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merkk
Inspiring
October 4, 2021
Question

Is it just me or is the LRc HDR functionality useless?

  • October 4, 2021
  • 15 replies
  • 8281 views

I pretty much never use LR's hdr merge function. I shoot a lot of bracketed images and it's just too clunky to work with lots of bracketed shots in LR. But occasionally I just have 1 or 2 sets of brackets. And once in a while I'll let LR take a crack at merging them. And everything time it does it seems completely useless to me. Because to my eyes, the merged image looks almost exactly the same as the middle bracketed shot. Maybe the highlights are just slightly turned down, or shadows turned up just a tiny bit. But it's such a small difference that it's useless. I always use a 3rd party HDR app.

 

Is the HDR functionality in LR just completely useless? Or am I doing something wrong?

    15 replies

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    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 4, 2021

    No, Not completely useless, but rather very helpful when needed.

    ie. In situations where the Range of brightness in a scene exceeds the dynamic range of the camera sensor-

    Combining two different exposures,  one for highlight detail, one for shadow detail, will result in an HDR (DNG) image that allows greater latitude in editing adjustments in LrC.

    And you may not even need a "Middle" exposure frame.

    My example-

    Frame 1-  Exposed for interior: over-exposes the exterior

    Frame 2- Exposed for Exterior: under-exposes interior

    Frame 3-  The HDR produced by LrC- combining 1&2- (and some Develop adjustments)

    The "greater latitude" will also be evident in the slider adjustments of the Develop module-

    eg. The NEF Frame#1 has  10 stops of slider adjustment  -5 <> +5

    The DNG Frame#3 has 20 stops of adjustment  -10 <> +10

    I frequently use 'Under/Over' frames where the 'light' is very contrasty and a HDR will result in a better image.-

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
      Bob Somrak
      Bob Somrak
      Legend
      October 4, 2021

      @Rob_Cullen 

      The -10<>+10 range is useless and only serves to make the slider more sensitive and harder to use.  I have asked many times for someone to provide a LrC HDR that needed the larger range for Exposure and have yet to see one.  I have created a Profile using ACR to increase the range of Highlights/Shadows for HDR and found that to be useful on a few occasions.

      M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB
      Rob_Cullen
      Community Expert
      Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 4, 2021

      The -10<>+10 range is useless- Rethinking my post- 'Exposure' was possibly the wrong point to discuss.

      Nevertheless- The concept of an image with greater dynamic range is very useful for me.

      I am curious about your 'Profile'. Presuming that you would apply the profile to the created HDR image file?

       

      Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
      GoldingD
      GoldingD
      Legend
      October 4, 2021

      Oh, and how large of an exposure bracket are you using?

      Might be within your cametas dynamic range.

       

      JohanElzenga
      Community Expert
      JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 4, 2021

      Maybe you are indeed doing something wrong. If you bracket a scene that your camera could cope with in one single exposure anyway, then merging these brackets to HDR will not really add anything. That's because a single exposure (usually the middle one) already contains all the tones of that scene. Sounds exactly like what you are complaining about...

       

      -- Johan W. Elzenga
        Earth Oliver
        Earth Oliver
        Legend
        October 4, 2021

        Have you read the help files or watched any of the tutorials? 

        Perhaps you're more interested in tone-mapping than your are hdr?

         

        Your complaint here is also mostly useless, since you haven't shared any of the results that you believe are unsatisfactory.

        GoldingD
        GoldingD
        Legend
        October 4, 2021

        Nope. I do not aggree. 

         

        LrC Photo Merge to HDR, is conservative in tonality adjustments. Actually I should say strength. This is to keep it from going bokers/crazy on HDR as to not create that over HDR that so many people treat with absolute hatrid

         

        Point is to have a higher dynamic range that you can take to your advantage. 

         

        A few things to notice

         

        Many Develop module sliders have more space, try out the white slider, see how it can be adjusted further, etc.

         

         

          D
          defaultc2fn59fz53i6
          Participating Frequently
          May 3, 2023

          hello, i have similar problems, when i HDR merge the dng file generated doesnt have the dynamic range that the original file has, for example the overexposed area cannot be recovered while the original underexposed file(bracket) can, is that because of the DNG could not contain that much info?

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