Flatten Image, in order
| | 03:10 |
to avoid the situation where you would
want to make changes to that original
| | 03:13 |
smart filter.
Because again that means you would go
| | 03:18 |
back and redo your image clean up or
other layer based work.
| | 03:22 |
But all things considered, it's very
helpful being able to go back and refine
| | 03:27 |
the adjustments using HDR Effects Pro,
thanks to the ability to apply HDR
| | 03:31 |
Effects Pro as a Smart Filter to a Smart
Object in Photoshop.
| | 03:38 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
3. Applying AdjustmentsTone compression settings| 00:02 |
High dynamic range imaging is in large
part all about tone compression.
| | 00:06 |
We're taking a dynamic range that is very
great, very dark shadows, very bright
| | 00:10 |
highlights, a tremendous amount of
contrast in the scene.
| | 00:14 |
And we're compressing that into a range
of values that our cameras for example,
| | 00:18 |
could actually capture ,or that we're
able to actually display through computer
| | 00:22 |
monitors or the printed image.
HDR processing software, such as HDR
| | 00:27 |
Effects Pro, is largely about taking all
of that information and compressing it
| | 00:31 |
down to a more typical range.
A range that we would typically see in a
| | 00:35 |
photographic image.
And we can control that tone compression.
| | 00:40 |
We can control how the image is processed
and how the final result will appear.
| | 00:45 |
Those settings are found in the Tone
Compression section on the right panel
| | 00:48 |
within HDR Effects Pro.
At the moment I have all of my sections
| | 00:52 |
collapsed, but I can expand the Tone
Compression section simply by clicking on it.
| | 00:57 |
Here we start off with two basic
settings.
| | 00:59 |
We can adjust the overall tone
compression.
| | 01:02 |
In other words, to what extent are we
compressing the range of tonal values?
| | 01:06 |
If we don't compress much at all, then
we're going to have some lost detail.
| | 01:11 |
The highlight detail will be lost because
those bright highlights remain very
| | 01:14 |
bright, and the shadow detail will be
lost because those shadows also remain
| | 01:18 |
very dark.
But we can compress those tonal values,
| | 01:22 |
so they fit within the range of what
we're able to have in a photographic
| | 01:25 |
image, by increasing the tone compression
value.
| | 01:30 |
A negative value means that you're losing
detail essentially in the image.
| | 01:34 |
And a positive value means that you're
retaining or capturing detail based on
| | 01:38 |
the original captures that you created.
So in this case, for example, you'll
| | 01:43 |
notice that I start to get a lot more
information around the sun, but not any
| | 01:46 |
more information inside the sun itself.
That area was blown out even in the
| | 01:51 |
darkest image I captured for this
sequence.
| | 01:55 |
So I'm not able to invent information,
I'm just taking the information from the
| | 01:59 |
individual captures that I'm assembling
into an HDR image and determining to what
| | 02:03 |
extent if at all, I'm going to compress
those tones in the HDR result.
| | 02:09 |
We can also adjust the strength of that
effect.
| | 02:12 |
So I can increase the method strength in
order to increase contrast in the overall
| | 02:16 |
photo and I can reduce the value in order
to reduce contrast.
| | 02:21 |
The effect is something like sharpening.
So if I take the method strength all the
| | 02:24 |
way down, you'll notice that we're
effectively softening the image up a
| | 02:27 |
little bit, getting something of an
ethereal glow to the image.
| | 02:32 |
If I increase the method strength, then
you'll see that the detail is enhanced
| | 02:35 |
just a little bit.
We're getting a little bit more contrast
| | 02:39 |
in the broad areas of the photo.
We can also adjust the HDR method.
| | 02:43 |
The settings here can be collapsed or
expanded, so by default you won't see
| | 02:47 |
these individual adjustments.
But you can click the HDR method label in
| | 02:52 |
order to expand the settings here.
First we have depth, and this allows us
| | 02:57 |
to really adjust the overall localized
contrast enhancement for the photo.
| | 03:02 |
The far left button will turn the setting
off, and as we increase the value, we'll
| | 03:06 |
get subtle depth, and then normal depth,
followed by strong depth.
| | 03:11 |
And you can see that we get a little bit
of an enhancement of localized contrast
| | 03:15 |
in the image as we increase that value.
We can also determine the extent to which
| | 03:20 |
we want to enhance detail in the photo.
We can soften the detail, creating an
| | 03:25 |
even stronger ethereal type of a glow,
but we can also use a realistic setting,
| | 03:29 |
an accentuated setting, a detailed
setting.
| | 03:33 |
Or the maximum value grungy, which as you
can see, really adds quite a bit of
| | 03:36 |
texture to the photo, and in this case
also serves to enhance the dust spots on
| | 03:40 |
the image sensor, when this image was
captured.
| | 03:45 |
Finally, we have a drama setting and as
the name implies, this allows us to
| | 03:48 |
increase or decrease the dramatic effect
within the photo.
| | 03:52 |
The minimum value is flat, but we can
increase these values through natural,
| | 03:56 |
deep, dingy, sharp and finally, grainy.
So depending on whether you want a really
| | 04:02 |
dramatic interpretation of the photo or
something a little bit more pedestrian,
| | 04:06 |
you have that control with the tone
compression.
| | 04:10 |
By determining the overall range of tonal
values that we're going to end up with in
| | 04:13 |
the final HDR image, as well as the
subtleties of the actual processing of
| | 04:17 |
the tonal range and all of that tonal
information in your HDR photo.
| | 04:22 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Adjusting overall tonality| 00:02 |
Total adjustments tend to be relatively
important for a high dynamic range image.
| | 00:06 |
Since it's really all about tonality and
the way we're processing the tonal
| | 00:10 |
information from our original captures.
