Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

of light intensities and offers full control over their parameters. You can increase the
strength and the light radius, with immediate effect. Too high a radius can make the image
look less photographically believable, but even small changes can impart a dramatically
different “feel” to the image.
Note: Also available is the ReDynaMix Adobe Photoshop plug-in, which uses the DPHDR
Pseudo HDR algorithm (FITYMI) to create HDR-style images from a single JPEG file inside
Photoshop.
Comments
In the right hands, Dynamic Photo HDR can be a very helpful tool because it comes
with a host of filters including Black/White Heavy Sky, Black/White Hard Light, Orton
Effect, Sepia, Vignette, and Mysterious Light, together with various non-photorealistic
settings for producing graphic-style images. For example, the Manga filter simulates the
way Manga is drawn, whereas a Comic filter simulates comic strips by creating detailed
outlines and solid pattern fills. What do these have to do with high dynamic range? The
vendor explains that “dramatic light” is necessary to enhance the details, making the
graphic images more exciting visually. This is true, as the vendor’s examples demonstrate,
but not all potential users will think of looking at HDR packages for these effects.
Version: Dynamic Photo HDR 3.2 (2008)
OS: Windows 98, XP, 2000, and Vista; Mac via BootCamp, VMware Fusion, or Parallels
RAM: 256MB
Supported file formats: Major image formats
Price level: Approx. $55
Address: Ottawa, Canada
www.mediachance.com
Summary
Chapter 21 ■ High Dynamic Range 241
In digital photography, dynamic range is the ratio between the brightest and darkest
parts of a scene and the ability of a sensor to gather detail within these areas. Whereas
monitors can display images with an extended dynamic range, sensors have difficulty
in matching the same performance. Conventional paper output, too, is limited in its
ability to reproduce it. Software developers have risen to these challenges, devising ways
of combining several images to create a single image with high dynamic range. This can
be displayed on special monitors or converted for printing by the process of tone mapping.
Keen photographers can start with FDRTools before moving on to HDR Shop
or another commercial package. It is worth bearing in mind that some HDR effects can
appear unduly dramatic, like El Greco’s “The View of Toledo,” with its stormy clouds
on an otherwise bright and sunny day.