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Tone mapping is done with HDR software. There are several products out there. Adobe and others offer this capability. I prefer a stand alone product and am currently using Aurora, by Skylum. The idea of High Dynamic Range photography is to take multiple exposures of the same shot and let the software combine the images, mapping the best tonal values from light to dark to give a picture that looks more like the human eye sees it. Early HDR software was known to produce some unpleasant, cartoonish results which turned off a lot of people.Can you tell more about the tone mapping. What is it, how did you do it, etc?
Tone mapping is done with HDR software. There are several products out there. Adobe and others offer this capability. I prefer a stand alone product and am currently using Aurora, by Skylum. The idea of High Dynamic Range photography is to take multiple exposures of the same shot and let the software combine the images, mapping the best tonal values from light to dark to give a picture that looks more like the human eye sees it. Early HDR software was known to produce some unpleasant, cartoonish results which turned off a lot of people.
Given the dynamic range of modern sensors, I have good results just using one exposure and running it through the software. It gives a much more realistic outcome in my opinion. It’s still a balancing act to avoid the Barnum and Bailey clownish look on some images.
I abandoned Lightroom and Photoshop about a year after they converted to the subscription model. I think they are great products. Once LR v6 was not being supported, I searched for alternatives.
I started using Photomatix for HDR, but found it a bit heavy handed and not user friendly.
I switched to Skylum products a few years ago. I found their HDR program, Aurora was much easier than PS and LR and offered a ton of post processing options.
Lately Skylum has incorporated Aurora into their flagship product, Luminar Neo.
Unfortunately Skylum has decided to jump on the subscription train also, but they still offer stand alone versions.
I’m currently using Affinity Photo, Neo, Fast Raw Viewer, and Nikon’s software. I have not found one product that can do everything.
Things have come a long way. I don’t miss fumbling around in my makeshift darkroom in my parents’ basement during my teens, though it was good experience.I've been experimenting a bit with luminosity masks in Photoshop. It's a new world to have such fine control over a tiny slice of tonal range. And now that Lightroom does it, even more possibilities.
Things have come a long way. I don’t miss fumbling around in my makeshift darkroom in my parents’ basement during my teens, though it was good experience.