Much of those tonal adjustments can be
| | 00:15 |
taken care of in the tone compression
section of the right panel in HDR Efex Pro.
| | 00:20 |
But to really fine-tune the overall
tonality of the photo we'll want to work
| | 00:24 |
with the aptly named tonality section of
adjustments.
| | 00:28 |
I'll go ahead and click on the header for
tonality in order to expand those
| | 00:31 |
adjustments, and then we can take a look
at the various controls that are
| | 00:34 |
available to us.
We'll start off an exposure control and
| | 00:39 |
this adjusts overall brightness of the
image but with an emphasis on the white points.
| | 00:45 |
I'll go ahead and increase exposure and
you can see that the image is brightened
| | 00:48 |
but we're also losing some detail in the
brightest highlights of the photo.
| | 00:53 |
I can back off that exposure if I'd like
in order to maximize the amount of detail
| | 00:56 |
retained within those highlight areas in
fact darkening down those highlights a
| | 01:00 |
little bit.
But overall we'll tend to want a
| | 01:03 |
resonably bright photo even with a HDR
image we might not be to terribly
| | 01:06 |
concerned about losing detail in the
brightest highlights.
| | 01:11 |
For example with the sun in the frame
you're not going to expect to see a
| | 01:14 |
tremendous amount of detail.
You can continue fine-tuning the overall
| | 01:19 |
setting for exposure, but then you'll
want to turn your attention to some of
| | 01:22 |
the other adjustments that are available
to you.
| | 01:25 |
Chief among these are shadows and
highlights, and these allow you to
| | 01:28 |
brighten or darken the darkest areas for
shadows, and the brightest areas for highlights.
| | 01:34 |
And adjusting these sliders, you'll see
that we only effect a relatively narrow
| | 01:38 |
range of tonal values within the photo.
So as I decrease the value for shadows,
| | 01:43 |
the darkest areas of the image are
darkened.
| | 01:46 |
And as I increase the value for shadows,
those darker areas are brightened up.
| | 01:50 |
Obviously, in many cases, you want to
maximize the amount of detail that's
| | 01:53 |
visible in an HDR image.
But you also want to make sure in most
| | 01:57 |
cases not to make those shadow areas too
bright because it does lead to a little
| | 02:00 |
bit of an artificial appearance in the
photo.
| | 02:03 |
We can also lighten and darken the
highlights, of course, and the adjustment
| | 02:07 |
is very similar.
In this case, you'll notice that, for the
| | 02:10 |
most part, it's the sun in the sky that's
being effected because that, of course is
| | 02:13 |
the brightest area of the photo.
The rest of the image is relatively
| | 02:17 |
moderate in terms of those bright value.
We can also increase or decrease overall
| | 02:22 |
contrast in the photo.
This will have an impact on the shadows
| | 02:26 |
and the highlights adjustments that we
applied previously preferred.
| | 02:29 |
In many cases, I'll prefer to adjust
overall contrast and then fine-tune by
| | 02:33 |
going back to the shadows and highlights
adjustments.
| | 02:37 |
In addition, we have blacks and whites
values, and these are very similar to
| | 02:41 |
shadows and highlights.
The difference is that they're focusing
| | 02:45 |
on a narrower range of tonal values.
So if I reduce the value for blacks,
| | 02:49 |
you'll see that the darkest values get
truly blackened up.
| | 02:53 |
They get truly darkened up quite a bit,
and we can also brighten those dark areas
| | 02:56 |
of the photo.
And we have a similar adjustment for
| | 02:59 |
whites, of course.
We can brighten and darken just the
| | 03:02 |
brightest portions of the photo.
So again blacks and whites are very
| | 03:05 |
similar to shadows and highlights.
The real difference is that the blacks
| | 03:10 |
and whites sliders effect a narrower
range of tonal values within the image.
| | 03:16 |
Then finally we have the Structure
slider, and if you're familiar with the
| | 03:19 |
clarity adjustment in Lightroom or Adobe
Camera Raw, this is very similar.
| | 03:24 |
It allows us to enhance or reduce
localized contrast.
| | 03:28 |
It's very similar to sharpening, but
happening across a broader area of the photo.
| | 03:33 |
If we increase the value for structure,
you'll see that we get a bit more
| | 03:36 |
localized contrast within the photo.
And if we apply a negative value for per
| | 03:40 |
structure, you'll see that we get a
smoother image with something of an
| | 03:43 |
ethereal type of quality to it.
I tend to like to increase the value for
| | 03:48 |
structure for most images, but not for
every single image.
| | 03:52 |
Obviously, you'll want to evaluate the
results within each photo individually.
| | 03:55 |
So you can see the range of tonal
adjustments available in the tonality
| | 03:59 |
section on the right panel in HDR Efex
Pro.
| | 04:02 |
Really provides us with a good range of
adjustments for fine-tuning the overall
| | 04:06 |
brightness and contrast, focusing in on
specific tonal ranges even within the photo.
| | 04:12 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Color adjustments| 00:02 |
One of the things you'll likely notice as
you're working with your images in HDR
| | 00:05 |
Efex Pro is that the tonal adjustments
you apply can have a dramatic impact on
| | 00:09 |
the color.
For example, darkening down some of the
| | 00:13 |
brighter tones within the image, can
really bring out a lot of color.
| | 00:17 |
Of course, at times you'll also want to
apply some other adjustments that effect
| | 00:20 |
the color of the image.
And there are a few options for us in the
| | 00:24 |
color section on the right panel.
I'll go ahead and click on that section
| | 00:28 |
in order to expand it.
And you can see, we have saturation
| | 00:31 |
adjustments as well as temperature and
tint.
| | 00:34 |
The saturation adjustment allows us to
adjust the intensity of colors in the
| | 00:38 |
image, in effect modifying the purity of
colors.
| | 00:42 |
As we increase saturation, we're
increasing the purity of colors within
| | 00:46 |
the photo so that they're closer to the
primary colors and just more intense,
| | 00:50 |
more vibrant.
