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I'm afraid this has all the worst features of HDR. The colours are very wrong and your attempt to put contrast back has caused burnt out detail. HDR, used correctly, should not be noticeable and should delicately mould highlights and shadows to give a smooth tonal range within the range of digital reproduction.
Don't know what else to say. You need to recognise a 'correct' image and that is always negotiable but this is not it. Ease back and use tiny increments each time to see what happens. 3 exposures should be enough for an indoor shot like this. I believe in keeping things as simple as possible.
You are currently over doing the processing and I suspect over sharpening too.
Paul
Don't know what else to say. You need to recognise a 'correct' image and that is always negotiable but this is not it. Ease back and use tiny increments each time to see what happens. 3 exposures should be enough for an indoor shot like this. I believe in keeping things as simple as possible.
You are currently over doing the processing and I suspect over sharpening too.
Paul

Chris, theres merging, and after that, you need tone mapping. Is the HDR Pro programme doing tone mapping? Im asking because it look bad. The programme used most often for tone mapping is Photomatix.
When Photoshop merges the files, it produces a single 32 bit image, with a vast tonal range. Screens cant display 32 bit - only 8 or 16 bit, not can printers print this. So the tone mapping is used to "map" the tones in the 32 bit image intp something that can be displayed on a monitor or printed. If done properly. it will look like an image with a very wide tonal reange, with very good detail in shadows, mid tones, and highlights, with no blown highlights at all. This image is not what you should expect from HDR, so somewhere along the way something is going wrong. I find if I do HDR I need to adjust the 32 bit image first as its often too bright, before tone mapping.
Heres one I did years back so you can get an idea: https://www.ephotozine.com/user/banehawi-20793/gallery/photo/capitolio-hdr-8108331
And one more: https://www.ephotozine.com/user/banehawi-20793/gallery/photo/church-organ-8152379
If you have the originals, can you upload them and I will give it a try with Photomatix?
Regards
Willie
When Photoshop merges the files, it produces a single 32 bit image, with a vast tonal range. Screens cant display 32 bit - only 8 or 16 bit, not can printers print this. So the tone mapping is used to "map" the tones in the 32 bit image intp something that can be displayed on a monitor or printed. If done properly. it will look like an image with a very wide tonal reange, with very good detail in shadows, mid tones, and highlights, with no blown highlights at all. This image is not what you should expect from HDR, so somewhere along the way something is going wrong. I find if I do HDR I need to adjust the 32 bit image first as its often too bright, before tone mapping.
Heres one I did years back so you can get an idea: https://www.ephotozine.com/user/banehawi-20793/gallery/photo/capitolio-hdr-8108331
And one more: https://www.ephotozine.com/user/banehawi-20793/gallery/photo/church-organ-8152379
If you have the originals, can you upload them and I will give it a try with Photomatix?
Regards
Willie