cjmalcolm

I appreciate the offer Patrick, but I'm not debating techniques and unfortunately it's not going to solve the issue at hand :- / I'm just

befuddled why LR and/or PS is doing this and that it seems there is nothing online about the issue. Also, considering

that LR2 now has direct Merge to HDR, I'd like to utilise the convenience of that feature. Cheers.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one puzzled :p

Patrick, I'm aware of the technique you suggest, amongst others.

This particular image is 4 exposures 2 stops apart and it only just captures the full dynamic range. To be frank, unless the image is

Platinum, blending manually in PS can be too time consuming.

Jim, I agree!

For comparison, attached are the same RAW files quickly done in Photomatix and levelled in PS.<div></div>

Hi all,

When exporting sets of exposures from Lightroom into Photoshop for 32 bit / HDR merging, the generated image is often unusable because

of heavily banded gradients and artefacts, especially in blue sky.

I have tried exporting in TIFF and RAW, with well balanced exposures, alignment and white balance etc. Still the same result. LR1 & LR2.

On the other hand, if I open images directly into PS or use Photomatix, there are no issues.

Thanks for any helpful insight...

Cheers<div></div>

Notable regular attendants of this huge carte-blanche romp in recent years have included

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin...

I have known about this event since the late 90's, when it was more or less a secretive

alternative rave festival, but being on the other side of the planet never made it a

convenient pilgrimage during my somewhat debauched 20's.

Looking at the www.burningman.com website now, it seems there's is no comprehension

of how this has evolved into a multi faceted monstrosity.

Maybe I'm becoming insular and old. Or maybe I just resent never having attended.

P.S. - Having a look at airfares...

Back to the original question -The brilliant results are usually attained by using a

combination of learned techniques (Stuck in Customs a case in point). As some have

suggested, blending with the original and using a bag of PS compositing tricks is how you

achieve a personalized result.

I've used both Photomatix and PS quite a lot, preferring PS because it allows more

controlled results. It is possible to achieve results close to Photomatix's quintessential

illustrative look with PS (if that's what you want), albeit not by pressing the Default button

and takes some tweaking (starting with adjustment of Curves in Local Adaptation mode)

which is the way I like it.

My most common use for Photomatix these days is to generate 32bit files when there is a likelihood of ghosting. Sometimes it blends better, sometimes not. Each HDR project

demands different approaches.

The advancement of HDR options is exponentially increasing these days ( http://wiki.panotools.org/HDR_Software_overview & http://www.hdrlabs.com/tools/links.html ) so it's just a matter of getting into it.

Thanks to you all for shining some clarity. I reckon the attached revision must be about right.

Feel free to state otherwise.

Thanks again...<div></div>

FYI - regarding my senseless 1st sentence - I originally posted this message in the

Philosophy Forum. Seems the moderator has kindly relocated it :)

Thanks Kimberly and Brad, maybe I can work out a crop to meet in the middle, the trick being

to keep the sleeve - which I like as an element of the shot. Otherwise I'm glad you both dont

seem to be bothered by the panel.

I hope this is a suitable forum for my enquiry as it's more theoretical than philosophical

Attached is a favourite image I took about 8 years ago with 4 alternative versions included . I'm really at

odds on how to maximise the presentation of this photo. There are two aesthetic factors I see that

possibly diminish the original image (apart from the permanently cropped wing) :

1- the obscure boat panel

2- the dead space below the pelican

I would be interested in any opinions. Are one of the alternative versions more suitable or is there

something else I'm stumped on :p

Personally I like the last crop and don't mind the panel - maybe because I know what it is.

Thanks for your time.<div></div>

Rumour sites are a fair gauge of when to buy. Personally I'm waiting for the new lines (Mac

Pro & Mac Book Pro) to come through. The current 17" poor screen quality and MacPro's 8

Core FSB bottleneck being the issues for me. Looks like a painful wait if January is the case.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

http://mactactic.com/

http://consomac.fr/

http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/buying-mac.html?@203.tIa9bB9hDnx@

You could try a Plug-In called LucisArt, it's good for painterly and tone enhancing effects.

My attached example was achieved by blending processed LucisArt layers with the original.

Add a little D&B on top of that and you can get some pretty impressive results.<div></div>