As we reduce the value for saturation,
| | 00:54 |
we're toning down those colors.
We're reducing the purity, ultimately to
| | 00:58 |
the point that the image appears as
grayscale with no color information at all.
| | 01:04 |
Of course, this can have a dramatic
impact on the interpretation of your HDR image.
| | 01:09 |
In some cases, you might want to create
exagerated color by using a high value
| | 01:12 |
for saturation.
And in other cases, you might want to
| | 01:15 |
tone down those colors just a little bit
in order to really emphasize on the
| | 01:19 |
tonality of your HDR image.
Perhaps even going so far as to create a
| | 01:23 |
grayscale version of the image.
We can also adjust the overall color
| | 01:27 |
balance in the photo with a temperature
and tint sliders.
| | 01:31 |
The temperature slider allows us to shift
the balance from yellow to blue.
| | 01:35 |
So we can make a very cool image, perhaps
looking like moonlight, or we can create
| | 01:39 |
a very warm image.
Of course in most cases the aim is to
| | 01:43 |
create colors that are realistic, or
perhaps slightly warmer or cooler, then
| | 01:47 |
the scene really was.
And so the adjustments tend to be
| | 01:51 |
relatively subtle.
The tint slider allows you to shift
| | 01:54 |
between green and magenta and in most
cases I would think of this as a purely
| | 01:58 |
corrective adjustment.
Although in certain cases, such as with
| | 02:02 |
this sunset, you might actually want to
shift things a little bit toward magenta,
| | 02:05 |
a little more of those pink color values.
So, you can see the adjustments in the
| | 02:10 |
color section are very straight forward.
Simply adjusting the intensity of color
| | 02:14 |
with saturation and then the overall
color balance with temperature and tint.
| | 02:19 |
And yet, these adjustments can be very,
very important.
| | 02:22 |
So, while we tend to focus most of our
attention on tonal adjustments with HDR
| | 02:26 |
images, it's worth spending some time
exploring the color adjustments for your
| | 02:30 |
photos as well.
| | 02:32 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Using the History and Reset options| 00:00 |
And as you're working on adjusting the
settings for your HDR image, from time to
| | 00:04 |
time, you might want to take a step
backward.
| | 00:07 |
In other words, you might want to undo a
step, or go back to a previous
| | 00:11 |
interpretation of the photo.
Obviously as you're working on the image
| | 00:15 |
and evaluating the results, you might
want to take advantage of the compare
| | 00:18 |
view or even the split view in order to
get a better sense of the overall effect
| | 00:21 |
within the image.
Now certainly, you can simply refine the adjustments.
| | 00:28 |
You could choose a different preset, you
can adjust the settings over on the right
| | 00:31 |
panel, but sometimes, you may want to go
back to a particular history state.
| | 00:36 |
Let's take a look at the History section
found on the left panel.
| | 00:39 |
I'll simply click the header for History
and you can see a history of everything
| | 00:43 |
I've done to the current image.
You can see for example, that I went
| | 00:47 |
through a series of different presets
trying to decide which option might work
| | 00:51 |
best for this particular photo.
And then I took a look at some of the
| | 00:55 |
tone mapping adjustments over on the
right panel.
| | 00:58 |
That included some adjustments to
structure, saturation, temperature, tint, etc.
| | 01:03 |
And if I decide that the current
interpretation of the photo is a little
| | 01:06 |
less than ideal, I can always go back in
time, as it were.
| | 01:10 |
I can go back to a previous history state
and then continue on from there.
| | 01:14 |
Let's say, for example, that some of the
adjustments I applied, I'm just not happy with.
| | 01:20 |
Maybe I want to go back to the last
preset that I assigned.
| | 01:23 |
In this case, Dramatic.
Or perhaps I just want to go back to
| | 01:26 |
before I applied a temperature
adjustment, in this case, a saturation
| | 01:29 |
adjustment was the step I performed right
before temperature.
| | 01:34 |
As I click on each of these individual
items in the History list, you'll see
| | 01:37 |
that the image is updated to reflect that
particular state, the way the image
| | 01:41 |
appeared at that particular moment in
time.
| | 01:45 |
Once I've decided that I would like to go
back to a particular moment in history,
| | 01:49 |
then I can also start moving forward with
additional adjustments.
| | 01:54 |
You'll notice that right now my dramatic
preset is the last history state that is
| | 01:58 |
actually affecting the image.
I can also see dimmed out the additional
| | 02:02 |
adjustments that I applied after the
fact.
| | 02:05 |
Now that I've taken a step back in
History, if I start applying adjustments
| | 02:08 |
to the image, you'll notice that those
additional History items that had been
| | 02:12 |
dimmed out are no longer available.
So once I go back in time, as it were, to
| | 02:17 |
a previous History state, and then start
applying additional adjustments, the
| | 02:21 |
steps that I had undone by going back in
time.
| | 02:25 |
Will no longer be available.
So obviously the history can be very,
| | 02:29 |
very helpful in HDR Effects Pro.
But it's important to keep in mind that
| | 02:33 |
it is a linear history.
We can go back in time to a previous
| | 02:36 |
state for our image, but then once we
start applying additional adjustments,
| | 02:40 |
we're no longer able to get back to the
adjustments that we had undone.
| | 02:46 |
In other words, you can go back in time
but you can't pick and choose which
| | 02:49 |
individual steps you want to undo.
But again, keep in mind that all of this
| | 02:53 |
really just relates to the settings that
are found over on the right panel.
| | 02:57 |
So in addition to going back in history,
we can also simply refine the settings
| | 03:01 |
over on the right panel.
