“Just a few years ago high-dynamic-range imaging was all the rage,” Natalia Nowak writes for Mac360. “Remember HDR? Apple has it built-in to the iPhone’s camera and HDR images are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”
“True HDR takes some work; multiple images, proper processing, but many photo apps these days have an HDR option which creates a computer rendering of multiple photos,” Nowak writes. “For Mac users who want a taste of HDR there’s Hydra.”
“Hydra is not a camera app but a photo enhancement application, specifically designed to turn multiple photos with multiple exposures into a truly high-dynamic-range image,” Nowak writes. “The split-screen comparison mode makes it easy to compare adjusted images to the original.”
Nowak writes, “Hydra is available from the app developer and the Mac App Store and there’s a try-before-you-buy option.”
More info, screenshots, and links in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Hydra can currently be purchased at limited introductory pricing, 25% off, at the Mac App Store for $44.99.
Sounds interesting, but hard to justify spending that much for a single-purpose app unless you’re a professional photographer
Funny when $45 bucks is considered a “hard to justify” expense. I’ll never forget paying $2500 in the 90’s for CoSA After Effects before Adobe bought it.
Hydra has been around for many years. It’s best feature is its simplicity. But there are other HDR apps worth consideration…
Photomatix Pro gets much better reviews. Then again, it’s $99. The Essentials version is $39. They offer a trial demo.
Aurora HDR, which is more recent, gets great reviews and awards. $40. Pro version is $99. I have high regard for its developers, Macphun. They have a demo download.
If you’d like to play with HDR, Google offers their Nik Collection for FREE. It includes HDR Efex Pro. There’s a learning curve but Google offer web help and video tutorials.
Another FREE HDR app is HDRtist. It’s a bit limited but a good start for HDR newbies. The developer offers a free HDR guide here:
Click to access CompleteHDRGuide2010.pdf
There are quite a few other HDR apps as well, many with very good reviews. Search for ‘HDR Mac’ at the usual places. Look for good reviews before trying in order to avoid the junk.
Oh and… HDRtist has a pro version for $30.
Was going to mention HDRtist. I’ve had a copy since the 1.0 release when it was $9.99 which they updated for free.
Good feature set but the sharpening algorithm is a bit strong. The interface is very simple. If you are printing your pics you need a good paper profile.