Of course, the benefit with history is,
| | 03:04 |
we know exactly what we're going to end
up with.
| | 03:07 |
We might not be able to anticipate
exactly what we need to do to the
| | 03:10 |
adjustments on the right panel to get
back to a particular history state.
| | 03:14 |
Whereas looking at the list of available
options, of available History states, in
| | 03:18 |
the History section of the left panel
makes it very easy to go back to a
| | 03:21 |
particular condition for the photo while
we're working on it.
| | 03:25 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
4. Using Selective AdjustmentsApplying targeted adjustments with control points| 00:02 |
In addition to applying adjustments that
effect the entire image within HDR
| | 00:05 |
Effects Pro, we can also apply selective
adjustments.
| | 00:10 |
In other words adjustments that effect
specific areas of the photo.
| | 00:13 |
Let's take a look at the Selective
Adjustments options within HDR Effects Pro.
| | 00:17 |
They are found on the right panel, under
the header of Selective Adjustments.
| | 00:22 |
And we can click on the triangle to the
left of that header, in order to expand
| | 00:25 |
that section of adjustments.
We'll start off by clicking on the button
| | 00:29 |
for Control Points.
That will allow us to add a control point
| | 00:33 |
to the image.
So I'll click that button in order to
| | 00:36 |
activate the control and then I can move
out over the image and determine where
| | 00:39 |
exactly I want to focus my adjustment.
Now the control points are rather intelligent.
| | 00:45 |
When I choose a particular portion of the
photo it will evaluate the color and tone
| | 00:49 |
of that portion of the image to determine
which portion of the photo will be
| | 00:52 |
affected by this adjustment.
You'll notice that my loop display, down
| | 00:57 |
at the bottom right, shows me a zoomed in
view of the portion of the image
| | 01:00 |
underneath my mouse.
Making it even easier to select the
| | 01:04 |
particular portion of the image that
represents the area you want to adjust.
| | 01:09 |
So if I want to adjust the red barn I can
just find a pixel within the image that
| | 01:13 |
seems to be a good representative sample
of that barn and then click to add a
| | 01:17 |
control point there.
The control point will now effect just
| | 01:23 |
the red barn, not the entirety of that
barn necessarily, but at least a major
| | 01:27 |
portion of it.
Let's go ahead and apply an exaggerated adjustment.
| | 01:32 |
I'll adjust exposure here, increasing the
exposure value rather significantly by
| | 01:36 |
dragging the slider for exposure, which
is labeled ex until we mouse over it.
| | 01:41 |
And then we can adjust the size of this
control point.
| | 01:45 |
I'll go ahead and click on that topmost
slider.
| | 01:48 |
And then drag away from that control
point to the right in this case, in order
| | 01:52 |
to increase the range, the area within
the photo that will be effected by that
| | 01:55 |
control point.
I can also narrow in on a specific area
| | 02:00 |
but notice that even as I'm adjusting the
overall size of this control point HDR
| | 02:04 |
Efex probe is still constraining that
adjustment to pixels that match the pixel
| | 02:08 |
that I initially clicked on.
In other words a red pixel, and then
| | 02:13 |
therefore I'm affecting the red barn but
not the blue sky.
| | 02:18 |
I'll go ahead and leave the size
relatively large so that we can affect
| | 02:22 |
the overall barn, and of course I don't
want to overexpose the barn so I'll tone
| | 02:25 |
down my exposure adjustment, and then I
can adjust contrast for the barn and the
| | 02:29 |
saturation level just for the barn
itself.
| | 02:34 |
I think I'll reduce the saturation just a
little bit so that the barn looks a bit
| | 02:37 |
more weathered.
I can adjust structure.
| | 02:40 |
In this case.
I think I'll increase structure to add a
| | 02:42 |
little bit of a clarity to the barn.
I can adjust the blacks and the whites
| | 02:45 |
but of course those won't have a
significant impact on the barn based on
| | 02:48 |
the tonal values found there.
And I can also adjust temperature and tint.
| | 02:53 |
If I want to adjust the color, as well as
the method strength, so the intensity of
| | 02:57 |
the adjustment for the image, and
increasing of course in this case will
| | 03:00 |
give me a little bit better structure for
the photo.
| | 03:05 |
Keep in mind, by the way, when you add a
control point initially by default you'll
| | 03:08 |
only see a subset of the controls.
You'll see exposure, contrast, saturation
| | 03:14 |
and structure.
But you can click the small triangle
| | 03:17 |
below those four sliders in order to see
the remainder of the sliders available to you.
| | 03:22 |
So, as you can see, adding a control
point and fine tuning the adjustments
| | 03:26 |
that affect a specific area of the photo
is rather simple and it really gives us a
| | 03:30 |
tremendous amount of power when it comes
to adjusting the overall appearance of
| | 03:34 |
our HDR images.
| | 03:38 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Viewing and modifying control point masks| 00:02 |
When you're applying selective
adjustments in HDR Effects Pro, using
| | 00:05 |
control points, you'll naturally be
focusing your attention on the image
| | 00:08 |
itself as you apply those targeted
adjustments.
| | 00:13 |
But at times, you might want to actually
see a better sense of exactly where in
| | 00:16 |
the image that control point is
affecting.
| | 00:19 |
Let's take a look at how we can review
and adjust our control points accordingly.
| | 00:24 |
Let's assume that I want to apply an
adjustment that affects primarily the sky.
| | 00:28 |
I can click on my Control Points button,
and then click inside of the sky.
| | 00:32 |
In order to add a control point.
I can adjust the overall size of that
| | 00:37 |
control point an then apply a variety of
different adjustments to that control
| | 00:40 |
point, but I'm really focusing most of my
attention then on the image itself.
| | 00:46 |
And I don't have necessarily a clear
picture in my head of what exactly the
| | 00:49 |
area that I'm affecting looks like.
I know it's generally the sky, but what
| | 00:55 |
area specifically?
Well, if you want to see which area of
| | 00:58 |
the photo is being affected by a control
point, you can simply click on that
| | 01:01 |
control point to make sure it's the
active control point.
| | 01:06 |
You can also select it from the list of
control points in the Select Of
| | 01:09 |
Adjustment section.
I'll actually only have a single control
| | 01:12 |
point in this case, so that makes things
very easy.
| | 01:15 |
I can then turn on the check box over at
the far right for that control point.
| | 01:20 |
And then I'll see a grayscale view of
what that control point looks like.
| | 01:25 |
Areas of the image that appear in white
are being completely effected by the
| | 01:28 |
adjustments I've applied with this
control point.
| | 01:32 |
And areas of the image that are
completely black, are not being effected
| | 01:35 |
at all.
Shades of gray represent areas that are
| | 01:38 |
being partially effected.
So, for example, if an area of the mask
| | 01:42 |
for the control point appears as 50%
gray, that means the adjustments for that
| | 01:46 |
control point are effecting that portion
of the image at half of the full strength.
| | 01:52 |
Now while I'm viewing the actual mask for
the control point I can also adjust the
| | 01:56 |
size and position of that control point.
So I'll go ahead and adjust the size by
| | 02:01 |
dragging the slider and you can see a
very clear indication of which portions
| | 02:04 |
of the image are being affected.
I can also move the control point by
| | 02:09 |
simply clicking and dragging the handle.
For that control point, positioning it
| | 02:13 |
into a different area of the photo for
example.
| | 02:16 |
And in this way I can help focus the
adjustment exactly where I need it within
| | 02:19 |
the image.
I'll go ahead and turn off the mask for
| | 02:24 |
this control point and then add an
additional control point.
| | 02:28 |
In this case, perhaps for these reddish,
sort of brown tones within the building
| | 02:32 |
in the background here.
I'll go ahead then and turn on the
| | 02:35 |
visibility for that control point and
then you can see as I adjust the the
| | 02:39 |
overall size for the control point, we're
able to see which portion of the image is
| | 02:42 |
being affected.
So as I move around to different portions
| | 02:47 |
of the photo, you'll see that I can get a
dramatically different result for my
| | 02:51 |
control point based on the color and
tonality of the pixel that falls below my
| | 02:54 |
mouse within the image.
So in this way, viewing the mask for the
| | 03:01 |
control point, I'm able to focus an
adjustment to a specific area of the
| | 03:04 |
image based on the size and position of
that control point.
| | 03:09 |
And in addition to being able to turn on
individual control points, I can also
| | 03:12 |
turn on multiple control points, so that
I'm seeing all areas of the image that
| | 03:16 |
are getting targeted adjustments.
I can also click on the mask button above
| | 03:22 |
the check boxes in order to turn on or
off the display of all control points in
| | 03:26 |
either the mask view, or going back to
the full image display itself.
| | 03:32 |
So you can see, the ability to view a
mask associated with the control point
| | 03:35 |
can be very helpful as you fine-tune
exactly which portion of the image you're
| | 03:38 |
applying a selective adjustment to.
| | 03:42 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Managing control points| 00:02 |
Because control points in HDR Efex Pro
allow you to focus adjustments on
| | 00:05 |
specific areas of an image, there's a
good chance that you'll want to apply
| | 00:08 |
multiple control points throughout the
image.
| | 00:13 |
And as you continue adding more control
points, you might want to take a look at
| | 00:16 |
some of the options for organizing those
control points.
| | 00:19 |
Let's take a look at what's available to
us.
| | 00:21 |
I'll start off by adding a control point
for the sky, for example, I can adjust
| | 00:25 |
the overall size of that control point
and then fine-tune the settings for the image.
| | 00:31 |
Perhaps I'll enhance contrast in the sky
and increase saturation just a little bit.
| | 00:36 |
The idea is that we're able to apply a
specific adjustment there and then go to
| | 00:39 |
a different area of the image, choosing
to add a control point for example, for
| | 00:42 |
the grasses down below.
I'll go ahead and adjust the size for
| | 00:48 |
this control point, and perhaps increase
Saturation for this portion of the image,
| | 00:51 |
and adjust the overall structure so that
we can get a little bit crisper view in
| | 00:54 |
that portion of the photo.
And perhaps I'd also like to adjust just
| | 01:00 |
the reds in the wall here, the mural on
the church.
| | 01:03 |
And so, I can focus the adjustment just
on specific portions of the photo.
| | 01:09 |
As I do that, you might find that you're
applying adjustments to similar areas.
| | 01:13 |
For example, if I want to darken down
this portion of the sky down below, I
| | 01:16 |
could add a control point there and then
tone down the exposure.
| | 01:21 |
Possibly increase or decrease the overall
contrast, maybe take that exposure down a
| | 01:25 |
little bit further.
Perhaps trying to blend in this area just
| | 01:29 |
a little bit better with the sky above.
And that means we have a couple of
| | 01:33 |
selective adjustments that are affecting
a similar area of the photo.
| | 01:37 |
Specifically, control point one and
control point four are both affecting the
| | 01:42 |
overall sky.
And so we might, for example, want to
| | 01:45 |
group those two adjustments together.
So I can select control point four, for
| | 01:50 |
example, and then I can hold the Ctrl key
on Windows or the Cmd key on Macintosh
| | 01:53 |
while clicking on control point one.
So that both of those control points are
| | 01:59 |
selected and then I can click the button
to group those selected control points together.
| | 02:04 |
So now, those control points will behave
as one.
| | 02:07 |
I can adjust the Exposure, for example,
and I'll be adjusting all of the sky
| | 02:11 |
based on those two control points, since
they're grouped together.
| | 02:16 |
And if I decide at any point that I no
longer want these control points grouped
| | 02:19 |
together, I can simply select that group
and then click the Ungroup button.
| | 02:23 |
And now I have my individual control
points, so that I can adjust one versus
| | 02:27 |
the other independently.
I can also duplicate a control point.
| | 02:32 |
So for example, if I want to apply the
same adjustment from the bottom right
| | 02:35 |
portion of the sky to the clouds over on
the left side of the sky.
| | 02:40 |
I can select that control point four
which is the control point in this
| | 02:43 |
portion of the sky and then click the
button to duplicate that control point.
| | 02:48 |
That creates, in this case, control point
five and I can drag that control point
| | 02:52 |
over to the portion of the sky that I
want to adjust.
| | 02:56 |
And that will cause the exact same
adjustment to be applied in that portion
| | 02:59 |
of the image.
So if I apply an adjustment in one area
| | 03:03 |
of the photo, I can then duplicate that
adjustment to apply the exact same effect
| | 03:06 |
in a different portion of the photo.
And if I decide at any point that I'm not
| | 03:11 |
really happy with that adjustment, I can
also get rid of it.
| | 03:15 |
Usually if I think I'm not happy with a
specific adjustment, I'll first toggle
| | 03:18 |
the visibility for that control point
off.
| | 03:22 |
And then on in order to get a better
sense of whether or not I'm happy with
| | 03:25 |
that adjustment.
I can also, by the way, turn off the
| | 03:29 |
visibility for all of my control points,
all of my selective adjustments by
| | 03:33 |
clicking on the Power switch, the Switch
On or Off button series of checkboxes.
| | 03:39 |
But if I decide that a particular point
is one that I don't want to keep for this
| | 03:42 |
image, I can simply select that control
point from the list.
| | 03:46 |
And then click on the Trash Can button in
order to delete that particular control point.
| | 03:52 |
So you can see, even if you add a large
number of control points for a specific
| | 03:56 |
photo, you're able to manage those
control points very effectively.
| | 04:00 |
Grouping together similar control points,
duplicating control points in order to
| | 04:04 |
duplicate the same effect in multiple
areas of a photo.
| | 04:07 |
And of course, deleting control points
that you decide you no longer need.
| | 04:11 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
5. Finishing TouchesAdding a vignette| 00:02 |
When you create an HDR image, in many
cases the effect will be relatively dramatic.
| | 00:07 |
Of course, that can vary quite a bit
depending on the specific adjustments you
| | 00:10 |
apply when tone mapping your HDR image.
But quite often, I think you'll find that
| | 00:15 |
the result can be a little bit dramatic.
And many times, I enjoy adding a
| | 00:19 |
finishing touch to the image in a way of
a vignette.
| | 00:23 |
That helps both to add a little bit more
drama, in many cases depending on the
| | 00:26 |
vignette you apply.
And it can also help to keep the viewer
| | 00:29 |
focused on a key subject that's more
central in the photograph.
| | 00:34 |
Let's take a look at the settings that
are available for that vignette effect.
| | 00:37 |
The vignetting is found in the finishing
section of the right panel, so you can
| | 00:41 |
click on that Finishing Section in order
to expand it.
| | 00:45 |
And then you'll see we have a vignette
control with a pop-up that allows us to
| | 00:48 |
choose a particular vignette effect.
Note that as I mouse over each of these
| | 00:53 |
vignette options, I get a preview in the
photo itself.
| | 00:57 |
So I know exactly what I'll end up with
if I choose one of these preset vignettes.
| | 01:02 |
I'll go ahead and choose Black Frame One
and that effect is applied to the photo.
| | 01:06 |
But I can also fine-tune the settings for
this vignette.
| | 01:11 |
I'll go ahead and expand the set of
vignette controls by clicking the
| | 01:13 |
triangle to the left of the vignette
label.
| | 01:15 |
And then I can adjust the overall
vignette.
| | 01:19 |
I can increase or decrease the amount.
Increasing the amount will cause a
| | 01:23 |
lightning vignette.
In other words, we'll lightning the edges
| | 01:26 |
of the photo.
And reducing the value will darken the
| | 01:28 |
edges of the photo.
We can also adjust a slider to shift
| | 01:31 |
between a rectangular shape and a
circular shape.
| | 01:35 |
And you'll notice that the edges adjust
as I fine-tune that setting.
| | 01:39 |
So that enables me to affect just the
corners primarily, if we set the value
| | 01:42 |
down toward circle.
Or to affect all of the edges all the way
| | 01:46 |
around the photo if we shift toward a
rectangle setting.
| | 01:51 |
We can also adjust the overall size.
Essentially allowing us to move that
| | 01:55 |
vignette affect further into the center
of the photo, or to constrict it to just
| | 01:59 |
the very outer edges of the image.
In addition, we can adjust the specific
| | 02:05 |
center point of the vignette.
I'll go ahead and increase the size value
| | 02:09 |
so that we can get a better sense of the
effect in the image.
| | 02:12 |
And then I'll click the place Center
button and then move out over the image
| | 02:16 |
and click where I'd like to add the
center point for that vignette effect.
| | 02:21 |
So for example, if I set the center a
little bit lower than the actual center
| | 02:24 |
of the image, then that vignette won't
affect the bottom portion of the image.
| | 02:29 |
So, you can see, we have the option to
choose a particular preset from the popup.
| | 02:35 |
Or we can simply use the controls that
are available for the vignette
| | 02:37 |
adjustment, and of course we can mix and
match.
| | 02:40 |
We can choose a preset and then fine-tune
the settings or skip the preset all
| | 02:44 |
together and just adjust the settings
directly.
| | 02:48 |
However you choose to work, we do have a
great amount of control for the vignette
| | 02:52 |
settings, here in HDR Efex Pro.
And that vignette can really add a touch
| | 02:56 |
of drama to any HDR image.
| | 02:58 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Creating a graduated neutral-density effect| 00:02 |
HDR Photography really eliminates the
need for a Split Neutral Density filter
| | 00:05 |
because, for example, we no longer need
to worry about holding back the sky in
| | 00:08 |
order to preserve detail there.
We simply capture multiple images and
| | 00:13 |
blend them together.
And yet, you may want to create a similar
| | 00:17 |
effect that you might achieve with a
Split Neutral Density filter.
| | 00:21 |
And we can accomplish that with a
Graduated Neutral Density effect in HDR
| | 00:24 |
Effects Pro.
Let's take a look.
| | 00:28 |
This adjustment is found in the Finishing
section, so I'll click on the Finishing
| | 00:31 |
section to expand those controls.
And then click on the triangle to the
| | 00:35 |
left of the Graduated Neutral Density
Effect to expand those settings.
| | 00:40 |
Here, we're able to adjust the tonality
for the upper and lower portions of the image.
| | 00:46 |
So, for example, if I wanted to darken up
the sky, I could reduce the upper
| | 00:49 |
tonality value, and if I wanted to
brighten the sky, I could increase that value.
| | 00:54 |
I'll go ahead and dark the sky down just
a little bit.
| | 00:56 |
And then we can adjust the lower
tonality, once again, brightening or
| | 00:59 |
darkening the lower portion of the photo.
I'll go ahead and create an exaggerated
| | 01:04 |
effect, just so that we're able to see
the effect of the other controls a little
| | 01:07 |
more easily.
The Blend option allows us to determine
| | 01:11 |
the smoothness of the transition or the
distance across which that transition occurs.
| | 01:17 |
If I reduce the Blend value, then I'll
have a shorter transition between the
| | 01:21 |
upper and lower areas.
If I increase the value, I'll have a
| | 01:24 |
smoother and larger transition.
I'll go ahead and leave the value
| | 01:28 |
relatively low for the moment so that we
can see a little better, the other two controls.
| | 01:33 |
If I adjust Vertical Shift, it adjusts
the transition between the upper and
| | 01:37 |
lower areas of the image.
In other words, where exactly are we
| | 01:41 |
going to transition between our upper
tonality adjustment and our lower
| | 01:44 |
tonality adjustment?
We can also rotate the effect.
| | 01:49 |
Now, in this case, I have a straight
horizon, or at least I hope it's
| | 01:52 |
straight, and so I wouldn't want to
rotate the gradation in this case.
| | 01:56 |
But in many cases, you may very well need
to rotate the effect in order to match up
| | 02:00 |
with a key subject in the photo.
In this case of course, I would tend to
| | 02:05 |
have a relatively smooth blend between
the upper and lower areas.
| | 02:08 |
I can shift it down a little bit so it
gets closer to the actual horizon line.
| | 02:13 |
And then I might fine tune the actual
adjustment that I'm applying to the image.
| | 02:17 |
In this case, not darkening the sky up
quite so much, for example.
| | 02:21 |
But as you can see, this adjustment is
considerably more powerful than a simple
| | 02:25 |
filter that you would put in front of
your lens, because we're able to exercise
| | 02:28 |
so much control over the tonality for the
upper and lower portions, as well as the
| | 02:32 |
transition between those areas of the
photo.
| | 02:37 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Levels and Curves adjustments| 00:02 |
With HDR imaging, you do tend to be very
focused on tonal adjustments for the photo.
| | 00:07 |
So you'll probably spend a fair amount of
time fine-tuning the settings for tone
| | 00:11 |
compression, as well as tonality.
But you can also take things a little bit
| | 00:15 |
further with some finishing touches in
the way of tonal adjustments.
| | 00:19 |
And those are specifically the levels and
curves adjustments.
| | 00:23 |
Now, you may be familiar with levels and
curves in Photoshop as individual adjustments.
| | 00:28 |
In HDR Efex Pro, they're actually blended
into a single adjustment.
| | 00:32 |
It's found in the Finishing section of
the right panel.
| | 00:36 |
So I'll click on the header for
finishing, in order to expand the
| | 00:38 |
available controls there.
And then I'll click on the triangle to
| | 00:41 |
the left of the levels and curves label,
in order to expand the adjustments there.
| | 00:46 |
We can work with a preset for levels and
curves just by clicking the pop up to the
| | 00:50 |
right of that label.
You'll see that we have a neutral
| | 00:54 |
adjustment, several adjustments for film
with various exposure value adjustments,
| | 00:58 |
dark contrast, bright contrast, vintage
one, two, and three.
| | 01:02 |
So a variety of presets that are
available for levels and curves, but we
| | 01:05 |
can also work directly with these
adjustment controls.
| | 01:10 |
The slider handles below the curve
represent the black point, the white
| | 01:13 |
point, and the overall mid tone
adjustment for the image.
| | 01:17 |
And this operates just like the levels
adjustment that you might already be
| | 01:20 |
familiar with.
If we drag the black slider inward, we're
| | 01:23 |
increasing the amount of blacks within
the photo.
| | 01:26 |
And if we drag the white slider inward,
we're increasing the amount of whites
| | 01:29 |
within the photo.
In the process, we're increasing
| | 01:33 |
contrast, but of course, we might also be
losing a certain amount of detail in the
| | 01:36 |
darkest or brightest areas of the photo,
respectively.
| | 01:41 |
We can also adjust the overall brightness
of the photo by adjusting that mid tone
| | 01:45 |
slider, moving to the left to brighten
the image and moving to the right to
| | 01:48 |
darken the image.
Note that you'll also have some impact on
| | 01:53 |
the overall contrast in the image, since
that mid tone adjustment is really
| | 01:56 |
applying a tone curve to the image.
In addition to working with these sliders
| | 02:02 |
though, we can work directly on the curve
itself.
| | 02:05 |
So, I'll go ahead and reduce the
exaggerated effect that I've applied
| | 02:08 |
here, and then we can take a look at how
we can fine-tune the overall adjustment,
| | 02:12 |
the tonal adjustment, for the darkest or
brightest areas of a photo, for example.
| | 02:18 |
And that's done by working directly on
the curve.
| | 02:21 |
The left portion of the curve represents
the darkest values in the image, and the
| | 02:25 |
right portion of the curve represents the
brightest areas of the photo.
| | 02:29 |
And so if I drag the curve downward over
toward the left, I'm darkening the image.
| | 02:34 |
But I'm focusing that adjustment on the
darkest portions of the photo.
| | 02:38 |
Similarly, I can drag a portion of the
curve upward in order to brighten that area.
| | 02:43 |
Over toward the right, for example, if I
drag upward, I'll be increasing the
| | 02:46 |
brightness for the brightest areas of the
image.
| | 02:49 |
In the process, of course, I'm enhancing
contrast for all those mid tones as well.
| | 02:55 |
If I decide that a particular point on
the curve is proving to be problematic, I
| | 02:58 |
can simply click and drag on that point
and release my mouse outside of the curve
| | 03:02 |
area, and that anchor point will be
removed.
| | 03:07 |
In addition to working on the overall RGB
image, I can also work on the individual
| | 03:11 |
color channels, or on just the
luminosity.
| | 03:15 |
So if I want to affect overall luminance
values without affecting color, I can
| | 03:19 |
work on the luminosity channel.
And if I want to work on the overall
| | 03:23 |
color in the image, I can work with the
red, green, or blue channels.
| | 03:28 |
Red allows me to shift between red and
cyan, green allows me to shift between
| | 03:31 |
green and magenta, and blue allows me to
shift between blue and yellow.
| | 03:37 |
So for example, if I wanted to warm up
the image, shifting it a little bit more
| | 03:40 |
toward yellow, I could choose the blue
channel.
| | 03:44 |
And then adjust the overall shape of the
curve to either increase or decrease the
| | 03:47 |
amount of blue.
And that means essentially shifting
| | 03:50 |
toward blue or toward yellow, which is
the opposite of blue.
| | 03:54 |
In this case, for example, maybe I
want to create a little bit more dramatic
| | 03:57 |
effect by making the image appear a
little more yellow, like it's illuminated
| | 04:01 |
by some very yellow lights on the
exterior of this building.
| | 04:05 |
Essentially matching up a little more
with the interior lights.
| | 04:09 |
Obviously, it's possible to get very
sophisticated with your levels and curves
| | 04:13 |
adjustments, fine-tuning the black point,
the white point, and the overall mid tone
| | 04:17 |
contrast and luminance values.
As well as fine-tuning color and
| | 04:21 |
luminosity through the various channels
that are available to work with.
| | 04:25 |
But overall, this gives us a tremendous
ability to fine-tune the appearance of
| | 04:31 |
our HDR image directly here within HDR
Efex Pro.
| | 04:36 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Saving the final image| 00:02 |
There are a wide range of options within
HDR Efex Pro in terms of interpreting
| | 00:05 |
your HDR image.
You can start off with a variety of
| | 00:09 |
different presets, and then fine tune the
various settings over on the right panel,
| | 00:13 |
working to find just the right
interpretation for a particular subject.
| | 00:19 |
At some point though, you'll be happy
with the final result, and you'll be
| | 00:22 |
ready to create the final image and then
of course save that result.
| | 00:27 |
Once you're happy with all of the
settings that you've established within
| | 00:30 |
HDR Efex Pro, you can simply click the OK
button in order to finalize the processing.
| | 00:35 |
That button is found at the bottom right
of HDR Efex Pro, and when you click it,
| | 00:39 |
there will be quite a bit of precessing
that needs to be done.
| | 00:43 |
HDR Efex Pro will take all of the data
that it gathered from your individual
| | 00:47 |
exposures and all of the adjustments that
you applied, and create the final HDR image.
| | 00:53 |
In this case, I was using Photoshop as
the host for HDR Efex Pro, and so the
| | 00:58 |
final image is opened here within
Photoshop.
| | 01:02 |
At this point, I can choose File > Save
from the menu, which, since this image
| | 01:06 |
has not yet been saved, will bring up the
Save As dialog automatically.
| | 01:11 |
I can then navigate to the specific
location where I want to save this image,
| | 01:15 |
and specify a filename.
You can see that the file name is just locomotive1_hdr.
| | 01:22 |
I can change that if I'd like.
For example, this image happens to have
| | 01:26 |
been captured in Silverton, Colorado, so
I can change the name to Silverton CO
| | 01:30 |
Locomotive HDR.
I'll save the image in the TIFF file
| | 01:35 |
format, making sure that I'm embedding
the ICC profile by turning on the ICC
| | 01:38 |
Profile check box, and then I'll click
Save in order to save that image.
| | 01:44 |
Because I'm working with a TIFF image, I
have some options available to me,
| | 01:48 |
including Compression, where I generally
use the LZW option in order to minimize
| | 01:52 |
the file size without reducing image
quality at all.
| | 01:57 |
The other options are not critical in the
context of an HDR image.
| | 02:01 |
I'll go ahead, though, and click OK to
apply those settings, and now the final
| | 02:05 |
image is saved.
Of course, in many respects, this final
| | 02:09 |
HDR image is really just a starting
point.
| | 02:12 |
This is my baseline HDR photo assembled
from several images, but now I can
| | 02:15 |
continue to apply a variety of
adjustments in whatever tool I'm using,
| | 02:19 |
in this case Photoshop, but it could also
be Lightroom or Apple's Aperture.
| | 02:25 |
I could, for example, apply some image
cleanup work, perhaps apply a few
| | 02:29 |
additional refining adjustments, crop the
image, anything I'd like to really
| | 02:33 |
finalize my HDR photo.
And of course, once I've then saved that
| | 02:38 |
result, I can return to it at anytime,
but more importantly, I can now share
| | 02:42 |
this image with others, uploading it to
Facebook or other online services.
| | 02:47 |
I can print the image, I can post it to
an online photo sharing site, or use a
| | 02:51 |
variety of different methods to share
this image.
| | 02:54 |
But the bottom line is, I've been able to
create an HDR image that I'm very happy
| | 03:00 |
with, thanks to the powerful tools within
Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro.
| | 03:07 |
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